HMS Bideford (L43)

HMS Bideford was a Royal Navy. She was named after the town of Bideford in Devon and was launched on 1 April 1931.

Bideford served in the Second World War. In May 1940 she helped in the Dunkirk evacuation, in which her stern was badly damaged. The HMS Locust (T28) towed her back to Dover, which took 30 hours and ended on 31 May.

Bideford was used in anti-submarine sweeps and as a convoy escort in the North Atlantic. She rescued 63 survivors of the torpedoed MV Edward Blyden on 3 September 1941 and 31 from MV Abosso on 31 October 1942. In August 1943 while serving with the 40th Escort Group in the Bay of Biscay, Bideford was damaged by a Henschel Hs 293 guided missile.

Bideford survived the war and was scrapped in 1949.