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

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 opposi ...

Service history

Second World War service

''Urchin'' formed part of 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 ...

during the latter part of the War. USS Randolph (CV-15) and HMS Urchin (D28) off Japan 1945

Post War service

Following service in the Second World War ''Urchin'' was held in reserve at Harwich, then Chatham Dockyard until 1952. Between 1952 and 1954 she was converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, by Barclay Curle, Glasgow. Following this she was allocated the new pennant number F196. She re-commissioned on 3 June 1954 into the 3rd Training Squadron, based at Londonderry. In 1956 she went back into reserve at Portsmouth Dockyard. In 1957 she was refitted as a training frigate and re-commissioned for service with the Dartmouth Training Squadron. She subsequently served off Iceland during the '

Cod wars The Cod Wars ( is, Þorskastríðin; also known as , ; german: Kabeljaukriege) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of ...

' in 1959.

Decommissioning and disposal

''Urchin'' was decommissioned in 1964 and placed on the Disposal List. Before sale for breaking-up her stern structure was removed and fitted to sister ship during 1966. The hulk was later towed to

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O ope ...

, where she arrived in August 1967 for demolition.

References

Publications

History of HMS ''Urchin'' at naval-history.net
* * * * * 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