HMS ''Bahamas'' (K503) was a of the United Kingdom that served during World War II. She originally was ordered by the United States Navy as the USS ''Hotham'' (PF-75) and was transferred to the Royal Navy prior to completion.

Construction and acquisition

The ship, originally designated a "patrol gunboat," PG-183, was ordered by the United States Maritime Commission under a United States Navy contract as the first USS ''Hotham''. Laid down 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, on 7 April 1943, she was reclassified as a " patrol frigate," PF-75, on 15 April 1943. Intended for transfer to the United Kingdom, the ship was renamed ''Bahamas'' by the British prior to

launching Ceremonial ship launching involves the performance of ceremonies associated with the process of transferring a vessel to the water. It is a nautical tradition in many cultures, dating back thousands of years, to accompany the physical pro ...

and was launched on 17 August 1943, sponsored by Mrs. James A. Gallagher.

Service history

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 6 December 1943, the ship served in the Royal Navy as HMS ''Bahamas'' (K503) on patrol and escort duty. The most notable event of her career took place while she was part of the escort of an Arctic convoy in the Barents Sea on 11 November 1944; the German

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

blew the entire bow off of the British

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

with a G7es ("GNAT") torpedo at , and ''Bahamas'' took ''Cassandra'' under tow stern-first toward the Kola Inlet in the Soviet Union. A Soviet

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

later took over the tow from ''Bahamas'' and successfully delivered ''Cassandra'' to the Kola Inlet.

Disposal

The United Kingdom returned ''Bahamas'' to the U.S. Navy on 11 June 1946. She was transferred to the U.S. Maritime Commission for disposal and subsequently sold to the John J. Duane Company of Quincy, Massachusetts, for scrapping on 16 December 1947.

References

Notes

Bibliography

*
Navsource Online: Frigate Photo Archive HMS Bahama (K 503) ex-Hotham ex-PF-75 ex-PG-183
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahamas (K503) 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 Royal Navy ship names