Laid down 17 March 1943 Launched 21 June 1943 Weight 1,077 tons | Ordered 6 February 1943 Identification Pennant number K362 Construction started 17 March 1943 Length 77 m Draft 3 m | |
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Fate paid off 1947 and broken up 14 May 1958 | ||
HMS Portchester Castle was a Castle-class corvette built in 1943 and scrapped in 1958. She was the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named after Portchester Castle in Hampshire, and was used for the 1952 film The Cruel Sea, in which she played Saltash Castle.
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Construction and career
She was launched on 21 June 1943 at Swan Hunter shipyard in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Sinking of U-484
On 9 September 1944 Portchester Castle and Helmsdale sank the German submarine U-484 in the North Atlantic north-west of Ireland, in position 55°45′N 11°41′W.
Sinking of U-1200
As one of four ships in 30th Escort Group under the command of Denys Rayner, Portchester Castle shared in the sinking of the German submarine U-1200 south of Ireland (in position 50°24′N 09°10′W) on 11 November 1944, along with her sister ships Launceston Castle, Pevensey Castle and Kenilworth Castle.
Decommissioning
She was paid off in 1947.
Appearance in The Cruel Sea
In 1951 Portchester Castle was employed to represent the fictitious HMS Saltash Castle in the film The Cruel Sea (1953) in which she is shown wearing the pennant number F362, rather than her own K362. In 1955 The ship was also seen in the film The Man Who Never Was. HMS Portchester Castle also was seen in the film The Navy Lark (1959) showing her profile with her pennant number F362.
Fate
She was scrapped at Troon on 14 May 1958.