- Yes - In the Tech Tree.
- Yes - Event/BP.
- Yes - Premium.
- Yes - Squadron
- No - I would not like to see HMS Sandwich in game.
HMS Sandwich underway during convoy escort operations (1944)
Background:
Designed to replace the WW1-era 24 and Flower class sloops in Royal Navy service, the Bridgewater class was a significant leap up in technology and capability, although featuring the same armament of 2x 4-inch guns, they had a much increased speed and range, as well as ASW armament and patrol capability.
As they were to completely replace the 24 & Flower classes, they were also fitted with minesweeping gear, which the RN still believed was a useful capability for a sloop to have. The Bridgewater-class was specifically designed for overseas service in the Persian Gulf, with only two being built, HMS Bridgewater and Sandwich. A later class very closely based on the lines of the Bridgewater-class would also be built, modified with lessons learnt during the building of the Bridgewaters. They were the first sloop class built for the Royal Navy after the First World War.
HMS Sandwich is the sixth commissioned vessel of her name in the Royal Navy, the first being a 90-gun second rate ship of the line launched in 1679, the second being a 98-gun second rate ship of the line launched in 1759, the third being a 24-gun 6th rate purchased in 1780, the fourth being a 12-gun cutter hired in 1798, and the fifth being a 12-gun schooner purchased in 1805. The sixth vessel was going to be a 74-gun third rate, which was laid down in 1809, but she was cancelled in 1811.
This suggestion is for HMS Sandwich during her 1943 escort refit.
HMS Sandwich at sea before 1938, she is yet to fit the two quad .50" Vickers guns.
History:
Laid down by Hawthorn Leslie, at Newcastle upon Tyne, on the 9th of February 1928, she would launch on the 28th of September the same year, and would commission on the 23rd of March 1929. Although designed and ordered for service in the Persian Gulf, HMS Sandwich and her sister Bridgewater would instead immediately be sent to the China station upon completing trials, as the two sloops on that station at the time, the Flower-class sloops HMS Foxglove and Bluebell were worn and needed replacement.
She would sail to Aden with her Portsmouth crew, where she would embark her Chinese ratings, as they had to be dropped off by the HMS Foxglove & Bluebell. This crew would continue sailing around the China station until the 19th of October 1931, when she would receive a new crew at Hong Kong. She and the Kent-class cruiser HMS Cornwall would be present for the Shanghai incident in early 1932, after this incident she would still be based out of Shanghai, as on the 23rd of March 1932, the Clemson-class destroyer USS Stewart would collide with the HMS Sandwich and two barges. Little damage was sustained to the Sandwich, but the Steward had one of the barge’s chains wrap around her screw, fouling it. She would again receive a new crew at Hong Kong in April 1934.
With the British flagged steamer SS Tungchow going missing on the 31st of January 1935 on a voyage between Shanghai and Yantai, several vessels, including the Sandwich, were sent to investigate. The Tungchow had actually been taken by pirates, who abandoned the ship when they were spotted by an aircraft that had been launched from the HMS Hermes, which had also been dispatched. With the continuation of the Second Sino-Japanese war through 1938, HMS Sandwich would deploy British troops to protect British property against rioting in January 1938. She was in a small refit from April to October 1938, recommissioning with a new crew in March 1939.
This refit replaced the two 3pdr saluting guns with quadruple 0.50" Vickers MGs for AA work, fitted Type 127 ASDIC, and increased the DC count to 15 from a lowly 4, it also replaced the aft LA 4-inch mounting with a HA type. She was still at Hong Kong working up from these refits when war was declared in September 1939, upon which she was deployed to the Tsushima Straight off Japan, as to intercept German merchant vessels. However she would leave this area for the UK in early December 1939 with convoy HG 11 from Gibraltar to Liverpool. This was her first time back in UK waters after nearly a decade of service on the China Station.
HMS Sandwich during her peacetime service on the China Station, ~ mid 1935
Upon her return to the UK, she would begin convoy operations between Gibraltar and Liverpool, escorting convoys OG 16F, HG 17F, SL 19, OA 98, HG 24, OG 26F, and OB 154, which took her through to the 27th of May 1940, when she was reassigned to the Western Approaches as part of the 43rd Escort Group. This group comprised the Town-class destroyer HMS Newport, the Shoreham-class sloop HMS Rochester, the Hastings-class HMS Hastings, the Grimsby-class sloop HMS Leith, and the armed yacht HMS Philante in addition to the HMS Sandwich. From here they would conduct convoy escort missions from Liverpool to Freetown.
She had Type 271 radar fitted during a refit at Belfast in March 1942, with the quadruple 0.50" Vickers MGs replaced by single 20mm Oerlikon mounts being replaced in another refit in October 1942. In between these refits while escorting OS 35, she would participate in sinking the U-213. She was approved for convoy escort operations off North Africa in support of operation Torch, however by February to June 1943 she was again in refit, this time on the River Tyne. During this refit she would gain two extra 20mm Oerlikons, as well as a Hedgehog launcher next to the forward 4-inch turret. Her Type 271 radar was replaced by a Type 291Q and 291 set, and her Type 127 ASDIC was replaced by a Type 144Q for forward firing hedgehog operations.
Upon completion of this refit she would escort a convoy to Freetown, then move operations from Freetown to Liverpool to Freetown to Gibraltar operating the SL/OS convoys. She would continue here until June 1944, where she moved to Brindisi for a planned refit. This refit would not occur however, and she would be towed to Bizerte in 1945, where she would be decommissioned. This is probably because she was so worn out that she was beyond effective repair.
HMS Sandwich would be sold to a local civilian buyer on the 8th of January 1946 for £3,050. Now in civilian service, she would be renamed to the SS.Amoy. She would flounder on the 18th of February 1948 outside of Port La Nouvelle, France. She was carrying a cargo of Oranges, and sank with only two hands lost, with 34 being rescued.
| General Characteristics: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name: HMS Sandwich | |||||
| Country: Britain | |||||
| Type: Sloop | |||||
| Class name: Bridgewater | |||||
| Year of commission: 1929 | |||||
| Refit: 1943 | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Dimensions: | |||||
| Length: 266ft 4in (81.18m) | |||||
| Beam: 34ft (10.36m) | |||||
| Draught: 11ft 5in (3.48m) | |||||
| Displacement: 1,045t standard | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Propulsion: | |||||
| Powerplant: 2x oil fired boilers, driving 2x geared steam turbines @ 2,000shp (1,500kW) across two screws | |||||
| Speed: designed speed of 16.5kt, hit 17.27kt on speed trials. | |||||
| Endurance: 282t, 0.54t/h at 10kt | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Armament & sensors: | |||||
| Compliment: 100 | |||||
| Primary armament: 2x1 QF 4-inch Mk.V on HA mount | |||||
| Secondary armament: 4x1 20mm Oerlikon | |||||
| Tertiary armament: 2x DC chutes w/ 15 DCs, Hedgehog | |||||
| Radar: HF/DF, Type 271Q, Type 291 | |||||
| Sonar: Type 144Q |
HMS Sandwich leaving port pre-war, probably soon after her completion
Sources:
A. Hague (1993). Sloops, 1926-1946 (pp.23-25)
J.Colledge & B.Warlow (2006) Ships of the Royal Navy. (p.309)
HMS Sandwich (L12) - Wikipedia
HMS Sandwich, sloop
HMS Sandwich (L 12 / U 12) of the Royal Navy - British Sloop of the Bridgewater class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net
https://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/H.M.S._Sandwich_(1929)
Sandwich 1929
https://www.worldnavalships.com/ship_photo.php?ProdID=108373