HMS ''Affleck'' was a which 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 ...

. The ship was named after Sir Edmund Affleck, commander of at the

Moonlight Battle The Battle of Cape St. Vincent () was a naval battle that took place off the southern coast of Portugal on 16 January 1780 during the American Revolutionary War. A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a Spanish squadron unde ...

in 1780 during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Originally destined for the US Navy as a

turbo-electric A turbo-electric transmission uses electric generators to convert the mechanical energy of a turbine (steam or gas) into electric energy, which then powers electric motors and converts back into mechanical energy that power the driveshafts. Tu ...

(TE) type , HMS ''Affleck'' was provisionally given the name USS ''Oswald'' (later this name was reassigned to ). However, the delivery was diverted 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 ...

before the launch.

Actions

HMS ''Affleck'' served exclusively with the 1st Escort Group taking part in operations in the

North Atlantic 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 ...

, off

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, and in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. On 19 February 1944, together with , HMS ''Affleck'' picked up 54 survivors from the Panamanian merchant ''Colin'' which had been torpedoed and sunk the previous day in the

in position by the . On 26 February 1944 in the North Atlantic at position HMS ''Affleck'', together with and , sank by the use of

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 ...

s and then by use of main guns. When the damaged U-boat surfaced and tried to ram HMS ''Affleck'', this action resulted in 36 dead and 16 survivors from ''U-91''s crew. On 1 March 1944 in the Northern Atlantic north of the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

at position HMS ''Affleck'' together with HMS ''Gore'', HMS ''Gould'' and sank by the use of depth charges, resulting in 50 dead and 1 survivor from the submarine's crew. On 16 March 1944 in the

Straits of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medit ...

at position HMS ''Affleck'' together with the destroyer and three US Catalina aircraft (VP 63) sank by the use of a hedgehog attack, resulting in 52 dead (all hands) from ''U-392''s crew. On 25 June 1944 HMS ''Affleck'' with attacked a submarine believed to be by the use of depth charges, this resulted in the sinking of the submarine with the loss of all hands. This action took place south of Start Point. The

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

had ''U-1191'' listed as missing (no radio contact) since 12 June 1944. On 26 December 1944 at 14:14 off the French coast near

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

, launched three acoustic torpedoes at the 1st Escort Group hitting ''Affleck'' and . This resulted in the sinking of ''Capel''. ''Affleck'' was towed to port, where the ship was written off as a Constructive Total Loss.

Return to United States Navy

''Affleck'' was returned to the US Navy in August 1945 in Britain, where she was sold on 24 January 1947 to the Lisbon-based Transcontinental Victory Commercial Corporation Ltd. She was renamed ''Nostra De La Luz'' and survived as a hulk until the 1970s.

General information

*Pennant (UK): K 462 *Pennant (US): DE 71

Citations

References

* ''The Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War'' by Donald Collingwood. published by Leo Cooper (1998), . * ''The Buckley-Class Destroyer Escorts'' by Bruce Hampton Franklin, published by Chatham Publishing (1999), . *

External links

Uboat.net page for HMS Affleck

captainclassfrigates.co.uk

The Gazette 26 June 1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Affleck (K462) Captain-class frigates Buckley-class destroyer escorts World War II frigates of the United Kingdom Ships built in Hingham, Massachusetts 1943 ships Maritime incidents in December 1944