HMS Annan (K404)

HMS Annan was a River-class frigate built for the Royal Navy but was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy before commissioning. She served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War and saw action primarily as a convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic. She was returned to United Kingdom and quickly sold to Denmark, who renamed her Niels Ebbesen. She was primarily used as a training vessel until 1963 when she was broken up in Odense. She was named for the River Annan in Scotland.

Annan was ordered on 26 December 1942 and laid down on 10 June 1943 by Hall, Russell & Co. Ltd. at Aberdeen, Scotland. The vessel was launched on 29 December 1943 was handed over to the Royal Canadian Navy for commissioning as HMCS Annan on 13 January 1944 at Aberdeen.

War service
After working up at Tobermory, Annan joined escort group EG 6 at Londonderry. With this group she patrolled and escorted convoys in coastal waters around the United Kingdom. On 16 October 1944 while on patrol, she encountered and sank U-1006 south of the Faroe Islands by depth charge. She rescued forty-six survivors from the U-boat.

In April 1945, the group EG 6 was transferred to Halifax, Nova Scotia. However the following month, Annan returned to the United Kingdom and was transferred back to the Royal Navy at Sheerness on 20 June 1945.

Postwar service
Annan was sold to the Royal Danish Navy on 22 November 1945 as one of two River-class frigates. The two ships were renamed the Holger Danske class. She was renamed Niels Ebbesen for the Danish squire Niels Ebbesen. She was used as a training ship for navel cadets, carrying up to 90 trainees.

Niels Ebbesen went through several refits during her service with the Danish navy. She was decommissioned on 8 May 1963 and broken up that year at Odense, Denmark.