HMS Starling (U66)

HMS Starling (U66) was a Modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Govan, Scotland, launched on 14 October 1942, and commissioned on 1 April 1943.

In the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II, Starling was the flagship of Captain Frederic John Walker's 2nd Support Group, a flotilla of six sloops not tied down to convoy protection, but free to hunt down U-boats wherever found. The other ships of the group were HMS Cygnet (U38), HMS Kite (U87), HMS Wild Goose (U45), HMS Woodpecker (U08), and HMS Wren (U28).

Starling was scrapped in 1965.

Combat record against U-boats
Starling participated in the sinking of fourteen U-boats:
 * U-202 was sunk south-east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, by depth charges and gunfire from Starling on 2 June 1943.
 * U-119 was sunk in the Bay of Biscay by Starling on 24 June 1943.
 * U-226 was sunk east of Newfoundland by Starling, HMS Woodcock (U90) and Kite on 6 November 1943.
 * U-842 was sunk by Starling and Wild Goose on 6 November 1943.
 * U-592 was sunk south-west of Ireland by Starling, Wild Goose and HMS Magpie (U82) on 31 January 1944.
 * U-734 was sunk south-west of Ireland by Wild Goose and Starling on 9 February 1944.
 * U-238 was sunk south-west of Ireland by Kite, Magpie and Starling on 9 February 1944.
 * U-264 was sunk by Woodpecker and Starling on 19 February 1944.
 * U-653 was sunk by a Fairey Swordfish from the escort carrier HMS Vindex (D15), Starling and Wild Goose on 15 March 1944.
 * U-961 was sunk east of Iceland by Starling on 29 March 1944.
 * U-473 was sunk south-west of Ireland by Starling, Wren and Wild Goose on 6 May 1944.
 * U-333 was sunk west of the Scilly Isles by Starling and the frigate HMS Loch Killin (K391) on 31 July 1944.
 * U-736 was sunk in Bay of Biscay, w. of St. Nazaire by Starling and Loch Killin on 6 August 1944.
 * U-385 was sunk in the Bay of Biscay by Starling and a Short Sunderland flying boat on 11 August 1944.

During the war the Starling was credited, along with the sloops HMS Amethyst (F116), HMS Peacock (U96), HMS Hart (U58), and frigate HMS Loch Craggie (K609), with sinking the U-482 in the North Channel on 16 January 1945. The British Admiralty withdrew this credit in a post-war reassessment.

Post War Service
In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

In popular culture

 * Starling's service in the Arctic convoys (fictionalised as "HMS Sparrow") is described in the prologue to children's adventure novel The Salt-stained Book by Julia Jones (2011).

Publications

 * Conway's All the World's Fighting ships 1922-1946 (1980) ISBN 0-85177-146-7
 * Conway's All the World's Fighting ships 1922-1946 (1980) ISBN 0-85177-146-7
 * Conway's All the World's Fighting ships 1922-1946 (1980) ISBN 0-85177-146-7
 * Conway's All the World's Fighting ships 1922-1946 (1980) ISBN 0-85177-146-7