HMS Erne (U03)

HMS Erne, pennant number U03, was a Black Swan-class sloop in the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Furness Shipbuilding at Haverton Hill-on-Tees, Co. Durham on 21 September 1939, launched on 5 August 1940 and commissioned on 3 April 1941. She was adopted by the district of Bootle, then in Lancashire, as part of Warship Week in 1942.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Erne.

HMS Erne in March 1943
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Erne
BuilderFurness Shipbuilding
Laid down21 September 1939
Launched5 August 1940
Commissioned3 April 1941
IdentificationPennant number U03
MottoSurtout: 'Above all'
Honours and
awards
  • NORTH AFRICA 1942
  • ATLANTIC 1942–45
  • SICILY 1943
FateScrapped 27 October 1965
BadgeOn a field blue, an Erne rising white
General characteristics
Class and typeBlack Swan-class sloop

She took her name like others in her class from birds, in this case a white-tailed eagle, also known as the erne.

Service history

On 30 April 1941, while Erne was still at the builders yard (4 days after commissioning), a near miss during a German air attack caused heavy damage. Repairs took until June 1942.

On 31 July 1942, depth charges from the three British sloops Erne, Rochester and Sandwich sank the German submarine U-213 in the North Atlantic east of the Azores, in position 36º45'N, 22º50'W.

On 29 August 1942, Erne, scuttled the Dutch merchant Zuiderkerk with depth charges. The German submarine U-566 had torpedoed Zuiderkerk west-north-west of Lisbon, Portugal in position 40º20'N, 16º02'W. A torpedo had caused extensive flooding of the forward holds, which forced the 56 crew members and twelve passengers to abandon ship in the early morning. Leith picked up the survivors.

Fate

Erne was reduced to a drill ship on 4 June 1952 and renamed Wessex. In 1965 she was sold for scrap and arrived at Antwerp on 27 October 1965 where she was broken up.

Notes

    Publications
    • Hague, Arnold (1993). Sloops: A History of the 71 Sloops Built in Britain and Australia for the British, Australian and Indian Navies 1926–1946. Kendal, England: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-67-3.
    • 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.
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