HMS Kite (U87)

HMS Kite (U87) was a Modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy, commanded by Lt Cmdr Segram RN and once commanded by the famous U-boat hunter Captain Frederic John Walker. She was one of several ships of that class that took part in the famous "six in one trip" in 1944 (in which six U-boats were sunk in one patrol).

She was built at Cammell Laird shipyard, Birkenhead, on the banks of the river Mersey (she was to later to be based across the river in Gladstone Dock, Bootle). She was launched on 13 October 1942 and commissioned on 1 March 1943.

She took part in the sinking of five U-boats together with several sister ships:


 * On 24 June 1943 U-449 was sunk near Cape Ortegal, Spain by the sloops HMS Wren (U28), HMS Woodpecker (U08), Kite and HMS Wild Goose (U45).
 * On 30 July 1943 U-462 was sunk in the Bay of Biscay by a Handley-Page Halifax aircraft and Wren, Kite, Woodpecker, Wild Goose and HMS Woodcock (U90).
 * On 30 July 1943 U-504 was sunk near Cape Ortegal by Kite, Woodpecker, Wren and Wild Goose.
 * On 6 November 1943 U-226 was sunk east of Newfoundland by HMS Starling (U66), Woodcock and Kite.
 * On 9 February 1944 U-238 was sunk south-west of Ireland by Kite, HMS Magpie (U82) and Starling.

On 20 August 1944 Kite was escorting the aircraft carriers HMS Vindex (D15) and HMS Striker (D12), which in turn were escorting convoy JW-59 to Northern Russia when the convoy was sighted in the Barents Sea by German aircraft. Soon a pack of U-boats attacked the convoy and one U-boat was sunk by Fairey Swordfish aircraft from one of the carriers. Two more were sunk by other destroyers.

At 06:30 on 21 August, Kite slowed to 6 knots (10 km/h) to untangle her "foxers" (anti acoustic torpedo noise makers, towed astern). The decision to do so, rather than severing the foxers' cables and abandoning them, was made by her temporary commander, Lt Comdr Campbell, a submariner. At that speed Kite was a sitting duck, and she was hit by two torpedoes from U-344 (commanded by Oberleutnant Ulrich Pietsch) and sank.

Of Kite's crew of 10 officers and 207 ratings, 60 survived the attack, but from the freezing Arctic water only 14 sailors were picked up alive by HMS Keppel (D84). Five of the rescued died on board  HMS Keppel leaving only nine to make it to shore. As of 2004, there were two living survivors. See note below (2009).

U-344 was sunk the next day by depth charges from a single Swordfish plane, piloted by Gordon Bennett, from Vindex.

Six in One
The U boats sunk in the 6 in 1 patrol were as follows: U-592 - 31 January (Type VIIC) U-762 - 8 February (Type VIIC) U-734 - 9 February (Type VIIC) U-238 - 9 February (Type VIIC) U-424 - 11 February (Type VIIC) U-264 19 February (Type VIIC)

The U-344 was sunk by a single patrolling Swordfish from Vindex, piloted by Gordon Bennett, which dropped out of the cloud, surprising the U Boat on the surface, a single depth charge exploded beneath the U boat, sending her down with all hands.

James Payne was a crew member aboard the Kite. HMS Kite was commanded by Lt Cmdr Segram RN, and on a couple of occasions when Starling was in for repairs, by Captain FJ Walker RN, the leader of the 2nd Support Group, took over Kite as his lead ship. Reg Holmes and Lionel Irish were the final two members to cross the bar, Holmes on 14th March 2009 and Lionel Irish on 30th June, also 2009.

HMS Kite Memorial
On 21st August 2004 - the 60th anniversary of Kite’s sinking - a memorial stone was unveiled in the Braintree and Bocking Public Gardens. Braintree District Council have also produced an Information Sheet on HMS Kite. See External links for more information.