HMS Lark (U11)

HMS Lark was a modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock on 5 May 1942, launched on 28 August 1943 and commissioned on 10 April 1944, with the pennant number U11.[1]

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

HMS Lark anchored in 1944.
History
United Kingdom
NameLark
NamesakeLark
Ordered27 March 1941
BuilderScotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock
Laid down5 May 1942
Launched28 August 1943
Commissioned10 April 1944
Decommissioned17 February 1945
IdentificationPennant number: U11
FateHanded over to Soviet Navy
Soviet Union
NameNeptun
NamesakeNeptun
AcquiredJune 1945
FateScrapped in 1956
General characteristics
Class and typeModified Black Swan-class sloop
Displacement1,350 tons
Length283 ft (86 m)
Beam38.5 ft (11.7 m)
Propulsion
  • Geared turbines
  • two shafts
Speed20 knots (37 km/h) at 4,300 hp (3,200 kW)
Complement192 men + 1 Cat
Armament

Service in Royal Navy

Upon completion of her preparations in Tobermory, the Lark was deployed to defend convoys for Western Command.

In May and June 1944, she was part of the 114th Escort Group with the sloop HMS Crane, HMS Blankney, HMS Chelmer and HMS Torrington to escort the assault convoys during the Allied landings in Normandy. during Operation Neptune.

She was assigned to protect arctic convoys (convoys JW 61 to JW 64 and RA 61 to RA 64) to supply the Russian front in Kola Bay.

On 17 February 1945, U-425 was sunk in the Barents Sea east of the Rybatchi Peninsula by depth charges from HMS Lark and HMS Alnwick Castle at the geographic position. The same day, at 10:15 a.m., the German submarine U-968 fired an acoustic torpedo at convoy RA 64 and observed a hit after 6 minutes 20 seconds. In fact, HMS Lark was hit aft northeast of Murmansk so she was towed into Kola Bay and grounded near Rosta.[1]

HMS Lark was unequipped at Rosta because she was unable to return to the UK under tow. In June 1945, the carcass from which most of the equipment was removed was handed over to the Soviet Navy.

Service in Soviet Navy

Postwar reports suggest that she may have later been taken into Russian Navy under the name Neptun, but this has not been proven. It is unlikely that the hull was rebuilt and retooled for further use.[2]

References
  1. "HMS Lark (U 11) (British Sloop) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  2. "HMS Lark, sloop". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 20 October 2020.

Further reading
  • Blair, Clay Gardiner (2000). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942–1945. New York: Modern Library. ISBN 0-679-64033-9.
  • Gardiner, Robert Gardiner (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946. Conway Maritime Press. p. 456. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
  • Gardiner, Robert Gardiner (1996). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995. US Naval Institute Press. p. 675. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
  • 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.
  • 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.
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