HMS Cawsand Bay (K644)

300px Cawsand Bay in June 1946
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Cawsand Bay
Namesake:	Cawsand Bay
Ordered:	25 January 1943
Builder:	Blyth Shipbuilding Company, Blyth, Northumberland
Laid down:	24 April 1944
Launched:	26 February 1945
Commissioned:	13 November 1945
Decommissioned:	11 March 1946
Identification:	pennant number K644
Fate:	Sold for scrapping, 1959
Badge:	On a Field per fess Gold and Blue an anchor counter charged within a circle composed of in chief four roses Red barbed and seeded proper and in base four bezants Gold.
General characteristics
Class & type:	Bay-class frigate
Displacement:	1,600 long tons (1,626 t) standard 2,530 long tons (2,571 t) full
Length:	286 ft (87 m) p/p 307 ft 3 in (93.65 m) o/a
Beam:	38 ft 6 in (11.73 m)
Draught:	12 ft 9 in (3.89 m)
Propulsion:	2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, 4-cylinder vertical triple expansion reciprocating engines, 5,500 ihp (4,100 kW)
Speed:	19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph)
Range:	724 tons oil fuel, 9,500 nmi (17,600 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Complement:	157
Sensors and processing systems:	Type 285 fire control radar Type 291 air warning radar Type 276 target indication radar High Frequency Direction Finder (HF/DF) IFF transponder
Armament:	4 × QF 4 inch Mark XVI guns on 2 twin mounting HA/LA Mk.XIX 4 × 40 mm Bofors A/A on 2 twin mounts Mk.V 4 × 20 mm Oerlikon A/A on 2 twin mounts Mk.V 1 × Hedgehog 24 barrel A/S projector 2 rails and 4 throwers for 50 depth charges

HMS Cawsand Bay was a Bay-class anti-aircraft frigate of the British Royal Navy, named for Cawsand Bay in Cornwall.

The ship was originally ordered from the Blyth Shipbuilding Company of Blyth, Northumberland on 25 January 1943 as the Loch-class frigate Loch Rowan, and laid down on 24 April 1944. However the contract was then changed, and the ship was completed to a revised design as a Bay-class anti-aircraft frigate, launched on 26 February 1945, and completed on 13 November 1945.

Service history

After sea trials in November and December 1945, Cawsand Bay was attached for service in the Rosyth Local Flotilla, joining in February 1946. However she was almost immediately nominated for reduction to Reserve status, sailing to Portsmouth to decommission on 11 March.

Cawsand Bay remained in Reserve at Portsmouth until 1958 when she placed on the Disposal List. The ship was sold for demolition to an Italian ship-breaker and towed to Genoa, arriving on 5 September 1959.