HMT Lord Hailsham

History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Lord Hailsham
Namesake:	Lord Hailsham
Builder:	Cochrane & Sons Shipbuilders Ltd, Selby
Launched:	30 June 1934
Completed:	August 1934
Acquired:	August 1939
Commissioned:	October 1939
Fate:	Sunk on 27 February 1943
General characteristics
Type:	Armed trawler
Displacement:	445 tons
Sensors and processing systems:	ASDIC
Armament:	1 × 4-inch (100 mm) gun 2 × 20 mm Oerlikon machine guns 14 depth charges 1 × Holman Projector (installed later)

HMT Lord Hailsham (FY109) was a Royal Navy vessel that saw service in World War II. The ship was named after Lord Hailsham.

Service history

Lord Hailsham was a trawler converted to be used in anti-submarine warfare. She had a 4-inch (100 mm) gun forward and 20 mm Oerlikon machine guns on the wings of the bridge, which could be used for anti-aircraft and anti-ship actions. She was also equipped with ASDIC anti-submarine sonar detection equipment, and carried up to 14 depth charges. Later on, she was equipped with a Holman Projector.

A crest of the Hailsham Family was given to the ship in 1942 at the request of First Lieutenant Reginald Mortimore, and was displayed on the front of the ship's bridge.

The ship saw action in the English Channel, and the Eastern Atlantic.

Fate

Lord Hailsham was on convoy duty when she was sunk on 27 February 1943 in Lyme Bay by German E-boats. At the time she was one of five armed ships, led by the Hunt Class destroyer HMS Blencathra, escorting a convoy of eight merchant vessels from South Wales to Southampton. Four of the merchant ships were also lost in the action.

References

• Lord Hailsham at uboat.net