HMS Cottesmore - St Nicholas - Cottesmore, Rutland
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SMacB
N 52° 42.771 W 000° 39.926
30U E 657699 N 5842885
A lifebuoy and other memorabilia from the HMS Cottesmore, an Escort Destroyer that saw service in World War Two, 'adopted' by the county of Rutland as part of a National Savings Warship Week Campaign in 1942.
Waymark Code: WM10JEF
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 05/15/2019
Views: 1
"On the wall is a lifebuoy from the HMS Cottesmore, an Escort Destroyer that saw service in World War Two. The county of Rutland 'adopted' the Cottesmore as part of a National Savings Warship Week Campaign in March 1942 (
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"Three ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Cottesmore after the Cottesmore hunt (
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"HMS Cottesmore (L78) was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy.
HMS Cottesmore was ordered from the Scottish shipbuilder Yarrow on 11 April 1939, as part of the second batch of ten Hunt-class destroyers, following on from the first batch of ten Hunts ordered in March that year. The Hunts were meant to fill the Royal Navy's need for a large number of small destroyer-type vessels capable of both convoy escort and operations with the fleet, and were designed with a heavy anti-aircraft armament of six 4-inch anti-aircraft guns and a speed of 29 knots (33 mph; 54 km/h). An error during design, which was only discovered once the first ship of the class Atherstone was built, meant that the ships as designed were dangerously unstable. To restore stability, the first 23 Hunts, including Cottesmore, were modified by removing a twin 4-inch mount, cutting down the ships' superstructure and adding ballast. These ships were known as Type I Hunts. Later ships in the class had their beam increased, which allowed them to carry the originally intended armament, and were known as Type II Hunts.
Cottesmore was 264 feet 3 inches (80.54 m) long between perpendiculars and 280 feet (85.34 m) overall. The ship's beam was 29 feet 0 inches (8.84 m) and draught 7 feet 9 inches (2.36 m). Displacement was 1,000 long tons (1,000 t) standard and 1,360 long tons (1,380 t) under full load. Two Admiralty boilers raising steam at 300 pounds per square inch (2,100 kPa) and 620 °F (327 °C) fed Parsons single-reduction geared steam turbines that drove two propeller shafts, generating 19,000 shaft horsepower (14,000 kW) at 380 rpm. This gave a speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph).
The ship's main gun armament was four 4 inch (102 mm) QF Mk XVI dual purpose (anti-ship and anti-aircraft) guns in two twin mounts, with one mount forward and one aft. Additional close-in anti-aircraft armament was provided by a quadruple 2-pounder "pom-pom" mount. The ship was later modified by adding two single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon on the bridge wings. Up to 40 depth charges could be carried. The ship had a complement of 146 officers and men.
Cottesmore was laid down at Yarrow's Scotstoun shipyard on 12 December 1939 and was launched on 5 September 1940. She was commissioned on 29 December 1940, with the Pennant number L78.
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On commissioning, Cottesmore joined the 21st Destroyer Flotilla, based at Sheerness and employed on escorting convoys along the East coast of Britain, together with patrol duties and support for minelaying operations."
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