HMS Rushen Castle on the River Tyne, February 1944 | |
History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Rushen Castle |
Namesake | Castle Rushen |
Builder | Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd |
Launched | 16 July 1943 |
Commissioned | 23 February 1944 |
Identification | Pennant number: K372 |
Fate | Transferred to British Air Ministry 26 September 1960 |
United Kingdom | |
Name | Weather Surveyor |
Acquired | 26 September 1960 |
Commissioned | 21 December 1961 |
Identification | IMO number: 5387180 |
Fate | Sold on 15 July 1977 and converted to a salvage vessel. Scrapped 1983 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Castle-class corvette |
Displacement | |
Length | 252 ft (76.8 m) |
Beam | 33 ft (10.1 m) |
Draught | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 2 shafts, 2 geared steam turbines |
Speed | 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) |
Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Complement | 99 |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Armament |
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HMS Rushen Castle (K372) was a Castle-class corvette of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. She was named after Castle Rushen in Castletown, Isle of Man.
Built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, she was launched on 16 July 1943 and finished on 23 February 1944 - she served as a convoy escort during the Second World War.
She was transferred to the British Air Ministry on 26 September 1960 for use as a weather ship, and was commissioned as Weather Surveyor on 21 December 1961. She was sold on 15 July 1977 and converted to a salvage vessel. She was scrapped at Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht in the Netherlands in 1983.
The wartime commanding officer, R. C. Warwick, RNR, published a book, Really Not Required, detailing his wartime experience on this ship and his previous command, the anti-submarine trawler HMS Saint Loman.
References
Publications
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Warwick, Colin, 1997. Really Not Required, Pentland Press, ISBN 1858214777
External links
- Weather Surveyor at www.weatherships.co.uk, including several pictures.