HMS Denbigh Castle (K696)

HMS Denbigh Castle (K696) was a Castle-class corvette of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, one of 44 from the class built.

Built by J. Lewis & Sons Ltd in Aberdeen, Scotland, HMS Denbigh Castle was launched on 5 August 1944 and then commissioned on 30 December 1944. The design of the Castle Class were a follow on from the Flower Class, built to be more adapt to Arctic operations. The ship was 252 ft long, 37 ft wide and a draft of 13 ft, with a displacement of over 1,060 tons.

Power & Armaments
HMS Denbigh Castle was powered by 2 x three drum boiler engines, through a single shaft giving a drive of 2,750Hp. She could move at 16.5 knots per hour, with a range of 9,000 miles (traveled at 10 knots per hour), using 480 tons of oil.

Armaments included a 4 inch gun, up to ten anti-aircraft guns and depth charges. On top of arms the HMS Denbigh Castle was also equipped with radar and sonar (Squid).

Ill-faithed
In World War II she served as a convoy escort. On 13 February 1945, HMS Denbigh Castle was being captained by Ltcdr G. Butcher and on duty escorting convoy JW-64 to Murmansk, when she was torpedoed by U-992 in the Barents Sea on her port side. Of her 120-man-crew, 11 hands were lost. *

HMS Denbigh Castle was then towed by Bluebell and a Russian tugboat to the Kola Inlet and beached at Bolshaya Volokovaya Bay near Vaenga, but she capsized into deeper waters and was written off as a total loss.


 * According to an AB D'Arcy George SHELL on board, the number was 13