|
HMS ''Kempenfelt'' was a C-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. A flotilla leader, she saw service in the Home Fleet before World War II and the ship made several deployments to Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. ''Kempenfelt'' was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1939 and renamed HMCS ''Assiniboine''. During World War II, she served as a convoy escort in the battle of the Atlantic, sinking one German submarine by ramming, on anti-submarine patrols during the invasion of Normandy, and was employed as a troop transport after VE Day for returning Canadian servicemen, before being decommissioned in mid-1945. ''Assiniboine'' was sold for scrap in 1945, but she ran aground while being towed to the breakers and was not broken up until 1952. ==Design and construction== ''Kempenfelt'' displaced at standard load and at deep load. The ship had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . Steam for the turbines was provided by three Yarrow water-tube boilers. ''Kempenfelt'' carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave her a range of at . The ship's complement was 175 officers and men.〔Whitley, p. 27〕 The ship mounted four 45-calibre 4.7-inch Mark IX guns in single mounts, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, ''Kempenfelt'' had a single QF 3-inch 20 cwt〔"cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 30 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.〕 AA gun between her funnels, and two QF 2-pounder Mk II AA guns mounted on the aft end of her forecastle deck. The AA gun was removed in 1936 and the 2-pounders were relocated to between the funnels. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for 21-inch torpedoes.〔Lenton, p. 154〕 Three depth-charge chutes were fitted, each with a capacity of two depth charges. After World War II began this was increased to 33 depth charges, delivered by one or two rails and two throwers.〔Friedman, pp. 209, 236, 298–99〕 The changes made to ''Assiniboine''s armament during the war (dates can only be roughly assigned) were first the replacement of the ship's rear torpedo tube mount by a 12-pounder AA gun and the 2-pounders were exchanged for quadruple Mark I mounts for the QF 0.5-inch Vickers Mk III machine gun. Later, 'Y' gun was also removed to allow her depth charge stowage to be increased to at least 60 depth charges. 'X' gun was later removed and the 12-pounder was resited in its place to further increased her depth charge capacity. Later changes included fitting a split Hedgehog anti-submarine spigot mortar on each side of 'A' gun, exchanging her two quadruple .50-calibre Vickers machine guns mounted between her funnels for two Oerlikon 20 mm AA guns, and the addition of two Oerlikon guns to her searchlight platform. The ship's director-control tower and rangefinder above the bridge were removed in exchange for a Type 271 target indication radar. A Type 286 short-range surface search radar was also added as was an HF/DF radio direction finder on a short mainmast.〔Lenton, pp. 154–55〕 The ship was ordered on 15 July 1930 from J. Samuel White at Cowes under the 1929 Programme. ''Kempenfelt'' was laid down on 18 October 1930, launched on 30 September 1931,〔English, p. 45〕 as the 2nd ship to carry the name,〔Colledge, p. 184〕 and completed on 30 May 1932.〔 Built as a flotilla leader, she displaced 15 long tons more than the rest of her class and carried an extra 30 personnel. These personnel formed the staff of the Captain (D) of the flotilla.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMS Kempenfelt (I18)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|