View source for Shoreham-class sloop

{{Short description|Class of warships of the Royal Navy built in the 1930s}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= [[File:HMS Fowey (F15).jpg|300px|HMS Fowey]]
|Ship caption=HMS ''Fowey'' in May 1942
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
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|Operators={{navy|United Kingdom}}
|Class before= {{sclass|Hastings|sloop|4}}
|Class after= {{sclass|Grimsby|sloop|4}}
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|Cost=
|Built range=1930–1932
|In service range=
|In commission range=1931–1968
|Total ships building=
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|Total ships completed=8
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship displacement= {{cvt|1105|LT|t|0|lk=in}}
|Ship length= {{cvt|281|ft|m}} 
|Ship beam= {{cvt|35|ft|m}} 
|Ship height= 
|Ship draught= {{cvt|8|ft|3|in|m}}
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|Ship propulsion=Geared turbines, 2 shafts, {{cvt|2000|shp|0}}
|Ship speed= {{convert|16|kn|lk=in}}
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|Ship complement=95
|Ship sensors=
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|Ship armament=*2 × single [[QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun|QF {{cvt|4|in|mm}} Mk V guns]]
*1 × quad [[Vickers .50 machine gun|{{cvt|0.5|in|mm}} anti-aircraft machine guns]]
|Ship armour=
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The '''''Shoreham''-class sloops''' were a class of eight [[Sloop-of-war|sloops]] of the [[Royal Navy]] built in the early 1930s. Developed from the {{sclass|Bridgewater|sloop|4}}, with a longer hull, the ''Shoreham'' class were laid down between 1929 and 1931 at [[Chatham Dockyard|Chatham]] and [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport Naval Dockyards]].

==Ships==
*{{HMS|Shoreham|L32|6}} (originally L32, from May 1940 U32) was launched on 22 November 1930 at Devonport and sold for scrapping in 1946. From 1932, HMS ''Shoreham'' served in the [[Persian Gulf]] and, from the outbreak of war, in the [[Red Sea]]. She was active in the suppression of the [[Regia Marina]] in East Africa, participating in the sinking of the submarine ''[[Italian submarine Torricelli (1939)|Torricelli]]''. ''Shoreham'' was also involved in the [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran|invasion of Iran]] in 1941, where she suppressed Iranian naval ships at [[Abadan]]. Apart from a spell in the Mediterranean - including the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]] - from February 1943 to September 1943, ''Shoreham''{{'}}s war was spent with the [[Eastern Fleet]], with which she served up until [[Victory over Japan Day|VJ Day]]. ''Shoreham'' returned to the UK in 1946, sold off in November and broken up in 1950. Her battle honours were ''Sicily 1943'', ''Mediterranean 1943'', ''Burma 1944-45''.<ref>[http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.2124 History : HMS Shoreham : Sandown Class : Mine Countermeasure : Surface Fleet : Operations and Support : Royal Navy<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070109092536/http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.2124 |date=9 January 2007 }}</ref>
*{{HMS|Fowey|L15|6}} was launched on 4 November 1930 and sold for merchant use in 1946. From 1940 to 1942, she was engaged in North Atlantic escort and anti-submarine duty. ''Fowey'' participated in the sinking of {{Ship|German submarine|U-55|1939|2}} on 30 January 1940 and rescued survivors from various sinkings.
*{{HMS|Bideford|L43|6}} was launched on 1 April 1931 and scrapped in 1949. After participating in the [[Operation Dynamo|Dunkirk evacuation]] (May 1940), she was used in anti-submarine sweeps and as a convoy escort in the North Atlantic. She rescued 63 survivors of the torpedoed {{MV|Edward Blyden}} on 3 September 1941 and 31 more from the {{MV|Abosso}} on 31 October 1942. In August 1943, ''Bideford'', with the 40th Escort Group in the [[Bay of Biscay]], was damaged by a [[Henschel Hs 293]] glider bomb.
*{{HMS|Rochester|L50|6}} was launched on 16 July 1931, and was operating in the [[Persian Gulf]] when war was declared. She returned to England with convoy SL 32 in December 1939. After refit at [[Humber]], she was assigned to the 2nd Escort division in March 1940 patrolling the [[Western Approaches]] for the [[Battle of the Atlantic]]. On 7 May 1941 she participated in the attack on {{Ship|German submarine|U-94|1940|2}} while escorting convoy OB 218. She was then assigned to the [[Escort Group#37th Escort Group|37th Escort Group]] in July after [[Type 271 radar]] was installed during refit at Liverpool. She participated in sinking {{Ship|German submarine|U-204||2}} while escorting convoy HG 74 on 19 October 1941. ''Rochester'' was then transferred to the [[Escort Group#43rd Escort Group|43rd Escort Group]] and participated in sinking {{Ship|German submarine|U-82|1941|2}} while escorting convoy OS 18 on 2 February 1942. After installation of [[HF/DF]] and a new air search radar, she participated in sinking {{Ship|German submarine|U-213||2}} while escorting convoy OS 35 on 30 July 1942. ''Rochester'' escorted convoy KMS 2 to the [[Operation Torch]] invasion, and escorted convoys between [[Gibraltar]] and North Africa until returning to England in February 1943 with convoy MKS 7. She then transferred to the 39th Escort Group and participated in sinking {{Ship|German submarine|U-135|1941|2}} while escorting convoy OS 51 on 15 July 1943. In May 1944 ''Rochester'' sailed to [[Portsmouth Harbour]] in preparation for the [[Invasion of Normandy]] and remained engaged in [[English Channel]] escort duties with the [[Escort Group#41st Escort Group|41st Escort Group]] until refit in November. The refit completed in March 1945 included modifications for service as the training ship for the [[HMS Dryad (shore establishment)|Portsmouth Navigation School, HMS ''Dryad'']]. ''Rochester'' served as the navigation training ship until September 1949 and was scrapped in 1951.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-18SL-Rochester.htm |title=HMS ROCHESTER (L 50) - Shoreham-class Sloop |last=Mason |first=Geoffrey B. |editor=Gordon Smith |website=Naval History |access-date=19 January 2014 }}</ref>
*{{HMS|Falmouth|L34|6}} was launched on 19 April 1932 and became the [[Royal Naval Reserve|RNVR]] ''Calliope'' in 1952. Scrapped in 1968. ''Falmouth'' was assigned to the China Station (later merged into the Eastern Fleet) where she was used as the Commander-in-Chief's yacht. In 1936, her new skipper was [[Frederic John Walker|Frederick "Johnny" Walker]] who later became a highly successful anti-submarine commander in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]]. In June 1940 ''Falmouth'' sank the Italian submarine ''[[Italian submarine Galvani|Galvani]]'' off the [[Gulf of Oman]]. She participated in [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran|Operation Countenance]], the invasion of Iran, in August 1941. Her role was to transport infantry to [[Khorramshahr]] and, with {{HMAS|Yarra|U77|6}}, neutralise local Iranian land and sea forces. Her departure from the [[Shatt al-Arab]] near [[Basra]] was delayed when she ran aground and had to wait for the tide to refloat her.
*{{HMS|Milford|L51|6}} was launched on 11 June 1932 and scrapped in 1949. On 28 March 1938, ''Milford'' claimed [[Gough Island]] in the South Atlantic Ocean for Britain.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120720223132/http://www.btinternet.com/~sa_sa/gough_island/gough_island.html Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean]</ref> In the Second World War she was credited with sinking the [[Vichy France|Vichy French]] submarine ''[[French submarine Poncelet (Q141)|Poncelet]]'' off the coast of [[Gabon]], on 7 November 1940, though this was later credited to David Corkhill flying a [[Supermarine Walrus]] biplane.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/12047498/Commander-David-Corky-Corkhill-obituary.html|title=Commander David Corky Corkhill obituary|work=Daily Telegraph|date=13 December 2015|access-date=13 December 2015}}</ref> On 30 May 1943, she went to the assistance of the freighter ''Flora McDonald'', torpedoed off the coast of West Africa.
*{{HMS|Weston|L72|6}} was launched on 23 July 1932 and scrapped in 1947. She spent the war years in home waters and the North Atlantic. On several occasions, she rescued survivors of torpedoed ships and on 31 May 1940, ''Weston'' sank {{Ship|German submarine|U-13|1935|2}} in the [[North Sea]].
*{{HMS|Dundee|L84|6}} was launched on 20 September 1932 at Chatham and sunk on 15 September 1940 by {{Ship|German submarine|U-48|1939|2}}, while escorting a convoy.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau |editor1-first=Roger |publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK |year=1980 |isbn=0-85177-146-7 |chapter=Great Britain (including Empire Forces)|author-first=N. J. M. |author-last=Campbell |pages=2–85}}
* {{cite book|last=Hague|first=Arnold|title=Sloops: A History of the 71 Sloops Built in Britain and Australia for the British, Australian and Indian Navies 1926–1946|year=1993|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Kendal, UK|isbn=0-905617-67-3}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Hepper |first1=David |last2=Johnson |first2=Harold |last3=Weatherhorn |first3=Aryeh |year=2006|title=Question 14/05: Loss of HMS Dundee (L 84)|journal=Warship International |volume=XLIII|issue=2|pages=145–146 |issn=0043-0374|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book|last=Lenton|first=H. T.|title=British & Empire Warships of the Second World War |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1998 |isbn=1-55750-048-7 |author-link=Henry Trevor Lenton}}
* {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005 |edition=Third Revised |isbn=1-59114-119-2|author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Shoreham class sloop}}
* [http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/shoreham.htm ''Shoreham'' class pictures]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071031001617/http://www.navyphotos.co.uk/fowey%20fgt.htm Picture of HMS ''Fowey'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050113004522/http://findonvillage.com/0799_hms_shoreham.htm Personal memories]

{{Shoreham class sloop}}
{{WWII British ships}}

[[Category:Ship classes of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Shoreham-by-Sea]]
[[Category:Shoreham-class sloops| ]]
[[Category:Sloops of the Royal Navy]]