HMS Loring (K565) was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as the United States Navy Evarts-class destroyer escort DE-520, she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1945.
Description The Evarts-class ships had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draught of at full load. They displaced at (standard) and at full load.Whitley, p. 152 The ships had a diesel–electric powertrain derived from a submarine propulsion systemFriedman, p. 143 with four General Motors 16-cylinder diesel engines providing power to four General Electric electric generators which sent electricity to four General Electric electric motors which drove the two propeller shafts. The destroyer escorts had enough power give them a speed of and enough fuel oil to give them a range of at . Their crew consisted of 198 officers and ratings.Lenton, pp. 199–200
The armament of the Evarts-class ships in British service consisted of three single mounts for 50-caliber /50 Mk 22 dual-purpose guns; one superfiring pair forward of the bridge and the third gun aft of the superstructure. Anti-aircraft defence was intended to consisted of a twin-gun mount for Bofors anti-aircraft (AA) guns atop the rear superstructure with nine Oerlikon AA guns located on the superstructure, but production shortages meant that that not all guns were fitted, or that additional Oerlikons replaced the Bofors guns. A Mark 10 Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar was positioned just behind the forward gun. The ships were also equipped with two depth charge rails at the stern and four "K-gun" depth charge throwers.Friedman, p. 478
Construction and career The ship was laid down by the Boston Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, on 18 July 1943 as the unnamed U.S. Navy destroyer escort DE-520 and launched on 30 August 1943.Lenton, p. 203 The United States transferred the ship to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease upon completion sometime in November 1943 and commissioned into service in the Royal Navy as HMS Loring (K565), sources vary on the exact date.Sources contradict one another on the date of transfer other than to agree it happened sometime in November 1943. The uboat.net HMS Loring (K 565) page says that the ships first commanding officer took command on 1 November 1943, which suggests that 1 November 1943 was the transfer date, but also states that the ships commissioning date in the Royal Navy, which also usually corresponds to the transfer date, was 15 November 1943. NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive HMS Loring (DE-520 / K-565) places the transfer date on 20 November 1943. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Loring article claims a transfer date of 27 November 1943. simultaneously with her transfer. She served on patrol and escort duty in the eastern North Atlantic for the remainder of World War II.
The Royal Navy decommissioned Loring by October 1945 after the conclusion of the war and returned her to the U.S. Navy while the ship was still in the United Kingdom on 7 January 1947. Loring was subsequently sold for scrap and departed Preston on 27 March 1947, bound for Greece to begin breaking up.Colledge, Warlow & Bush, p. 253
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External links Captain Class Frigate Association HMS Loring K565 (DE 520)