HMS ''Troubridge'' was a
T-class 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 ...
of the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
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 ...
that saw service during the
Second World War
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 ...
. Post war she was converted into a
Type 15 frigate
The Type 15 frigate was a class of United Kingdom, British anti-submarine warfare, anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Navy. They were conversions based on the hulls of World War II-era destroyers built to the standard War Emergency Programme d ...
.
Design
''Troubridge'' was one of eight
T-class destroyers ordered as the 6th Emergency Flotilla on 14 March 1941.
The T-class were
War Emergency Programme destroyers
The War Emergency Programme destroyers were destroyers built for the British Royal Navy during World War I and World War II.
World War I emergency programmes
The 323 destroyers ordered during the First World War belonged to several different cla ...
, intended for general duties, including use as anti-submarine escort, and were to be suitable for mass-production. They were based on the hull and machinery of the pre-war
J-class destroyers, but with a lighter armament (effectively whatever armament was available) in order to speed production.
The T-class were almost identical to the S-class ordered as the 5th Emergency Flotilla earlier in the year, but were not fitted for operations in Arctic waters.
The T-class were
long overall
__NOTOC__
Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...
,
at the waterline and
between perpendiculars
Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the stern ...
, with a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a
draught of mean and full load.
Displacement
Displacement may refer to:
Physical sciences
Mathematics and Physics
*Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...
was standard and full load.
Two
Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers supplied steam at and to two sets of
Parsons
Parsons may refer to:
Places
In the United States:
* Parsons, Kansas, a city
* Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community
* Parsons, Tennessee, a city
* Parsons, West Virginia, a town
* Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingto ...
single-reduction geared
steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
s, which drove two propeller shafts. The machinery was rated at giving a maximum speed of and at full load. 615 tons of oil were carried, giving a range of at .
The ship had a main gun armament of four
4.7 inch (120 mm) QF Mk. IX guns on single CP Mk XXII mountings, capable of elevating to an angle of 55 degrees, giving a degree of anti-aircraft capability.
The intended close-in anti-aircraft armament for the class was one Hazemayer stabilised twin mount for the
Bofors 40 mm gun Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors:
*Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s
...
and four twin
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emplo ...
s, although limited availability of the Bofors mount meant that ''Troubridge'' was completed with an additional two single Oerlikon guns instead.
The Oerlikons were gradually replaced by Bofors guns as the war progressed, with ''Troubridge'' being fitted with two single Bofors guns in 1944, with further guns (with one single mount on the searchlight platform and possibly another four power operated mounts) added on joining the British Pacific Fleet.
Two quadruple mounts for
21 inch (533 mm) torpedoes were fitted, while the ship had an depth charge outfit of four depth charge mortars and two racks, with a total of 70 charges carried.
''Troubridge'' was fitted with a Type 291 air warning
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
on the ship's tripod
foremast
The mast of a Sailing ship, sailing vessel is a tall spar (sailing), spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessa ...
, with a Type 285 fire control radar integrated with the ship's high-angle gun director. A
high-frequency direction finding
High-frequency direction finding, usually known by its abbreviation HF/DF or nickname huff-duff, is a type of radio direction finder (RDF) introduced in World War II. High frequency (HF) refers to a radio band that can effectively communicate over ...
(HF/DF) aerial was fitted to a lattice
mainmast
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessary height to a navigation ligh ...
.
''Troubridge'' was fitted as a
leader
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...
,
and as such had a crew of 225 officers and other ranks.
Type 15 modification
After the end of the Second World War and as the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
started, the Royal Navy found itself with a shortage of fast anti-submarine escorts capable of dealing with modern Soviet diesel-electric submarines, with existing sloops and frigates too slow. At the same time, the relatively recent War Emergency destroyers, with their low-angle guns and basic fire control systems, were considered unsuitable for modern warfare, so it was decided to convert these obsolete destroyers into fast escorts, acting as a stop-gap solution until new-build ships, such as the
Type 12 frigate
Type 12 frigate refers to several ship classes, most commonly the three ship classes of the Royal Navy designed during the 1950s and constructed during the 1960s.
* The first Type 12 frigates, designed as convoy escorts, were later named the . Six ...
s could be built in sufficient numbers.
The
Type 15 frigate
The Type 15 frigate was a class of United Kingdom, British anti-submarine warfare, anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Navy. They were conversions based on the hulls of World War II-era destroyers built to the standard War Emergency Programme d ...
was a rebuild of War Emergency destroyers into 'first-rate' anti-submarine ships, with similar anti-submarine equipment as the new frigates. The ships' superstructure and armament was removed, with the ships'
forecastle
The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...
extended rearwards and a new, low but full width superstructure fitted.
The revised ships had a much reduced gun armament of one twin
4-inch (102 mm) anti aircraft mount aft of the main superstructure and one twin Bofors mount, but anti-submarine equipment was as fitted to the Type 12s, with ''Troubridge'' being fitted with two
Limbo
In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin '' limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Euro ...
anti-submarine mortars, directed by Type 170 and 172 sonar.
''Troubridge'' was completed with a modified design of bridge to the other Type 15 ships, which was higher and had angled sides to improve visibility. She was the only T-class destroyer converted to Type 15 standard, with the other ships converted to the cheaper but less effective
Type 16 frigate
The Type 16 frigates were a class of British anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Navy. They were based on the hulls of World War II-era destroyers that had been rendered obsolete by rapid advances in technology. They were similar in concept to ...
design. She, together with and , and was the last Type 15 conversion completed.
Construction
''Troubridge'' was
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 ...
at
John Brown & Company
John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish Naval architecture, marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship), Queen Elizabeth 2''.
At its ...
's
Clydebank
Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...
shipyard on 10 November 1941 and was
launched on 23 September 1942. She was completed on 8 March 1943, and assigned the
Pennant number
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
R00.
Service history
Second World War
On commissioning, ''Troubridge'' was sent to the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
, joining the 24th Destroyer Flotilla.
''Troubridge'' took part in
Operation Corkscrew
Operation Corkscrew was the codename for the Allied invasion of the Italian island of Pantelleria (between Sicily and Tunisia) on 11 June 1943, prior to the Allied invasion of Sicily, during the Second World War. There had been an early plan to ...
, the reduction by bombardment and capture of the island of
Pantellaria
Pantelleria (; Sicilian: ''Pantiddirìa'', Maltese: ''Pantellerija'' or ''Qawsra''), the ancient Cossyra or Cossura, is an Italian island and comune in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Sicily and east of the Tunisi ...
. On 31 May 1943, ''Troubridge'' and the destroyer accompanied the light cruiser when ''Orion'' shelled the island, and on 2/3 June ''Troubridge'', ''Orion'' and the destroyer shelled Pantellaria again. On 5 June the cruiser together with ''Troubridge'' and ''Paladin'' bombarded the island, while on 8 June the bombardment force consisted of the cruisers , ''Newfoundland'', ''Orion'', and , together in conjunction with the destroyers ''Troubridge'', , , , . , and . Finally, on the night of 10/11 June ''Troubridge'' accompanied an invasion force to the island, which surrendered without fighting on 11 June. On 10 July ''Troubridge'' formed part of the covering force 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 invasion of Sicily, with the force patrolling in the
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including C ...
to prevent intervention by the Italian Navy.
After the Allies conquered Sicily, their next step was the
invasion of mainland Italy. From 31 August ''Troubridge'' took part in
Operation Baytown
Operation Baytown was an Allied amphibious landing on the mainland of Italy that took place on 3 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy, itself part of the Italian Campaign, during the Second World War.
Planning
The attack was ...
, their landings in
Calabria
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, demographics1_title2 ...
, escorting the bombardment force and providing artillery support herself,
while on 9 September she took part in
Operation Avalanche
Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but ...
, the Allied landings at
Salerno
Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...
, where she formed part of the covering force. In early 1944, the 24th Flotilla moved to the
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
,
with ''Troubridge'' carrying out bombardment operations against targets on the
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
n coast and the island of
Korčula
Korčula (, it, Curzola) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after K ...
.
On 15 August 1944, the Allies
invaded the South of France, with ''Troubridge'' forming part of the screen for the
Escort carrier
The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...
s of TG88.1, which were providing air cover for the landings. In September 1944 ''Troubridge'', with the rest of her flotilla, returned to the Aegean, where they were employed in interfering with the German evacuation of the Greek islands.
On 13 September ''Troubridge'' and sister ship sank the cargo ship , while on 19 September ''Troubridge'', , and the Polish destroyer
ORP ''Garland'' depth-charged and sank the German submarine south of
Milos
Milos or Melos (; el, label=Modern Greek, Μήλος, Mílos, ; grc, Μῆλος, Mêlos) is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. Milos is the southwesternmost island in the Cyclades group.
The ''Venus d ...
, in position 36°27'N, 24°33'E.
After a refit at
Chatham
Chatham may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Canada
* Chatham Islands (British Columbia)
* Chatham Sound, British Columbia
* Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi
* Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
in December 1944 to January 1945, ''Troubridge'' set out for eastern waters for the war against Japan.
She briefly served with the
East Indies Fleet
The Eastern Fleet, later called the East Indies Fleet, was a Naval fleet, fleet of the Royal Navy which existed between 1941 and 1952.
In 1904, the British First Sea Lord, Admiral John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, Sir John Fisher, ordered that in ...
in March 1945 before joining the
British Pacific Fleet
The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of empire naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944 from the remaining ships ...
in May 1945.
[ Amongst other engagements, she took part in an attack on Truk led by the aircraft carrier on 14–15 June. ''Implacable''s air group launched strikes against Truk on 14 July and ''Troubridge'' escorted the cruiser when she bombarded coastal artillery positions and an airfield on 15 July.] She returned to Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
in 1946.
Postwar service
In December 1946, ''Troubridge'' replaced , badly damaged by a mine
Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to:
Extraction or digging
* Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging
*Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine
Grammar
*Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun
...
off Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
, as leader of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla
The British 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, also styled as Third Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from 1909 to 1939 and again from 1945 to 1951.
History
In 1907 the Channel Fleet had a large Channel Flotilla of destroyers in Fe ...
(later Squadron) in the Mediterranean, returning to Chatham
Chatham may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Canada
* Chatham Islands (British Columbia)
* Chatham Sound, British Columbia
* Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi
* Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
on 16 August 1949, where she was placed in reserve at Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...
.
Between 1955 and 1957 she was converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine
An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...
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 ...
by Portsmouth Dockyard
His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...
and J S White at Cowes 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 ...
. She also received a new pennant number
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
F09. ''Troubridge'' recommissioned on 9 July 1957, and in December that year she became part of the 8th Frigate Squadron for service on the America and West Indies Station. In January–February 1958, ''Troubridge'' took Lord Hailes, the Governor-General of the West Indies Federation
The governor-general of the West Indies Federation was a post in the government of the West Indies. The federation, also known as the British Caribbean Federation, consisted of Antigua (with Barbuda), Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grena ...
on a tour of the West Indies, and in April that year, she was at Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
for the opening of the Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation
The Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation was the bicameral legislature in West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962. It was established as the legislative body in the intended federation of British Caribbean.
One election was held, in 1 ...
. On 21 August 1958, ''Troubridge'' was ordered to Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
in response to a strike
Strike may refer to:
People
*Strike (surname)
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
*Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
on the island, with a detachment being landed to run the island's power station
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many p ...
and restore electricity until the strike ended on 26 August. In 1959 ''Troubridge'' took part in 'Navy Days' in Portsmouth during that year. Following this she was again deployed to the West Indies.
On 29 May 1961, the Danish frigate ''Niels Ebbersen'' attempted to arrest the British trawler ''Red Crusader'' off the Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
for fishing in a prohibited area. ''Niels Ebbersen'' put an unarmed boarding party aboard the trawler, but instead of heading for Tórshavn
Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...
as instructed, ''Red Crusader'' set course for Britain with the boarding party still on board. ''Niels Ebbersen'' fired warning shots at ''Red Crusader'', and when those failed, fired solid shot, which slightly damaged the trawler, which continued towards Scotland with ''Niels Ebbersen'' in pursuit. ''Troubridge'' and the British minesweeper then arrived on the scene, and after a consultation between the commanders of the four ships, the Danish boarding party returned to ''Niels Ebbersen'', while ''Troubridge'' and ''Wotton'' escorted ''Red Crusader'' into Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, with ''Niels Ebberson'' following in nominal pursuit until the ships reached British territorial waters. An international commission later ruled that ''Niels Ebbersen'' had used excessive force in the confrontation with ''Red Crusader''. At the end of October 1961, ''Troubridge'', together with the frigate and the survey ship , carried out relief operations in Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
following Hurricane Hattie
Hurricane Hattie was one of the strongest and deadliest tropical cyclones of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season, reaching a peak intensity as a Category5 hurricane. The ninth tropical storm, seventh hurricane, fifth major hurricane, and secon ...
. On 3 November 1961 ''Troubridge'' was the first ship to enter Belize harbour after the hurricane. ''Troubridge''s crew helped to restore water supplies and attempted to repair Belize's power station.
After rioting in Georgetown, British Guiana
British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana.
The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...
on 16 February 1962, ''Troubridge'', at Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
when the disturbances broke out, was ordered to Georgetown, acting as a command post for Britain's response, and with detachments of her crew carrying out patrols on shore and fighting fires.
On 15 May 1963 she was towed from Portsmouth 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 ...
for refit. She recommissioned on 7 September 1964 and was part of the 27th Escort Squadron, serving in the Far East. along with the vessels , and .
On 8 September 1966 she entered refit at Portsmouth Dockyard
His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...
. Between 1966 and 1968 she was commanded by Richard Thomas.
Decommissioning and disposal
''Troubridge'' was decommissioned for the last time on 29 March 1969 at Chatham. She was subsequently sold for scrap and arrived at the yard of John Cashmore Ltd
John Cashmore Ltd (also known as J Cashmore, or simply as Cashmore's or other derivations) was a company operating largely in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. It became best known for ship breaking and scrapping redundant British railway locomot ...
at Newport, Wales
Newport ( cy, Casnewydd; ) is a city and Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2 ...
on 5 May 1970.
In popular culture
''Troubridge'' was the pun
A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophonic ...
ning inspiration for the fictional "HMS ''TrouTbridge''" in the long-running Radio Comedy ''The Navy Lark
''The Navy Lark'' is a radio sitcom about life aboard a British Royal Navy frigate named HMS ''Troutbridge'' (a play on HMS ''Troubridge'', a Royal Navy destroyer) based in HMNB Portsmouth. In series 1 and 2, the ship and crew were stationed ...
''. (The September 1967 episode is entitled ''Troutbridge's Silver Jubilee'', which exactly accords with ''Troubridges own September 1942 launch date and the crew were the audience for the December 1960 episode "''Johnson's Birthday''").
HMS ''Troubridge'' also supplied the landing crew which rescued the marooned children at the end of the 1963 film version of William Golding
Sir William Gerald Golding (19 September 1911 – 19 June 1993) was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel ''Lord of the Flies'' (1954), he published another twelve volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 1980 ...
's ''Lord of the Flies
''Lord of the Flies'' is a 1954 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves. Themes i ...
''. The destroyer's name can be seen on the caps of two sailors among the landing party.
In a very different role, ''Troubridge'' was used to depict the interior of the fictional "USS ''Bedford''" in the 1965 cold-war film drama ''The Bedford Incident
''The Bedford Incident'' is a 1965 British-American Cold War film starring Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier and co-produced by Widmark. The cast also features Eric Portman, James MacArthur, Martin Balsam and Wally Cox, as well as early appe ...
''. British military equipment is visible in several shots, including a rack of Lee–Enfield
The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the British Army's st ...
rifles. ''Troubridge''s novel forward-sloping bridge windows are also to be seen in the Bridge shots. (The Type 15 frigate
The Type 15 frigate was a class of United Kingdom, British anti-submarine warfare, anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Navy. They were conversions based on the hulls of World War II-era destroyers built to the standard War Emergency Programme d ...
used for the opening scenes is F159: ).
References
Publications
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Further reading
*
External links
Troubridge website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Troubridge (R00)
S and T-class destroyers
Ships built on the River Clyde
1942 ships
World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom
Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom
Type 15 frigates of the Royal Navy
Cold War frigates of the United Kingdom