HMS ''Puckeridge'' was a of 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 ...

and first and so far only warship to bear the Name. The vessel was ordered on 4 September 1939 as part of the 1939 wartime emergency program. She was laid down on 1 January 1940 at the

J. Samuel White J. Samuel White was a British shipbuilding firm based in Cowes, taking its name from John Samuel White (1838–1915). It came to prominence during the Victorian era. During the 20th century it built destroyers and other naval craft for both the ...

yard,

East Cowes East Cowes is a town and civil parish in the north of the Isle of Wight, on the east bank of the River Medina, next to its west bank neighbour Cowes. The two towns are connected by the Cowes Floating Bridge, a chain ferry operated by the Isle ...

, on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

, launched on 6 March 1941 and commissioned on 30 July 1941. ''Puckeridge'' was one of 33, Type II Hunt Escort Destroyers. The hulls of this second batch had an extra section and an increased beam which gave stability for a third twin 4" AA gun as originally designed and additional storage for depth charges. The class were named after British

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

and

stag Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

hunts, in this case, the

Puckeridge Hunt The Puckeridge Hunt is a foxhound pack in East Anglia. Country The country covers some north to south and east to west in the counties of Hertfordshire, Essex and Cambridgeshire. The country is one of bank and ditch, arable and grasslands. Adjo ...

, based in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

Service history

Home Fleet

In December 1941 ''Puckeridge'' was attached to the Home Fleet. On 13 December she was attacked by aircraft off the Pembroke coast and was hit by a bomb on her

Quarterdeck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...

which caused an explosion in her aft 4-inch magazine. 18 ratings were killed and 20 injured and her aft 4-inch gun was lost overboard. Damage control dealt with fires and the ship settled by the stern with the quarterdeck awash. When propulsion was restored, ''Puckeridge'' sailed to

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( cy, Aberdaugleddau, meaning "mouth of the two Rivers Cleddau") is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has ...

steering just by engines, before being towed to

HM Dockyard Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial c ...

Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock ( cy, Doc Penfro) is a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, northwest of Pembroke on the banks of the River Cleddau. Originally Paterchurch, a small fishing village, Pembroke Dock town expanded rapidly following ...

for repair and was eventually re-commissioned on 10 July 1942.

Western Approaches

After 3 months working-up and escorting Minelaying operations from

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009 Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...

''Puckeridge'' was deployed in the

Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...

as a convoy escort. On 5 October she joined convoy WS23 then Escorted troopships Bergensfjord and Leopoldville from

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

Operation Torch

On 8 November 1942 ''Puckeridge'' supported landing operations at

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

during

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

and later searched for survivors of Dutch destroyer HNLMS Isaac Sweers sunk by German submarine U-431 north-west of

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

1943 and fate

''Puckeridge'' undertook patrols and escorting convoys from Gibraltar until 6 June 1943, when she was mobilised for

Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, the Allied landing in Sicily, Italy, and was assigned to the East support force. On 5 July she was assigned to protect convoy KMS18 convoy departing from Tunisia, and on 6 August ''Puckeridge'' escorted two passenger liners, and , from Gibraltar to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. Fate On 6 September 1943, around 20:15 hours ''Puckeridge'' was hit by two of four torpedoes fired by the German submarine U-617 commanded by

Albrecht Brandi Albrecht Brandi (20 June 1914 – 6 January 1966) was a German U-boat commander in Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. Together with Wolfgang Lüth, he was the only ''Kriegsmarine'' sailor who was awarded with the Knight's Cro ...

and sank 40 nautical miles east of Gibraltar. The two hits aft detonated her magazine and she sank in 8 minutes. 129 men were rescued and 62 men were lost with the ship. Some survivors were rescued by a Spanish

mercantile Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchan ...

ship and avoided internment by attracting the attention of a naval patrol craft which took them back to Gibraltar. U-617 was later ran aground and abandoned on 12 September 1943 near

Melilla Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...

after an air attack by

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

bombers from 179 Squadron. ''Puckeridge'' lies at a depth of 1000 metres at Wreck site HMS Puckeridge (L108)
/ref> and is a controlled site under the

Protection of Military Remains Act Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

References

Publications

* Colledge, J. J. & Warlow, Ben: Ships of the Royal Navy - The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present. Newbury, UK: Casemate, 2010. * English, John: The Hunts - A history of the design, development and careers of the 86 destroyers of this class built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II. Cumbria: World Ship Society, 1987. * Whitley, M. J.: Destroyers of World War Two – an international encyclopedia: Arms and Armour, 1988. * Gardiner, Robert: Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946: Conway Maritime Press, 1987.

External links

HMS ''Puckeridge'' at Uboat.net

1/48 scale model of HMS ''Puckeridge''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puckeridge (L108) Hunt-class destroyers of the Royal Navy 1941 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Royal Navy ship names World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Maritime incidents in September 1943 Naval magazine explosions