HMSLoch Achanalt

HMCSLoch Achanalt
History
United Kingdom
Name	Loch Achanalt
Ordered	24 July 1942
Builder	Henry Robb,Leith
Yard number	342
Laid down	14 September 1943
Launched	23 March 1944
Completed	11 August 1944
Fate	Loaned to Canada 1944, returned 1945. Sold to New Zealand, March 1948
Canada
Name	Loch Achanalt
Commissioned	31 July 1944
Decommissioned	July 1945
Honours and awards	English Channel 1945
Fate	Returned to UK 1945
New Zealand
Name	Pukaki
Acquired	March 1948
Commissioned	13 September 1948
Decommissioned	May 1965
Fate	Sold for scrapping, October 1965
General characteristics
Class and type	Loch-classfrigate
Displacement	1,435tons
Length	286 ft (87 m)p/p 307.25 ft (93.65 m)o/a
Beam	38.5 ft (11.7 m)
Draught	8.75 ft (2.67 m) standard 13.25 ft (4.04 m) full
Propulsion	2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts 4-cylinder vertical triple expansionreciprocating engines,5,500 ihporParsonssingle reductiongeared turbines,6,500 shp
Range	730 tons oil fuel, 9,500 nautical miles (17,600 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Complement	114
Armament	1 ×QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mark V gunon one single mountingHAMkIII** 4 ×QF 2-pounder (40 mm) MkVII gunson 1 quad mount MkVII 4 ×20 mm OerlikonA/A on 2 twin mounts MkV (or 2 ×40 mm BoforsA/A on 2 single mounts Mk.III) up to 8 × 20 mm Oerlikon A/A on single mounts MkIII 2 ×Squidtriple barreled A/S mortars 1 rail and 2 throwers fordepth charges

HMSLoch Achanaltwas aLoch-classfrigateof theRoyal Navythat was loaned to and served with theRoyal Canadian NavyduringWorld War II.Ordered fromHenry Robb,Leith,on 24 July 1942 as aRiver-classfrigate,the order was changed, and ship laid down on 14 September 1943, and launched byMrs. A.V. Alexander,wife of theFirst Lord of the Admiraltyon 23 March 1944 and completed on 11 August 1944.After the war she was transferred to theRoyal New Zealand Navyand renamedPukaki.

Service history

AsLoch Achanalt(K424)

Loaned to the Royal Canadian Navy, the ship was commissioned on 31 July 1944, and joined the 6th Canadian Escort Group atDerryfor convoy defence and anti-submarine operations in the North-Western Approaches. On 16 OctoberLoch AchanaltandAnnanengaged and sank theGerman submarineU-1006off theFaroe Islands.

In January 1945 the 6th Escort Group was transferred to convoy defence duties in theEnglish Channelbased atPortsmouth.From 14 March to 20 April, the group were deployed fromPlymouthto the English Channel and South-Western Approaches on convoy defence duties.Later in April they sailed toHalifaxfor convoy defence duties. Following the German surrender, the Group was disbanded on 23 May 1945.Loch Achanaltwas returned to the Royal Navy in July and put into reserve atSheerness.

In March 1948Loch Achanaltwas sold toRoyal New Zealand Navywith five other Loch-class frigates. On 13 September 1948 she was formally transferred and renamed HMNZSPukaki(F424).

AsPukaki(F424)

On 15 October 1948Pukakisailed fromPortlandwith three other Loch-class frigates, arriving atAucklandin January 1949 to join the 11th Frigate Flotilla for patrols and exercises.

On 25 June 1950Pukakiwas placed at the disposal of theUN Forces in Korea.In AugustPukakiand sister-shipTutiraarrived atSaseboto join the UN naval command. Initially attached to Task Group 96.5 for escort duties between Japan and Korea, in September she was transferred to Task Group 90.7 to support of landings by theUS 1st Marine DivisionatInchon,rejoining Task Group 96.5 in October. In November she was relieved by the frigateRotoitiand returned to Auckland to refit, after which she was placed in reserve.

Recommissioned in December 1952 for service in the 11th Frigate Flotilla,Pukakiwas assigned to detached service with the Royal Navy'sFar East Fleet4th Frigate Squadronbased atSingaporein September 1953. In January 1954 the frigate was deployed in theYellow Seafor trade protection and as back-up to UN forces in Korea if required. In May she was transferred to Singapore for anti-terrorist operations in theMalayan Emergency,returning to Auckland in September.

She rejoined the 4th Frigate Squadron in the Far East Fleet in June 1955, for trade protection and Korean coast guard ship duties, while also carrying out joint exercises with United States Navy ships, returning to Auckland in May 1956. In December she escorted the supply vesselEndeavourduring the initial stage of the journey toMcMurdo SoundinAntarctica.

In 1957 and 1958 the ship was deployed as a weather reporting ship during the "Operation Grapple"nuclear tests atChristmas Island.Between 1959 and 1962 she once more joined the Far East Fleet forSEATOexercises and patrols. From 1963 to 1965 she supported the United States "Operation Deep Freeze"Antarctic operations.Pukakialternated with an AmericanEdsall-classDER picket frigate operating fromDunedinin summer months to track United States NavyLockheed C-130 Herculesdeployments and other flights fromHarewood airportinChristchurchto McMurdo Base in the Ross Dependency, offering the potential for search and rescue in the Southern Ocean and service to the weather station on Campbell Island. Sea conditions probably shortened by two years the service life ofPukakiand the other surviving Loch-class frigate,Rotoiti.This forced the United States Navy to deploy twoEdsall-class DERs to Dunedin for the final three deployments in 1966–68.

Put into reserve in May 1965Pukakiwas sold in October. The ship was towed to Hong Kong and scrapped in January 1966.

See also

• Frigates of the Royal New Zealand Navy

References

Bibliography

• Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships:Loch Achanalt
• McDougall, R J (1989)New Zealand Naval Vessels.Page 37–41. Government Printing Office.ISBN978-0-477-01399-4
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005).Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two(Revised & Expanded ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN1-59114-119-2.