HMS Pheasant (U49)

Pheasant moored at a buoy in May 1943
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Pheasant
Namesake:	Pheasant
Builder:	Yarrow Shipbuilders
Laid down:	13 July 1942
Launched:	21 December 1942
Commissioned:	12 May 1943
Reclassified:	As a frigate in 1947
Identification:	pennant number U49/F49
Honours and awards:	Buenos Aires 1807 Sicily 1943 Atlantic 1943-44 Okinawa 1945
Fate:	Broken up 1963
Badge:	On a Field White, a Pheasant Proper
General characteristics
Class and type:	Modified Black Swan-class sloop
Displacement:	1,925 tons
Length:	283 ft (86 m)
Beam:	38 ft 6 in (11.73 m)
Draught:	11 ft (3.4 m)
Propulsion:	Geared turbines, two shafts 4,300 hp (3.2 MW)
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h)
Range:	4,500 mi (7,200 km)
Complement:	192
Armament:	6 × 4-inch (102 mm) AA guns (3 × 2) 4 × 2-pdr AA pom-pom 12 × 20 mm Oerlikon AA (6 × 2) Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar
Service record
Part of:	British Pacific Fleet (1945)
Operations:	Operation Husky (1943)

HMS Pheasant was a Modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Yarrow Shipbuilders, in Scotstoun, Glasgow on 13 July 1942, launched on 21 December 1942, and commissioned on 12 May 1943. She was adopted by the rural district of Runcorn , then in Cheshire, as part of Warship Week in 1942.

Design

The Modified Black Swan-class sloops were specialised convoy-defence vessels, with an anti-aircraft and an anti-submarine capability. They were designed to have a longer range than a destroyer at the expense of a lower top speed, while remaining capable of outrunning the German Type VII and Type IX U-boats when they were surfaced.

Pheasant had a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h) - their prey, the German U-Boats, could only manage 18 knots (33 km/h) on the surface and no more than 8 knots (15 km/h) submerged.

Service history

In the latter part of the war, Pheasant was sent to the Pacific theatre. There she served in a task force with the escort carriers Striker and Ruler from April to August 1945.^[1][2]

After being placed on the disposal list Pheasant was sold for scrap, arriving at Troon for breaking on 15 January 1963.

Notes

1. Mason, Geoffrey B. (2006). Gordon Smith, ed. "HMS Striker (D 12) - Attacker-class Escort Aircraft Carrier". naval-history.net. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
2. Mason, Geoffrey B. (2006). Gordon Smith, ed. "HMS Ruler - Ruler-class Escort Aircraft Carrier". naval-history.net. Retrieved 25 May 2015.

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
• Hague, Arnold (1993). Sloops: A History of the 71 Sloops Built in Britain and Australia for the British, Australian and Indian Navies 1926–1946. Kendal, England: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-67-3.

External links

• Family History website with details and photographs Active old shipmates organisation
• HMS PHEASANT Chronologies of War Service on naval-history.net