HMS Rocket was an R-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service during Second World War. Built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Greenock, Scotland, she was launched in October 1942 and commissioned in August 1943.

HMS Rocket circa. 1945
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Rocket
Ordered	May 1940
Builder	Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock
Laid down	14 March 1941
Launched	28 October 1942
Commissioned	4 August 1943
Reclassified	Type 15 frigate from 1951
Identification	Pennant number H92/F191
Motto	'Upward and Onward'
Fate	Sold for scrapping in 1967
Badge
General characteristics As R-class destroyer
Class and type	R-class destroyer
Displacement	1,705 tons (1,732 tonnes) 2,425 tons (2,464 tonnes) full load
Length	358.25 ft (109.19 m) o/a
Beam	35.75 ft (10.90 m)
Draught	9.5 ft (2.9 m)
Propulsion	2 x Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers, Parsons geared steam turbines, 40,000 shp (30,000 kW) on 2 shafts
Speed	36 kn (67 km/h)
Range	4,675 nmi (8,658 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement	176
Sensors and processing systems	Radar Type 290 air warning Radar Type 285 ranging & bearing
Armament	4 × QF 4.7-inch (120-mm) Mk.IX guns single mounts CP Mk.XVIII 4 × QF 2 pdr Mk.VIII (40 mm L/39), quad mount Mk.VII 2 × 2, 4 × 1 QF 20 mm Oerlikon, single mount P Mk.III[1] 8 (2x4) tubes for 21-inch (530 mm) torpedoes Mk.IX 4 × throwers & 2 x racks, 70 depth charges
General characteristics As Type 15 frigate
Displacement	2,300 tons (standard) 2,700 tons (full load)
Length	358 ft (109 m) o/a
Beam	37.75 ft (11.51 m)
Draught	14.5 ft (4.4 m)
Propulsion	2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers, steam turbines on 2 shafts, 40,000 shp
Speed	31 kn (57 km/h) (full load)
Range	4,675 nmi (8,658 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement	174
Sensors and processing systems	Radar Type 293Q target indication. Type 277Q surface search Type 974 navigation Type 262 fire control on director CRBF Type 1010 Cossor Mark 10 IFF Sonar: Type 174 search Type 162 target classification Type 170 attack
Armament	1 × twin 4 in gun Mark 19 1 × twin 40mm Bofors Mk.5; 2 × Limbo Mark 10 A/S mortar

Service

Second World War

During the Battle of Sept-Îles, Rocket encountered German torpedo boats in the English Channel in October 1943, an action in which the cruiser Charybdis and destroyer Limbourne were lost. The latter was sunk by Rocket after she became disabled, to avoid her falling into enemy hands. On 29 November 1943 HMS Rocket and HMS Tumult, sank U-86 east of the Azores, in position 40°52'N, 18°54'W, by depth charges.[2] Arriving in the Indian Ocean in January 1944, Rocket participated in the shelling of Sabang (25 July 1944) and of the Andaman Islands (February and March 1945).

Post-War

In 1946 Rocket was at Chatham and between 1946 and 1948 she was used as an air target ship at Rosyth. In 1949 she was placed into reserve at Portsmouth. Between July 1949 and 1951 she was converted at Devonport Dockyard into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F193.

On 18 May 1951 she was re-commissioned for the 3rd Training Squadron, based in Derry.[3] In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.[4] In 1954 she returned to reserve at Rosyth, before being re-commissioned the following year. In November 1956 she returned to reserve at Chatham, then transferred to the reserve at Portsmouth the following year. On 28 October 1960 she was re-commissioned at Portsmouth and sailed to the Far East to join the 6th Frigate Squadron.

Decommissioning and disposal

Rocket returned to Portsmouth on 11 May 1962 and de-commissioned. She was finally scrapped at Dalmuir in March 1967.

References

Publications

• 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.
• English, John (2001). Obdurate to Daring: British Fleet Destroyers 1941–45. Windsor, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 978-0-9560769-0-8.
• Friedman, Norman (2006). British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-86176-137-6.
• Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
• Marriott, Leo, Royal Navy Destroyers Since 1945. Ian Allan, 1989. ISBN 0-7110-1817-0
• Raven, Alan & Roberts, John (1978). War Built Destroyers O to Z Classes. London: Bivouac Books. ISBN 0-85680-010-4.
• Richardson, Ian (August 2021). Osborne, Richard (ed.). "Type 15 Frigates, Part 2: Ship Histories". Warships: Marine News Supplement. 75 (8): 381–391. ISSN 0966-6958.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.

Further reading

• Whitby, Michael (2022). "The Challenges of Operation 'Tunnel', September 1943 — April 1944". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2022. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 29–46. ISBN 978-1-4728-4781-2.

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