H.M.S. Blean - St Cosmus and St Damian - Blean, Kent - Maritime Monuments and Memorials on Waymarking.com

Ships badge and polished brass plaque in St Cosmus' and St Damian's church, Blean, dedicated to the crew of H.M.S. Blean, torpedoed off the coast of Algeria, 1942. It consists of a round ships shield badge mounted above a rectangular brass plaque set on a wooden mount.

Inscription -

IN MEMORY OF
HMS BLEAN
LAUNCHED 15th JANUARY 1942
TORPEDOED 11th DECEMBER 1942
60 MILES WEST OF ORAN, ALGERIA
WITH THE LOSS OF 89 MEN.

"HMS Blean was a Type III Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was named after the Blean Beagles Hunt at the village of Blean just north of Canterbury. She had the shortest career of any of the Hunt-class destroyers.

Built at Hebburn-on-Tyne by Hawthorn Leslie, she was laid down on 22 February 1941, launched on 15 January 1942 and commissioned on 23 August 1942.

After working up at Scapa Flow followed by some repairs on the Thames she escorted a convoy to Gibraltar arriving on 2 November 1942. She then joined the 58th Destroyer Division escorting Operation Torch convoys. While escorting the British convoy MKF-4 off the Algerian coast, Blean was torpedoed by U-443 on 11 December 1942 11 miles (18 km) north-west of Oran. The U-boat aimed one torpedo against her and then one against the convoy, but both hit Blean and she sank within four minutes with the loss of 89 men.

A memorial to her was unveiled in the church of St. Cosmus and St. Damian in the village of Blean on 10 December 2006."

SOURCE - (Visit Link)

Aboard HMS Blean (L 47) when hit on 11 Dec 1942 -

Name	Age	Rank
Atkins, Timothy Walter, RN	24	Able Seaman
Baines, John, RN	22	Leading Cook (O)
Bannister, Glyn, RN	18	Ordinary Seaman
Barker, Maurice, RN	19	Ordinary Seaman
Barnes, Joseph Charles, RN	25	Leading Stoker
Beattie, William Edward, RN	25	Assistant Cook
Bilton, Ernest, RN	21	Able Seaman
Bishop, Reginald William, RN		Leading Seaman
Bloomfield, Jack Aston, RN	19	Ordinary Seaman
Bradbury, William Harold, RNVR		Able Seaman
Burke, Joseph, RN		Able Seaman
Cannell, Dennis Cautley, RN	31	Able Seaman
Cashman, Ronald Joseph, RN	19	Ordinary Seaman
Castleman, Charles Edward, RN		Ordinary Seaman
Cater, William Bertie, RN	26	Leading Stoker
Coan, Victor George, RN		Sick Berth Attendant
Coleman, Arthur Percival, RFR	39	Petty Officer Telegraphist
Collett, Leonard Stanley, RN	20	Able Seaman
Connolly, Thomas, RN	22	Able Seaman
Dennehy, James Pearse, RN		Able Seaman
Dunne, Edgar George, RN		Ordinary Seaman
Edwards, David Henry William, RN	23	Able Seaman
Evamy, Henry Wilson, RN	34	Ordinary Coder
Fellows, Frederick, RN		Leading Seaman
Fielding, Jack, RN		Able Seaman
Fordham, William Ralph, RN	27	Leading Seaman
Friend, Leslie Richard, RN	19	Leading Seaman
Fuller, Stanley, RN	20	Ordinary Seaman
Gilbert, William Charles, RN	40	Canteen Manager
Giles, Cyril Harry, RN	20	Ordinary Signalman
Haighton, Neil, RN	21	Able Seaman
Hammond, George William, RN	44	Engine Room Artificer 1st Class
Hards, Jack, RN	19	Stoker 1st Class
Harris, Cyril Ronald, RN	32	Ordinary Seaman
Heath, Frederick George, RN	20	Telegraphist
Hellon, George William, RN	30	Petty Officer Stoker
Herring, Percival Henry, RFR	41	Stoker 1st Class
Howden, Peter, RN	19	Ordinary Seaman
James, Alfred Trevening, RN	29	Able Seaman
Jenvey, Walter, RN	24	Petty Officer
Johnson, Ralph, RN	25	Stoker 1st Class
Johnstone, Walter Millar, RN	19	Telegraphist
Jolly, John, RN	25	Telegraphist
Kay, Archibald, RN	21	Ordinary Seaman
Kirk, Alfred, RN	24	Able Seaman
Kirkby, Henry, RN	35	Able Seaman
Kirkness, Charles Edward, RFR	36	Petty Officer
Kitchenside, Geoffrey Charles John, RN	19	Signalman
Lax, William, RN	31	Able Seaman
Leahy, William John, RN	28	Petty Officer Steward
MacDonald, Donald Angus, RN	20	Supply Assistant
Markwell, Kenneth, RN	19	Ordinary Seaman
Marriott, Joseph Hudson, RN	19	Ordinary Seaman
May, Alfred, RN	26	Stoker 1st Class
May, Edwin Frank, RN		Able Seaman
McArthur, William, RN	24	Able Seaman
McCourt, Charles Carlin, RN	37	Petty Officer Cook
McCreadie, John Walter Miller, RN	24	Able Seaman
McIntyre, Hugh, RN		Leading Stoker
Middlemiss, Robert Allison, RN		Able Seaman
Miller, William John, RN		Stoker 1st Class
Moore, Arthur, RN	20	Ordinary Coder
Nogues, Roland Louis Marcel, RN	20	Able Seaman
Ovens, Joseph, RN	23	Able Seaman
Palmer, Douglas Charles Ernest, RN	23	Engine Room Artificer 4th Class
Parker, Norman John, RN		Captain
Patten, William, RN	20	Ordinary Seaman
Pearce, Horace, RN	31	Petty Officer Stoker
Poole, William, RN	20	Able Seaman
Pope, Herbert Edwin, RN	42	Petty Officer Stoker
Raven, Sidney Smith, RN	22	Leading Seaman
Reed, Albert Cyril, RN		Stoker 2nd Class
Reeve, Frederick Maurice, RN	22	Able Seaman
Reid, Kenneth, RN	22	Able Seaman
Ringrose, Alfred, RN	19	Ordinary Seaman
Roper, George, RFR	42	Able Seaman
Sample, Stephen, RN	19	Stoker 2nd Class
Seaman, George William, RN		Stoker 1st Class
Seely, Frank, RN		Able Seaman
Sparshott, Walter James, RN	37	Stoker 2nd Class
Still, Reginald Percy David, RN	20	Able Seaman
Stocks, Craven, RN	20	Able Seaman
Stocks, Thomas Edward, RN	19	Stoker 1st Class
Sylvester, Philip George Leeson, RN	42	Engine Room Artificer 4th Class
Tomlin, Harry Raymond, RN	22	Petty Officer Supply
Turnbull, Joseph, RN	29	Petty Officer
Walkden, Wilfred, RN		Able Seaman
Wallace, Robert, RN		Ordinary Seaman
Walton, John, RN	32	Stoker 1st Class
Warren, Henry Albert, RFR	36	Stoker 1st Class
Wilson, Patrick Augustus, RN		Stoker 2nd Class

SOURCE - (Visit Link)

Further reading -
Naval History.net .
UBoat.net

List if there are any visiting hours: Daytime hours Date dedicated: 12/10/2006 Sponsor(s): Not known Relevent website: Not listed Entrance fees (if any): Not listed Parking coordinates: Not Listed

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