HMS ''Caicos'' was a of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

that served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She was originally ordered by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

as the patrol frigate USS ''Hannam'' and was transferred to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

prior to completion. It was named after the

Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and nor ...

. After her return to U.S. Navy custody, she was sold to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and served in the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the ...

(''Armada de la Republica Argentina'') as a frigate under the names ARA ''Trinidad'' (P-34) and ARA ''Santísima Trinidad'' (P-34) from 1948 to 1962. After a refit she then served as a

survey ship A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the purpo ...

as ARA ''Augusto Lasserre'' (Q-9) from 1963 to 1969.

Construction and acquisition

Originally designated a "patrol

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

", she was ordered by the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

under a U.S. Navy contract as Type S2-S2-AQ1 hull number 1659 and named USS ''Hannam''. She was reclassified as a "

patrol frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

", PF-77, on 15 April 1943 and

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

by the

Walsh-Kaiser Company Walsh-Kaiser Co., Inc. was a shipyard in both Cranston, Rhode Island, Cranston and Providence, Rhode Island. It was built during World War II and financed by the Maritime Commission as part of the country's Emergency Shipbuilding Program. It was ori ...

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

, on 23 April 1943. Intended for transfer to the

, the ship was renamed ''Caicos'' by the British before being launched on 6 September 1943.

Service history

Royal Navy, World War II, 1943–1945

Transferred to the United Kingdom under

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

on 31 December 1943,Ship building history Walsh-Kaiser Company, Inc.
/ref> the ship was commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS ''Caicos'' (K505) – sources claim that she was partially funded by the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

colony, after part of which she was named – on either 31 December 1943 or 2 January 1944. Uniquely among all World War II frigates, ''Caicos'' was fitted to perform aircraft direction duties. The Royal Navy originally intended to send her to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

, but instead assigned her to duty in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

, where she attempted to detect German

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...

s during their flights toward targets in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. Two members of her crew died during her war service.

Disposal and transfer to Argentina

The United Kingdom returned ''Caicos'' to the U.S. Navy on 12 December 1945. The U.S. Navy then transferred her for disposal to the U.S. Maritime Commission, which sold her in June 1946 to the N. B. Wolcott firm of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

for scrapping. However the plans to scrap her were cancelled and she was resold to

on 6 July 1947. Thus, although many ''Tacoma''-class patrol frigates served in foreign navies after completing their U.S. Navy service, ''Caicos'' became the only Colony-class frigate to serve in another navy after completing her British service.

Argentine Navy, 1947–1970

Frigate, 1948–1960

The ship was incorporated into the

on 4 August 1947, and assigned the name ARA ''Trinidad'' (P-34) in memory of ARA ''Santísima Trinidad'', an Argentine Navy

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Older ...

of 1815–1816 that saw action in the

Argentine War of Independence The Argentine War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Argentina, links=no) was a secessionist civil war fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín a ...

. Commander (S) D. Rodolfo A. Muzzio initiated a campaign to assign the full name ''Santísima Trinidad'' to her, and she became ARA ''Santísima Trinidad'' (P-34) on 3 October 1950.Fragata ''Santisima Trinidad'' 1948
/ref> ''Santísima Trinidad'' served as part of the Frigate Force of the Sea Fleet from 1948 until 1960. During this time she operated in the

South Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

, participating in annual fleet exercises, especially the

antisubmarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typic ...

exercises she was designed for. In 1948–1949 she participated in the 11th Antarctic Campaign. In 1959, she participated in Operation Neptune II, and received a battle honour''Pabellón de combate'' has been translated as "battle honour". from Vicario General Castrense and Cardenal D. Antonio Caggiano on 8 December 1960. She then went into

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

from 1961 to 1962. According to '' Janes Fighting Ships'', her armament in Argentine service as ''Santísima Trinidad'' consisted of two 105 mm (4.1 in) guns, eight 40 mm antiaircraft guns, 1 Hedgehog antisubmarine mortar, and six

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

throwers. ''Conways'' states that she had four 47 mm antiaircraft guns instead of eight 40 mm antiaircraft guns.

Survey ship, 1963–1969

Starting in 1962,

Río Santiago Shipyard The Rio Santiago Shipyard is a shipyard located in the city of Ensenada, Buenos Aires Province at the shores of the Santiago River. Currently owned by the Government of Buenos Aires Province, it has been one of the major active and important shi ...

(AFNE) converted ''Santísima Trinidad'' into a

.Historia y Arqueologia Marítima, ''Buque de Investigaciones A.R.A. "Comodoro Lasserre" 1963–1969 Q-9''
/ref> The conversion included disarming her, installing eight specialised cabinets, nine probe basins, and a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

landing platform, as well as a general refit. She was reclassified as a survey vessel (in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

''Buque de Investigacion'') and renamed ARA ''Comodoro Augusto Lasserre'' (Q-9),Page 7, ''Janes Fighting Ships 1963–64'' There was a spelling error in the original decree, which called her "Laserre" instead of "Lasserre"; this was corrected in 1964. She was recommissioned as a survey ship on 27 January 1964. She undertook

hydrographic survey Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore oil exploration/offshore oil drilling and related activities. Strong emphasis is placed ...

s each year from 1964 to 1968. In 1968 she ran aground near Lion Island (Isla Leones) in the

Palmer Archipelago Palmer Archipelago, also known as Antarctic Archipelago, Archipiélago Palmer, Antarktiske Arkipel or Palmer Inseln, is a group of islands off the northwestern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It extends from Tower Island in the north to Anvers ...

during a storm. After she was refloated, she was inspected at

Puerto Belgrano Port Belgrano Naval Base ( es, Base Naval Puerto Belgrano - BNPB) is the largest naval base of the Argentine Navy, situated next to Punta Alta, near Bahía Blanca, about south of Buenos Aires. It is named after the brigantine ''General Belgr ...

, and it was recommended that she be taken out of service. She was struck from the navy list on 20 February 1969. Her decommissioning ceremony was in March 1969, and she was sold for scrapping in 1971.Page 9, ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995''.

References

External links

A photo of ''Comodoro Augusto Lasserre'' (Q-9) taken in 1965; it shows that she had been disarmed. Photographer: ''Robert Hirst''.

Has photos of her as ''Caicos'', as ''Santísima Trinidad'' and disarmed as ''Comodoro Augusto Lasserre''. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caicos (K505) 1943 ships Ships built in Providence, Rhode Island Tacoma-class frigates Colony-class frigates World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States World War II frigates of the United Kingdom Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Argentine Navy Tacoma-class frigates of the Argentine Navy Research vessels of Argentina Survey ships Maritime incidents in 1968 Shipwrecks in the Southern Ocean