View source for HMS Hastings (L27)

{{Short description|Sloop of the Royal Navy}}
{{Other ships|HMS Hastings}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Hastings.jpg
|Ship caption=HMS ''Hastings'' in December 1942
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag=[[Image:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|60px|Royal Navy Ensign]]
|Ship class=[[Hastings class sloop|''Hastings''-class]] [[sloop of war|sloop]]
|Ship name=HMS ''Hastings''
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[HMNB Devonport|HM Dockyard Devonport]]
|Ship laid down=29 July 1929
|Ship launched=10 April 1930
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=26 November 1930
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship captured=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=Sold and broken up April 1946
|Ship homeport=
|Ship honours=*Atlantic (1940–43)
*Biscay (1943)
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship displacement=1,045 tons
|Ship length={{convert|250|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|34|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft=
|Ship propulsion=Geared turbines, 2 shaft
|Ship speed=16 knots at 2,000 hp
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship complement=100 men
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*2 × 4" BL Mk IX guns
*4 × 4.5" AA guns
|Ship armour=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''HMS ''Hastings''''' was a [[Hastings class sloop|''Hastings''-class]] [[sloop of war|sloop]] of the [[Royal Navy]] that saw action in [[World War II]]. She was built by [[HMNB Devonport|HM Dockyard Devonport]], laid down on 29 July 1929 and launched on 10 April 1930. She was completed on 26 November 1930 and commissioned that same day by [[the Honourable]] Alice Brand. She is the sixth ship to bear the name HMS ''Hastings''. Her [[pennant number]] was L27, but changed to U27 in May 1940.

==Pre-war Career==
Upon completion, she immediately set sail for the [[Persian Gulf]] and [[Red Sea]] areas where she patrolled until returning to home waters in 1937, when she was deployed with the Fishery Protection Squadron. In a refit as [[World War II|the Second World War]] was declared in 1939, she was fitted with [[Sonar|anti-submarine detection equipment (ASDIC)]].<ref name=web>{{cite web |url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-18SL-Hastings.htm |website= Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2 |title=HMS HASTINGS (L 27) - Hastings-class Sloop |last=Mason |first=Geoffrey B.  |others=edited by Gordon Smith|publisher=naval-history.net  |accessdate=19 January 2014 }}</ref>

==Second World War==
''Hastings'' was assigned to [[Rosyth]] for convoy defence in the [[North Sea]] and in waters off the British East Coast from October 1939 until June 1941. During this period, she suffered no damage as a result of enemy action, but was twice involved in collisions with other ships in 1940: [[HMS Bradman (FY 189)|HMS ''Bradman'']] on 11 January and SS ''Limeslade'' on 1 December.<ref name=web/>

In July 1941, she was transferred to [[Western Approaches Command]] with the [[Escort Group#43rd Escort Group|43rd Escort Group]] for escort duty between Great Britain and [[Freetown]], [[Sierra Leone]], as well as assisting in [[Battle of the Atlantic|Atlantic convoy defence]]. She was equipped with two [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|Oerlikon 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons]] for these rôles. By October, she was also equipped with a [[List of World War II British naval radar#Type 286|Type 286M Ex-RAF radar]]. ''Hastings'' transferred to the [[Escort Group#44th Escort Group|44th Escort Group]] in December and transferred again to the [[Escort Group#40th Escort Group|40th Escort Group]] in January 1942. In February 1942, the RADAR was upgraded to a [[Type 271 radar|Type 271]]. ''Hastings'' transferred to the [[Escort Group#42nd Escort Group|42nd Escort Group]] in July and returned to the 40th Escort Group in February 1943.<ref name=web/>

In March 1943, she was escorting [[Convoys HX 229/SC 122|Convoys HX 229A]] from [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. John's]] to Great Britain when the convoy came under heavy and sustained attacks from two German [[U-boat]] groups totalling 29 attack submarines. Subsequently, she also escorted Convoy ONS 3 and Convoy SC 128 whilst they were being attacked by groups of German attack submarines.<ref name=web/>

In August of the same year she took part in many anti-submarine operations. The first was on 23 August off [[Ortegal]], Spain. It was led by [[HMS Bermuda (52)|HMS ''Bermuda'']] and lasted for two days. On 25 August, a group of frigates and corvettes arrived in the area but were attacked by 14 [[Dornier Do 217]]s, seven [[Junkers Ju 88]]s and the new German weapon, the [[Henschel Hs 293|Hs 293]] [[Glide bomb|glider bomb]]. The attack was unsuccessful. Two days later, in an operation off [[Cape Finisterre]] with [[RAF Coastal Command]] led by [[HMCS Athabaskan (G07)|HMCS ''Athabaskan'']], ''Hastings'' once again came under [[Glide bomb|glider bomb]] attack but was undamaged. However, similar glider bombs sunk [[HMS Egret (L75)|HMS ''Egret'']] and severely damaged HMCS ''Athabaskan'', although ''Athabaskan'' was saved, the operation was called off. HMS ''Egret'' was the first warship sunk by such a glider bomb.

==End of Active Duty==
After being transferred to the [[Escort Group#37th Escort Group|37th Escort Group]] in September and the 39th Escort Group in October, ''Hastings'' was retired at [[Belfast]] on 19 November 1943 after comparison of her age and poor record in the field indicated the advantages of using her crew to man newly constructed warships. She was laid-up briefly at [[Hartlepool]] before re-fit as a training target for the 3rd Submarine Squadron in [[Holy Loch]] from October 1944 until February 1946. She was paid-off on 16 February and was listed for disposal. She was sold for breaking up in April, and arrived at the breaker's yard at [[Troon]] on 10 April 1946 to be broken up by West of Scotland Shipbreakers.<ref name=web/>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau |editor1-first=Roger |publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK |year=1980 |isbn=0-85177-146-7 |chapter=Great Britain (including Empire Forces)|author-first=N. J. M. |author-last=Campbell |pages=2–85}}
*{{cite book |last1=Colledge |first1=J. J. |title=Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present |date=2020 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |location=Barnsley, UK |isbn=978-1-5267-9327-0 |edition=5th revised and updated|first2=Ben|last2=Warlow|first3=Steve|last3=Bush|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book|last=Hague|first=Arnold|title=Sloops: A History of the 71 Sloops Built in Britain and Australia for the British, Australian and Indian Navies 1926–1946|year=1993|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Kendal, UK|isbn=0-905617-67-3}}
*{{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia |year=2000| publisher=Cassell & Co.|location=London|isbn=1-85409-521-8|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}

==External links==
*[http://naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-18SL-Hastings.htm HM Sloop ''Hastings'']
*[http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3881.html Sloop HMS ''Hastings'']

{{Hastings class sloop}}
{{1935 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hastings}}
[[Category:Hastings-class sloops]]
[[Category:World War II sloops of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1930 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Plymouth, Devon]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1935]]