Bridgewater-class sloop

Class overview
HMS Bridgewater, pictured in January 1943
Name:	Bridgewater
Builders:	Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Hebburn
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	24 class
Succeeded by:	Hastings class
In commission:	1929-1946
Completed:	Two
Retired:	Two
General characteristics
Displacement:	1,045 tons
Length:	250 ft (76 m)
Beam:	34 ft (10 m)
Speed:	17 kn (31 km/h)
Armament:	2 × 4 in guns

The Bridgewater class sloop was a class composed of two ships built for the Royal Navy, HMS Bridgewater and HMS Sandwich. The ships were part of the Royal Navy's 1927 Build Programme as replacements for the Flower-class sloop.

Design

The Bridgewater class displaced 1,045 tons and were armed with two 4 in guns. They could achieve speeds of 17 kn (31 km/h).

Service

Both ships were ordered from Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Hebburn in September 1927. They entered service in 1929 and were based at first on the China Station. Bridgewater was moved to the Cape in 1935, while Sandwich remained in China until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Both ships were active in the Battle of the Atlantic, Bridgewater being based at Freetown carrying out patrols and escorting convoys until November 1943, when she moved to cover the Western Approaches. For the last two years of the war she was used in submarine training activities. Sandwich was also used in home waters, being based out of Plymouth, Liverpool, and Freetown between 1940 and 1944, though by 1945 her condition had deteriorated so much that she was kept at Bizerta. Both ships were decommissioned after the war, with Sandwich being sold for scrapping in early 1946. Bridgewater was retained for slightly longer, being used for static bomb trials during 1946 and 1947, until being sold and broken up in May 1947.

Ships

Name	Pennant	Ordered	Launched	Completed	Commissioned	Fate
Bridgewater	L01/U01	19 September 1927	6 February 1928	14 September 1928	14 March 1929	Sold on 22 May 1947
Sandwich	L12/U12	19 September 1927	9 February 1928	29 September	23 March 1929	Sold on 8 January 1946

Notes

References

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bridgewater class sloop.

Bridgewater-class sloop

Bridgewater Sandwich

Preceded by: 24 class Followed by: Hastings class List of corvette and sloop classes of the Royal Navy

British naval ship classes of the Second World War

Aircraft carriers	Courageous Argus Hermes Eagle Ark Royal Illustrious Unicorn Implacable Colossus Majestic^C Audacious^C Malta^X Centaur^C

Escort carriers	Archer^AV Audacity^V Avenger^AV Attacker^A Ruler^A Activity^V Pretoria Castle^V Nairana^V

Battleships	Queen Elizabeth Revenge Nelson King George V Lion^X Vanguard^C

Battlecruisers	Renown HMS Hood

Heavy cruisers	Hawkins County York

Light cruisers	C Danae Emerald Leander Arethusa Town Dido Crown Colony Minotaur

Minelayers	Adventure Abdiel Plover Linnet Agamemnon^V Menestheus^V Port Napier^V Port Quebec^V Southern Prince^V Teviot Bank^V

Destroyer leaders	Shakespeare Scott

Destroyers	R S V & W Town^A Ambuscade Amazon A & B C & D E & F G & H I Tribal J, K & N Hunt L & M O & P Q & R S & T U & V W & Z C Battle Weapon^C G^X Daring^C,P

Frigates	River Captain^A Colony^A Loch Bay

Corvettes	Flower Castle

Sloops	24 Bridgewater Hastings Banff^A Shoreham Grimsby Kingfisher Bittern Egret Black Swan

Minesweepers	Hunt Halcyon Bangor Auk^A Algerine Cybele

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