The Castle-class corvette was a stretched version of the preceding Flower class, enlarged to improve seakeeping and to accommodate modern weapons. The ships displaced 1010LT at standard load and 1510LT at deep load. They had an overall length of 252feet, a beam of 36feet and a deep draught of 14feet. They were powered by a pair of triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The engines developed a total of 2880ihp and gave a maximum speed of 16.5kn. The Castles carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 6500nmi at . The ships' complement was 99 officers and ratings.[1]
The Castle-class ships were equipped with a single QF 4adj=onNaNadj=on Mk XVI gun forward, but their primary weapon was their single three-barrel Squid anti-submarine mortar. This was backed up by one depth charge rail and two throwers for 15 depth charges. The ships were fitted with two twin and a pair of single mounts for 20mm Oerlikon light AA guns.[2] Provision was made for a further four single mounts if needed. They were equipped with Type 145Q and Type 147B ASDIC sets to detect submarines by reflections from sound waves beamed into the water. A Type 277 search radar and a HF/DF radio direction finder rounded out the Castles' sensor suite.[3]
Hurst Castle, the only ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy,[4] was ordered on 2 February 1943 from Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company and was laid down at their shipyard in Dundee on 6 August.[5] She was launched on 23 February 1944 and was completed on 9 June. The ship sailed to the anti-submarine training base in Tobermory, Mull, HMS Western Isles, for working up. Hurst Castle was assigned to Escort Group B3 on 3 July and escorted Convoy OS 85/KMS 59 from Britain to Gibraltar on 2 August. The group escorted Convoy SL 167/MKS 58 from Gibraltar to the UK later that month.[6]
On 30 August Hurst Castle and her sister ship departed Derry, Northern Ireland, to rendezvous with Force 33 the following day. After meeting up with the other ships, they were tasked to search for the which had been spotted by a Royal Air Force Consolidated B-24 Liberator patrol aircraft on the morning of 1 September. At 08:25, Hurst Castle was struck port side aft by a torpedo fired by the submarine; the ship sank in six minutes at 55.5833°N -19°W with the loss of 17 ratings. The escort destroyer rescued all 102 survivors.[7]
. British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Naval Institute Press. Annapolis, Maryland. 1998. 1-55750-048-7. Henry Trevor Lenton.
. Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. Annapolis, Maryland. 2005. Third Revised. 1-59114-119-2. Jürgen Rohwer.