HMS ''Urania'' was a U-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 Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. After the war 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 ...

and was scrapped in 1971.

Service history

Second World War service

''Urania'' saw service during the Second World War as part of the British Pacific Fleet.

Post War service

From 1947 until 1950 ''Urania'' was held in reserve at Devonport Dockyard. She was converted into a reserve fleet accommodation ship in 1949, and was based at Devonport. On 11 November 1950 she arrived at Hawthorn Leslie on the Tyne for a refit and was again in reserve at Harwich in 1952. On 23 April 1953 she arrived in Liverpool for conversion into a Type 15 fast

, by Harland and Wolff. Her

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 ...

was also changed from R05 to F08. On completion of her conversion she was commissioned on 2 January 1955 into the

6th Frigate Squadron The 6th Frigate Squadron was an administrative unit of the Royal Navy from 1950 to 2002. History During its existence, the squadron included , Type 15, , , , and Type 23 frigates. Ships from the squadron participated in the Coronation Fleet ...

, for service in the Mediterranean, with other Type 15 frigates , and . They collectively took part in the Suez Operation and Cyprus emergency before returning home. In 1958 she was returned to the reserve at Devonport dockyard before another refit. On 7 January 1959 she re-commissioned for trials before returning to reserve.

Decommissioning and disposal

From 1962 until 1967 she was held in reserve at Devonport. In January 1967 she was transferred to the operational reserve. She was subsequently sold for scrap and arrived at Faslane for breaking up on 2 February 1971.

Notes

Publications

* * * * * U and V-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness 1943 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom Type 15 frigates Cold War frigates of the United Kingdom {{UK-destroyer-stub