HMS Bickerton was a of the Royal Navy. She served during the World War II as a convoy escort and anti-submarine warfare vessel in the Battle of the Atlantic and was an effective U-boat killer, being credited with the destruction of two U-boats during a service career of just 10 months. Bickerton was lost in action on 22 August 1944.
Originally this ship was provisionally given the name USS Eisele (this name was reassigned to). However the delivery was diverted to the Royal Navy before launch, and she was renamed for Sir Richard Bickerton commander of at the First Battle of Ushant during the American Revolutionary War..
Bickerton was ordered on 10 January 1942, as DE-75, a long-hulled turbo-diesel (TE) type destroyer escort, one of more than 500 such vessels built for ASW to a collaborative British-American design.[1] She was laid down on 3 May 1943, by the Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard in Hingham, Massachusetts.She was launched on 24 July and completed 17 October, in the remarkably (but not unusually) short build time of 5 months 14 days[2] [3]
On commissioning and working up Bickerton sailed for Britain, where she was modified to meet Royal Navy requirements. In March 1944 she was allocated to Western Approaches Command as senior ship of 5th Escort Group under her new captain, Cdr. D MacIntyre
In April 5EG joined ON 233 as support group, but was detached to hunt for a U-boat on weather-reporting duty. On 6 May 1944, the German submarine was found and sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from Bickerton, operating alongside two Fairey Swordfish (No. 825 Squadron) of the escort carrier and frigates and . Of the crew of U-765, 37 died and 11 survived.[4] A further search for the U-boat sent as U-765s relief was unsuccessful.
In June Bickerton and 5EG were deployed in the English Channel as part of Operation Neptune, the naval component of the Normandy landings. Their task was to guard against interference by U-boats from the Biscay ports. On 15 June the group was in an unsuccessful action against a U-boat, during which the frigate Mourne was sunk. (The U-boat, U-767, was caught three days later and destroyed by 14 EG.)[5]
Ten days later on 25 June, off Start Point, Bickerton and 5 EG found and sank . Of the crew of U-269, 13 died and 39 survived.
in August 1944 Bickerton and 5EG were escorting the escort carriers (and) from the Home Fleet (under Admiral Moore), which covered the convoy JW 59 and launched further attacks (Operation Goodwood) on the German battleship in Altenfjord. Before the group was able to launch an attack on Tirpitz, encountered them on her search for the convoy northwest of the North Cape in the Barents Sea. At about 01:00 on 22 August, at position 71.7°N 30°W, U-354 badly damaged Nabob with a pattern-running FAT torpedo spread. The U-boat then tried to sink her at 01:22 with a GNAT homing torpedo, which struck Bickerton. She was subsequently scuttled by a torpedo from, to focus the recovery effort on Nabob. Two days later U-354 was herself sunk attacking convoy JW 59.[6]
Bickerton earned the following battle honours for service:[7]
During her service Bickerton was credited with the destruction of two U-boats.
| Date | U-boat | Type | Location[8] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 May 1944 | VIIC | North Atlantic 52.5°N -56°W | Sighted by Swordfish X/825 from Vindex; depth-charged, shelled by Bickerton, Aylmer, Bligh, Keats.[9] [10] | |
| 25 June 1944 | VIIC | English Channel 50.0167°N -61°W | depth-charged by Bickerton south-east of Start Point.[11] [12] | |