HMS Eridge (L68)

Eridge in July 1941
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Eridge
Builder	Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear
Laid down	21 November 1939
Launched	20 August 1940
Commissioned	28 February 1941
Reclassified	Base ship on 29 August 1942 (constructive total loss)
Fate	Sold for scrap, 1946
General characteristics Type II
Class and type	Hunt-class destroyer
Displacement	1,050 long tons (1,070 t) standard 1,430 long tons (1,450 t) full load
Length	85.3 m (279 ft 10 in) o/a
Beam	9.6 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught	2.51 m (8 ft 3 in)
Propulsion	2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 2 shaft Parsons geared turbines, 19,000 shp (14,000 kW)
Speed	27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h) 25.5 kn (29.3 mph; 47.2 km/h) full
Range	3,600 nmi (6,700 km) at 14 kn (26 km/h)
Complement	164
Armament	6 × QF 4 in Mark XVI on twin mounts Mk. XIX 4 × QF 2 pdr Mk. VIII on quad mount MK.VII 2 × 20 mm Oerlikons on single mounts P Mk. III 110 depth charges, 2 throwers, 3 racks
Service record
Commanders:	Lt.Cdr. William Frank Niemann Gregory-Smith

HMS Eridge was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1940 and served during the Second World War.

On 29 August 1942, Eridge assisted the destroyers Hero and Hurworth in sinking the German submarine U-568.^[1] At 04:15 on 29 August 1942, she began shelling Axis positions off El Daba, Egypt, at 31°7′N 28°26′E / 31.117°N 28.433°E / 31.117; 28.433, together with the destroyers Croome and Hursley. At 05:00, she was permanently disabled by a 450mm torpedo fired by the Italian motor torpedo boat MTSM-228. The attack caused five fatalities on board Eridge.^[2]

She was towed to Alexandria by the destroyer Aldenham,^[3] where Eridge was declared a constructive total loss due to structural damage to the hull and damage beyond repair to the main turbines, condenser, gearing and intermediate shaft. The destroyer was used as a base ship in situ for the rest of the war and sold for scrapping in October 1946.^[4]

• 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.
• English, John (1987). The Hunts: a history of the design, development and careers of the 86 destroyers of this class built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II. England: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-44-4.

• Gregory-Smith, Frank (2008). Red Tobruk: Memoirs of a World War II Destroyer Commander. Pen & Sword Maritime. ISBN 978-1-84415-862-1.

• HMS Eridge (L 68)
• Captain Frank Gregory-Smith - Daily Telegraph obituary

• v
• t
• e

Hunt-class destroyers

Type I
Royal Navy	Atherstone Berkeley Blencathra Brocklesby Cattistock Cleveland Cotswold Cottesmore Eglinton Exmoor (L61) Fernie Garth Hambledon Holderness Liddesdale Mendip Meynell Pytchley Quantock Quorn Southdown Tynedale Whaddon
Republic of China Navy	Lin Fu (ex-Mendip)
Ecuadorian Navy	Presidente Alfaro (ex-Quantock) Presidente Velasco Ibarra (ex-Meynell)
Egyptian Navy	Mohamed Ali el-Kebir (1949) / Ibrahim el-Awal (1951) (ex-Mendip) Ibrahim el-Awal (1950) / Mohamed Ali el-Kebir (1951)/ Port Said (ex-Cottesmore)
Israeli Navy	Haifa (ex-Ibrahim el-Awal (1951))

Type II
Royal Navy	Avon Vale Badsworth Beaufort Bedale Bicester Blackmore Blankney Bramham Burton / Exmoor (L08) Calpe Chiddingfold Cowdray Croome Dulverton Eridge Farndale Grove Heythrop Hursley Hurworth Lamerton Lauderdale Ledbury Middleton Oakley (L72) Puckeridge Southwold Silverton Tetcott Tickham / Oakley (L98) Wheatland Wilton Zetland
Royal Danish Navy	Esbern Snare (ex-Blackmore) Rolf Krake (ex-Calpe) Valdemar Sejr (ex-Exmoor (L08))
German Navy	Gneisenau (ex-Oakley (L98))
Royal Hellenic Navy	Aigaion (ex-Lauderdale) Admiral Hastings (L52) (ex-Cowdray) Themistoklis (ex-Bramham) Kriti (ex-Hursley)
Indian Navy	Godavari (ex-Bedale) Gomati (ex-Lamerton) Ganga (ex-Chiddingfold)
Royal Norwegian Navy	Arendal (ex-Badsworth) Haugesund (ex-Beaufort) Tromsø (ex-Zetland)
Free Polish Navy	Krakowiak (ex-Silverton) Kujawiak (ex-Oakley (L72)) Ślązak (ex-Bedale)

Type III
Royal Navy	Airedale Albrighton Aldenham Belvoir Blean Bleasdale Bolebroke Border Catterick Derwent Easton Eggesford Eskdale Glaisdale Goathland Haldon Hatherleigh Haydon Holcombe Limbourne Melbreak Modbury Penylan Rockwood Stevenstone Talybont Tanatside Wensleydale
Free French Naval Forces	La Combattante (ex-Haldon)
German Navy	Raule (ex-Albrighton) Brommy (ex-Eggesford)
Royal Hellenic Navy	Adrias (L67) (ex-Border) Adrias (D06) (ex-Tanatside) Hastings (L81) (ex-Catterick) Kanaris (ex-Hatherleigh) Miaoulis (ex-Modbury) Pindos (ex-Bolebroke)
Royal Norwegian Navy	Eskdale Narvik (ex-Glaisdale)

Type IV
Royal Navy	Brecon Brissenden

• Preceded by: N class
• Followed by: L class

• List of destroyer classes of the Royal Navy

This article about a specific destroyer of the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e