HMS Holmes (K581)

History
United States
Name	unnamed
Builder	Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts
Laid down	27 October 1943[1]
Identification	DE-572
Renamed	USS Holmes 1943
Namesake	British name assigned in anticipation of transfer to United Kingdom
Launched	18 December 1943
Completed	31 January 1944
Commissioned	never
Fate	Transferred to United Kingdom 31 January 1944
Acquired	Returned by United Kingdom 3 December 1945[2]
Stricken	7 February 1946
Fate	Sold October 1947 for scrapping
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Holmes
Namesake	Admiral Sir Robert Holmes (ca. 1622-1692), English naval officer who fought in the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars[3]
Acquired	31 January 1944
Commissioned	31 January 1944[1]
Identification	Pennant number K581
Fate	Returned to U.S. Navy 3 December 1945[2]
General characteristics
Displacement	1,400 long tons (1,422 t)
Length	306 ft (93 m)
Beam	36.75 ft (11.2 m)
Draught	9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion	Two Foster-Wheeler Express "D"-type water-tube boilers GE 13,500 shp (10,070 kW) steam turbines and generators (9,200 kW) Electric motors for 12,000 shp (8,900 kW) Two shafts
Speed	24 knots (44 km/h)
Range	5,500 nmi (10,200 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement	186
Sensors and processing systems	SA & SL type radars Type 144 series Asdic MF Direction Finding antenna HF Direction Finding Type FH 4 antenna
Armament	3 × 3 in (76 mm) /50 Mk.22 guns 1 × twin Bofors 40 mm mount Mk.I 7–16 × 20 mm Oerlikon guns Mark 10 Hedgehog antisubmarine mortar Depth charges QF 2-pounder naval gun
Notes	Pennant number K581

HMS Holmes (K581) was a Royal Navy Captain-class frigate, originally a Buckley-class destroyer escort intended for the United States Navy. Before she was finished in 1944, she was transferred to the Royal Navy under the terms of Lend-Lease, and was in commission from 1944 to 1945, seeing service during World War II.

The still-unnamed ship was laid down as the U.S. Navy destroyer escort DE-572 by Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., in Hingham, Massachusetts, on 27 October 1943.^[1] Allocated to the United Kingdom, she received the British name Holmes and was launched on 18 December 1943. She was transferred to the United Kingdom upon completion on 31 January 1944.

Commissioned into service in the Royal Navy as the frigate HMS Holmes (K581) on 31 January 1944 simultaneously with her transfer, the ship served on escort duty for the remainder of World War II. The Royal Navy returned her to the U.S. Navy on 3 December 1945.^[2]

The U.S. Navy struck Holmes from its Naval Vessel Register on 7 February 1946. She was sold to Walter H. Wilms and Company of Detroit, Michigan, in October 1947 for scrapping.

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive DE-572 HMS Holmes (K-581)
• uboat.net HMS Holmes (K581)
• Destroyer Escort Sailors Association DEs for UK

Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMS Holmes (ship, 1943).

• Photo gallery of HMS Holmes (K581)