HMS ''Ulster'' was a U-class destroyer 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 ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

that saw service during

World War II 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 opposing ...

. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F83. ''Ulster'' was the second vessel in Royal Navy history to have that name. With funds gathered through a Naval Savings Campaign in 1942 known as

Warship Week Warship Weeks were British National savings campaigns during the Second World War, with the aim of a Royal Navy warship being adopted by a civil community. During the early parts of the war, the Royal Navy not only had lost many capital ships bu ...

, the ship was adopted by the civil community of

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

's County Down.

Specifications

HMS ''Ulster'' had a displacement of 2091 tons when full and dimensions of long, wide and a draught of . She was powered by 2 Admiralty 3 drum type water boilers, which gave through twin shafts making a top speed of . Her range was . The crew complement was 180 hands. Armaments on the original construction and fitting consisted of: four 4.7-inch Mark IX guns, two 40mm Bofors, six QF 20mm Oerlikons and two quad-mounted 21-inch (533 mm) Mark IX

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s, as well as radar, sonar and depth charges.

Service history

Second World War service

In June 1943 construction was completed and ''Ulster'' went into duty in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. By the end of the year she would be on duty in 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 Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

and Adriatic on anti-submarine missions, receiving damage from return fire. In April 1944 the destroyer would return to home waters and towards the end of the year would refit and have new radar and advanced warning systems installed. At the beginning of 1945 ''Ulster'' was transferred to 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 o ...

with the pendant "D", in keeping with the American system.

Pacific

''Ulster'', while serving with the British Pacific Fleet, had a near miss by a Japanese

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending t ...

and a 500 lb bomb during

Operation Iceberg 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-Ma ...

, the invasion of Okinawa. ''Ulster'' had her machinery spaces blown in and had to be towed to

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

for temporary repairs, whence it sailed for Australia. Two sailors died and one was seriously injured in the attack. Nearly six months after the attack in October 1945 ''Ulster'' made it back to HM Dockyard, Chatham in England to undergo full repairs.

Post-War

After the Second World War ''Ulster'' was mostly used as a training vessel and for reserve purposes. Between 1953 and 1956 she underwent a full conversion to a

Type 15 frigate The Type 15 frigate was a class of British 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 "utility" design. History By 1945 th ...

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 ...

. In 1957 she joined the 8th Frigate Squadron. Soon she was on duty in Iceland, Azores, and assigned to the

North America and West Indies Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the ...

, based at the Royal Naval Dockyard in

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

, cruising to the West Indies and visiting the United States. In 1958 ''Ulster'' helped to restore power ashore in Nassau, Bahamas. In 1964 she was again put into reserve in Plymouth. A year later in 1965, ''Ulster'' was re-commissioned in the 2nd Frigate Squadron, but then in 1967 was withdrawn from operational service. In 1966, the heavily damaged stern was replaced with that of . During the late 1960s, ''Ulster'' was used by naval ratings from for seagoing training in the Sonar Control Room (SCR). In 1970 she was present at Portsmouth Navy Days; at the time she was the Navy's Navigational Training Ship.Programme, ''Navy Days Portsmouth, 29–31 August 1970'', p19. The destroyer was used as a training hulk at between 1974 and 1980. Finally in 1980 ''Ulster'' was bought by

Thos. W. Ward Thos. W. Ward Ltd was a Sheffield, Yorkshire, steel, engineering and cement business, which began as coal and coke merchants. It expanded into recycling metal for Sheffield's steel industry, and then the supply and manufacture of machinery. I ...

and broken up.

References

Publications

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