View source for HMS Blean

{{short description|Destroyer of the Royal Navy}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:D2 1 b.jpg|300px|HMS ''Blean'' painted in dazzle camouflage]]
|Ship caption=''Blean'' in dazzle camouflage
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name= HMS ''Blean''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered= 28 July 1940
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Hawthorn Leslie and Company|Hawthorn Leslie]], [[Hebburn|Hebburn-on-Tyne]]
|Ship original cost=
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|Ship laid down=  22 February 1941
|Ship launched= 15 January 1942
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|Ship commissioned= 23 August 1942
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|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]: L47
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|Ship fate= Torpedoed on 11 December 1942
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}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship type= Type III {{sclass2|Hunt|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1050|LT|t}} standard
*{{convert|1435|LT|t}} full load
|Ship length= {{convert|85.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|o/a]]
|Ship beam= {{convert|10.16|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship height= 
|Ship draught= {{convert|3.51|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
*2 shaft [[Parsons Marine Steam Turbines|Parsons]] [[steam turbine|geared turbines]], {{convert|19,000|shp|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed=*{{convert|27|kn|lk=in}}
*{{convert|25.5|kn}} full
|Ship range= {{convert|2350|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|20|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship complement=168
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*4 × [[QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun|QF {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on|sigfig=3}} Mark XVI]] on twin mounts Mk. XIX
*4 × [[QF 2-pounder naval gun|QF 2-pounder Mk. VIII]] on quad mount MK.VII
*2 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm Oerlikons]] on single mounts P Mk. III
*2 × [[British 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
*110 [[depth charge]]s, 4 throwers, 3 racks
|Ship armour=
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}}
|}
'''HMS ''Blean''''' was a [[Hunt-class destroyer#Type III|Type III]] {{sclass2|Hunt|destroyer}} of the [[Royal Navy]].  She was named after the Blean Beagles Hunt at the village of [[Blean]] just north of [[Canterbury]]. She had the shortest career of any of the Hunt-class destroyers.

Built at [[Hebburn-on-Tyne]] by [[Hawthorn Leslie]], she was laid down on 22 February 1941, launched on 15 January 1942 and commissioned on 23 August 1942.<ref>{{cite web|title=HMS Blean|url=http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4671.html|website=uboat.net|access-date=28 November 2015}}</ref>

==Service history==
After working up at [[Scapa Flow]] followed by some repairs on the Thames she escorted a convoy to Gibraltar arriving on 2 November 1942. She then joined the 58th Destroyer Division escorting [[Operation Torch]] convoys. While escorting the British convoy MKF-4 off the [[Algeria]]n coast, ''Blean'' was torpedoed by {{GS|U-443||2}} on 11 December 1942 {{convert|11|mi|km}} north-west of [[Oran]]. The U-boat aimed one torpedo against her and then one against the convoy, but both hit ''Blean'' and she sank within four minutes with the loss of 89 men.<ref>{{cite book|last1=English|first1=John|title=The Hunts|date=1987|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Cumbria|isbn=0-905617-44-4}}</ref>

A memorial to her was unveiled in the church of St. Cosmus and St. Damian in the village of Blean on 10 December 2006.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Publications==
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book|last=English|first=John|title=The Hunts: A history of the design, development and careers of the 86 destroyers of this class built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II|year=1987|publisher=World Ship Society|isbn=0-905617-44-4}}

==External links==
*[http://www.hmscavalier.org.uk/L47/ HMS ''Cavalier'' site]
*[http://www.hmscavalier.org.uk/blean/ Casualty list]
*[http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4671.html U-boat.net]

{{coord|35|55|N|1|50|W|display=title}}

{{Hunt class destroyer|type3}}
{{December 1942 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blean (L47)}}
[[Category:Hunt-class destroyers of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II]]
[[Category:Destroyers sunk by submarines]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in December 1942]]
[[Category:Ships built by Hawthorn Leslie]]