HMS Oakley (L98)

HMS Oakley at anchor on the Clyde c1943 (IWM)
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Oakley
Ordered	20 December 1939
Builder	Yarrow & Co Ltd, Scotstoun
Laid down	19 August 1940
Launched	15 January 1942
Commissioned	7 May 1942
Identification	Pennant number: L98
Fate	Sold to West Germany, 11 November 1957
Badge	On a Field Red, a bugle horn erect and an annulet interlaced Gold
History
West Germany
Name	Gneisenau
Acquired	11 November 1957
Commissioned	18 October 1958
Identification	Pennant number: F212
Fate	Scrapped 1972
General characteristics
Class and type	Type II Hunt-class destroyer
Displacement	1,050 long tons (1,070 t) standard, 1,490 long tons (1,510 t) full load
Length	264 ft 3 in (80.54 m) pp, 280 ft (85.34 m) oa
Beam	31 ft 6 in (9.60 m)
Draught	7 ft 9 in (2.36 m)
Propulsion	2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 2 shaft Parsons geared turbines, 19,000 shp (14,000 kW)
Speed	27 kn (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range	3,700 nmi (6,900 km; 4,300 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	168
Armament	6 × QF 4 in Mark XVI guns on twin mounts Mk. XIX 4 × QF 2 pdr Mk. VIII (1 × quad mount) 2 × 20 mm Oerlikons 110 depth charges

HMS Oakley was a Type II Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was originally to have been named Tickham, however she was renamed after her sister ship Oakley was transferred to Poland and was renamed ORP Kujawiak (L72). She entered service in May 1943, carrying out convoy escort, patrol and anti-shipping attacks for most of the rest of the Second World War. She was adopted by the Civil community of Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire as part of Warship Week in 1942. In 1957, she was sold to the West German Navy, serving as a training ship for the German Naval Gunnery school until scrapped in 1972.