Frigate of the Royal Navy
History
United States
Name USS Gillette (DE-270)
Namesake U.S. Navy Lieutenant, junior grade Douglas Wiley Gillette (1918-1942), killed in action aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in 1942
Ordered 25 January 1942[ 1]
Builder Boston Navy Yard , Boston , Massachusetts
Laid down 7 April 1943[ 2]
Launched 19 May 1943
Sponsored by Mrs. Thomas O'Dea
Completed 8 September 1943
Fate Transferred to United Kingdom 8 September 1943
Acquired Returned by United Kingdom 22 August 1945[ 2]
Name USS Foley (DE-270)
Namesake British name retained
Commissioned 22 August 1945
Decommissioned 19 October 1945
Stricken 1 November 1945[ 2]
Fate Sold 19 June 1946 for scrapping[ 2]
United Kingdom
Name HMS Foley (K474)
Namesake Admiral Sir Thomas Foley (1757-1833), British naval officer
Acquired 8 September 1943[ 2]
Commissioned 8 September 1943[ 1]
Fate Returned to United States 22 August 1945
General characteristics
Displacement 1,140 long tons (1,158 t)
Length 289.5 ft (88.2 m)
Beam 35 ft (11 m)
Draught 9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion
Four General Motors 278A 16-cylinder engines
GE 7,040 bhp (5,250 kW) generators (4,800 kW)
GE electric motors for 6,000 shp (4,500 kW)
Two shafts
Speed 20 knots (37 km/h)
Range 5,000 nautical miles (9,260 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement 156
Sensors and processing systems
Armament
Notes Pennant number K474
The second HMS Foley (K474) was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II . Originally constructed as the United States Navy Evarts -class destroyer escort USS Gillette (DE-270) , she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1945 and in the U.S. Navy as USS Foley (DE-270) from August to October 1945.
Construction and transfer
The ship was ordered as the U.S. Navy destroyer escort DE-270 on 25 January 1942[ 1] [ 2] and assigned the name USS Gillette , the first ship of the name, on 23 February 1943. She was laid down by the Boston Navy Yard in Boston , Massachusetts , on 7 April 1943[ 2] and launched on 19 May 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Thomas O'Dea. The United States transferred the ship to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease upon completion on 8 September 1943.[ 2]
Service history
Royal Navy, 1943-1945
Commissioned into service in the Royal Navy as HMS Foley (K474) on 8 September 1943[ 1] simultaneously with her transfer, the ship served on patrol and escort duty. On 21 November 1943 she joined the British sloop HMS Crane (U23) in a depth-charge attack that sank the German submarine U-538 in the North Atlantic Ocean southwest of Ireland at position 45°40′00″N 019°35′00″W / 45.66667°N 19.58333°W / 45.66667; -19.58333 (U-538 sunk ) .[ 1]
The Royal Navy returned Foley to the U.S. Navy at Harwich , England , on 22 August 1945.[ 2]
U.S. Navy, 1945
The ship was commissioned into the U.S. Navy as USS Foley (DE-270) on 22 August 1945 simultaneously with her return . She moved to Trinity Bay on 28 August 1945, and on 29 August 1945 departed Trinity Bay as a part of Task Group 21.3. She crossed the Atlantic Ocean , called briefly at Naval Station Argentia in the Dominion of Newfoundland , and arrived at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , on 10 September 1945. She remained there until decommissioned on 19 October 1945.
Disposal
The U.S. Navy struck Foley from its Naval Vessel Register on 1 November 1945. She was sold on 19 June 1946 for scrapping.
Citations
References
External links