HMS ''Rye'' (J76) was a built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

Design and description

The ''Bangor'' class was designed as a small minesweeper that could be easily built in large numbers by civilian shipyards; as

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 were difficult to manufacture, the ships were designed to accept a wide variety of engines. ''Rye'' displaced at standard load and at deep load. The ship had an overall length of , 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 .Lenton, pp. 253–54 The ship's complement consisted of 60 officers and ratings.Chesneau, p. 64 She was powered by two

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 ...

geared steam turbines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two

Admiralty three-drum boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, an ...

s. The engines produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . ''Rye'' carried a maximum of of

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...

that gave her a range of at .Lenton, p. 254 The turbine-powered ''Bangor''s were armed with a 12-pounder

anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

and a single QF 2-pounder (4 cm) AA gun. In some ships the 2-pounder was replaced a single or twin

20 mm Oerlikon 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 ...

AA gun, while most ships were fitted with four additional single Oerlikon mounts over the course of the war. For escort work, her minesweeping gear could be exchanged for around 40

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 ...

Construction and career

''Rye'' was built by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in Troon, Scotland and commissioned in 1941. 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 J 76. ''Rye'' served in the Mediterranean Sea based in Malta as part of the

14th/17th Minesweeper Flotilla The 14th/17th Minesweeper Flotilla was a Royal Navy minesweeper flotilla based in Malta during the Second World War. History The flotilla comprised four fleet minesweepers from the Devonport based 14th M/S Flotilla – two ( and ) and two ...

. She took part in the Malta Convoys, notably Operation Harpoon during which she rescued 84 survivors from the SS ''Chant'', and in

Operation Pedestal Operation Pedestal ( it, Battaglia di Mezzo Agosto, Battle of mid-August), known in Malta as (), was a British operation to carry supplies to the island of Malta in August 1942, during the Second World War. Malta was a base from which British ...

during which she was one of the ships that rescued the SS ''Ohio''. The ''Rye''s captain, Iain Pearson, was awarded a bar to his

DSC DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

for service during the Malta Convoys. After the Mediterranean, ''Rye'' returned to Home waters and served with the 14th M/S Flotilla based in Plymouth. She was part of Operation Neptune, the naval component of

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

(

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

). The flotilla participated in minesweeping operations from 5–30 June, initially clearing paths through the German minefields to the invasion beaches, and subsequently clearing wider areas to allow transport and supply vessels to operate in safety.

Postwar

''Rye'' was decommissioned on 24 August 1948. She was scrapped at Purfleet in Essex in September 1948. Her ensign is laid up in St Mary's parish church in the town of

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

. The Rye and District

Sea Cadets Sea cadets are members of a sea cadet corps, a formal uniformed youth organisation for young people with an interest in waterborne activities and or the national navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the navy or a naval s ...

maintain the traditions of HMS ''Rye''.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

HMS Rye (J 76)
- ''uboat.net''

Operation Harpoon, 15 June 1942

HMS Rye record at Clydebuilt Ships Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rye (J76) Bangor-class minesweepers of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Clyde 1940 ships World War II minesweepers of the United Kingdom