Laid down 10 May 1943 Fate Sold June 1946 Launched 31 July 1943 | Commissioned 13 November 1943 Construction started 10 May 1943 | |
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Builder Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard Inc. (Hingham, Massachusetts) Decommissioned Returned to US Navy on 17 December 1945 Identification Pennant number K468 (UK)
DE-77 (US) | ||
HMS Braithwaite was a destroyer of the Buckley-subclass, a type of Captain-class frigate during World War II. She was named after Captain Samuel Braithwaite of HMS Kingston.
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Originally destined for the US Navy, Braithwaite was provisionally given the name USS Straub (this name was reassigned to DE 181) however the delivery was diverted to the Royal Navy before the launch. Commanding Officers were Lieutenant Commander E McKay RNR (November 1943) and Lieutenant Commander P J Stoner RN (July 1944).
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Braithwaite served with both the 3rd and 10th Escort Groups earning battle honours for service in the North Atlantic, English Channel, Normandy 1944, North Foreland and the North Sea.
On 3 February 1945 the submarine U-1279 was sunk in the North Sea north-west of Bergen, in approximate position 61°21′N 02°00′E, by depth charges from the frigates Braithwaite, Bayntun and Loch Eck. Forty-eight German sailors were killed, and there were no survivors.
On 14 February 1945 the submarine U-989 was sunk off the Faroe Islands, in position 61°36′N 01°35′W by depth charges from the frigates Braithwaite, Bayntun, Loch Eck and Loch Dunvegan. Again there were no survivors, and the entire crew of 47 were killed.
Fate
She was declared “not essential to the defence of the United States“ on 8 January 1946. The hull number was struck from the Navy list on 21 January 1946, and then sold to Northern Metals Co. of Philadelphia in June 1946 for scrapping.