HMS Tavy

History
United Kingdom
Name	Tavy
Namesake	River Tavy
Ordered	26 February 1942
Builder	Charles Hill & Sons & Belliss & Morcom
Laid down	17 October 1942
Launched	3 April 1943
Commissioned	3 July 1943
Fate	Scrapped 28 September 1956
General characteristics
Class & type	River-class frigate
Displacement	1,370 long tons (1,390 t); 1,830 long tons (1,860 t) (deep load);
Length	283 ft (86.26 m) p/p; 301.25 ft (91.82 m)o/a;
Beam	36.5 ft (11.13 m)
Draught	9 ft (2.74 m); 13 ft (3.96 m) (deep load)
Propulsion	2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, reciprocating vertical triple expansion, 5,500 ihp (4,100 kW)
Speed	20 knots (37.0 km/h)
Range	7,200 nautical miles (13,334 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h), with 440 long tons (450 t; 490 short tons) of oil
Complement	107
Armament	2 × QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk.XIX guns, single mounts CP Mk.XXIII; up to 10 × QF 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns on twin mounts Mk.V and single mounts Mk.III; 1 × Hedgehog 24 spigot A/S projector; up to 150 depth charges;

HMS Tavy (K235) was a River-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). Tavy was built by Charles Hill & Sons & Belliss & Morcom in Bristol, England for the Royal Navy. She served during World War II.^[1]

Tavy was one of 151 River-class frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts, named after rivers in the United Kingdom. The ships were designed by naval engineer William Reed, of Smith's Dock Company of South Bank-on-Tees, to have the endurance and anti-submarine capabilities of the Black Swan-class sloops, while being quick and cheap to build in civil dockyards using the machinery (e.g. reciprocating steam engines instead of turbines) and construction techniques pioneered in the building of the Flower-class corvettes. Its purpose was to improve on the convoy escort classes in service with the Royal Navy at the time, including the Flower class.

Wartime service

On 5 July 1944 Tavy and HMS Wanderer attacked the German submarine U-390 in the English Channel.^[2] Tavy started the attack with hedgehog-launched depth charges and was followed by Wanderer. The two eventually disabled the U-boat, and further depth charging was conducted to ensure the destruction of the vessel. Some of Tavy' crew claimed U-390 fired two torpedoes in defence during the attack, both missing. Only one survivor escaped U-390, surfacing in diving equipment between the first and second hedgehog attacks. He was picked up by Wanderer.^[3]^[4]

References

^ "HMS Tavy". Uboat.net. Uboat.net. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
^ "HMS Tavy". Uboat.net. Uboat.net. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
^ Kemp, Paul (1997). U-boats destroyed : German submarine losses in the World Wars. New York, USA: Arms & Armour. p. 201. ISBN 1854095153. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
^ McCartney, Innes (December 2002). Lost Patrols Submarine Wrecks of the English Channel. Periscope. p. 103. ISBN 1904381049. Retrieved 12 January 2026.

External links

Kindell, Don. "World War 2 at Sea - Convoy Escort Movements of Royal and Dominion Navy Vessels". naval-history.net.
Hague, Arnold. "Arnold Hague Convoy Database". convoyweb.org.uk.

[1] "HMS Tavy". Uboat.net. Uboat.net. Retrieved 12 January 2026.

[2] "HMS Tavy". Uboat.net. Uboat.net. Retrieved 12 January 2026.

[3] Kemp, Paul (1997). U-boats destroyed : German submarine losses in the World Wars. New York, USA: Arms & Armour. p. 201. ISBN 1854095153. Retrieved 12 January 2026.

[4] McCartney, Innes (December 2002). Lost Patrols Submarine Wrecks of the English Channel. Periscope. p. 103. ISBN 1904381049. Retrieved 12 January 2026.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]