HMS ''Abercrombie'' was a
Royal Navy ''Roberts''-class monitor of the
Second World War. She was the second monitor to be named after General
Sir Ralph Abercrombie.
''Abercrombie'' was built by
Vickers Armstrong, Tyne. She was laid down on 26 April 1941, launched on 31 March 1942 and completed on 5 May 1943. She used a 15-inch gun turret originally built as a spare for . (Although ''Furious'' was designed to be fitted with two single 18-inch gun turrets, twin 15-inch turrets were constructed as a stand-by in case the 18-inch turret proved to be unsuccessful.)
Service history
On completion, ''Abercrombie'' deployed to the Mediterranean and in July 1943, she provided support at the
Amphibious Battle of Gela during the
Allied invasion of Sicily. On 9 September, ''Abercrombie'' was supporting the Allied landings near Salerno (
Operation Avalanche), when she was damaged by a contact
mine. She was repaired at the dockyard at
Taranto in October and on completion, ''Abercombie'' arrived at Malta on 15 August 1944. On 21 August 1944, whilst on an exercise southeast of
Malta, she struck two mines and was again damaged.
On completion of her repairs in July 1945, ''Abercrombie'' was dispatched to the Indian Ocean to support
Operation Mailfist, the planned liberation of Singapore. She was near
Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
at the time of the Japanese surrender on 15 August, but was not recalled until 11 September, by which time she was approaching the
Seychelles Islands
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...
. ''Abercrombie'' returned to
Sheerness
Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...
on 2 November 1945.
''Abercrombie'' was subsequently used for gunnery training and also as an accommodation ship until 1954. She was scrapped at
Barrow
Barrow may refer to:
Places
England
* Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area
** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency)
* Barrow, Cheshire
* Barrow, Gloucestershire
* Barro ...
on 24 December 1954.
Citations
References
*
* Young, John. A Dictionary of Ships of the Royal Navy of the Second World War. Patrick Stephens Ltd, Cambridge, 1975.
* Lenton, H.T. & Colledge, J. J. Warships of World War II, Ian Allan, London, 1973.
External links
*
HMS Abercrombie at www.uboat.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abercrombie
Roberts-class monitors
Ships built on the River Tyne
1942 ships
World War II monitors of the United Kingdom
Ships built by Vickers Armstrong