HMS Aylmer

HMS Aylmer was a Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy that served during World War II. The ship was named after Matthew Aylmer, commander of HMS Royal Katherine at the Battle of Barfleur in 1692 during the War of the Grand Alliance.

Originally destined for the US Navy as a turbo-electric (TE) type Buckley-class destroyer escort, HMS Aylmer was provisionally given the name USS Harmon (later this name was reassigned to USS Harmon (DE-678), though the delivery was diverted to the Royal Navy before the launch. Its commanding officers were Lt Cdr A.D.P. Campbell RN and Cdr B.W. Taylor RN (Senior Officer 5th Escort Group) on 30 August 1944 and Lt Cdr W.L. Smith RNR in February 1945.

HMS Aylmer was adopted by the Boy's Own Paper. The May 1945 issue had pictures of HMS Aylmer in the graving dock in Liverpool after she had rammed and sunk U-1051 off Anglesey. In the May 1946 issue, C.J. Olivant (the author of the article) described the war service of HMS Aylmer.

She was stationed in Belfast for the duration of her wartime service with the 5th Escort Group.

HMS Aylmer served exclusively with the 5th Escort Group, taking part in operations in the North Atlantic in May 1944, off Normandy (Operation Neptune) in June 1944, and in the Barents Sea in Operation Goodwood in August 1944. It also served in the Mediterranean, escorting a convoy to Naples in September 1944.

On 6 May 1944 the submarine U-765 was sunk in the North Atlantic, at position 52°30′N 28°28′W / 52.500°N 28.467°W / 52.500; -28.467, by depth charges from HMS Aylmer, operating alongside two Swordfish aircraft (Sqdn. 825) of the British escort carrier HMS Vindex and the British frigates HMS Bligh and HMS Bickerton. As a result of this action, 37 of U-765's crew died and 11 were rescued and taken prisoner by Bickerton.

During Operation Goodwood, on 22 August 1944, the escort carriers HMS Trumpeter and HMS Nabob sailed to the Barents Sea to attack the German battleship Tirpitz. During this operation HMS Nabob was torpedoed and ten minutes later the destroyer escort HMS Bickerton (commanded by Cdr Donald MacIntyre, senior officer of the 5th Escort Group) was also hit by an acoustic torpedo (Gnat); both attacks were by the submarine U-354. HMS Nabob was able to raise steam and was escorted back (at an average 10 knots (19 km/h)) to Rosyth where she was considered a constructive total loss and used as spare parts. HMS Bickerton was sunk by HMS Vigilant as any salvage was considered too risky. Vigilant had to fire three torpedoes to sink Bickerton. As a result of this action, Cdr Donald MacIntyre transferred his command to HMS Aylmer.

On 26 January 1945, the submarine U-1051 was sunk in the Irish Sea south of the Isle of Man, at position 53°39′N 05°23′W / 53.650°N 5.383°W / 53.650; -5.383 by the frigates HMS Aylmer, HMS Bentinck, HMS Calder and HMS Manners. U-1051 was forced to the surface by the use of depth charges, then a gun battle ensued with U-1051 finally sinking after it had been rammed by HMS Aylmer. This action resulted in the loss of all hands (47) from the crew of U-1051. It is entirely clear that the ramming of U-1051 by HMS Aylmer was intentional and that Cdr B.W.Taylor was not removed from command, as has been suggested, shortly after this incident. A reading of the after-action report makes it clear that the U-1051 was still a belligerent submarine (during the attack by the escorts, U-1051 fired another torpedo at HMS Aylmer). When she surfaced, U-1051 was fired on by HMS Aylmer, HMS Calder, HMS Bligh and HMS Bentinck. It is known that the 3-inch/50 caliber main gun of the Captain class had trouble penetrating the hull plating of German submarines (their shells would bounce off the submarines they fired on), so it is possible Commander Taylor thought that discretion was the better option and rammed the submarine as the ship's "Elephant Guns" had little effect; however in doing this he would have been acting against Admiralty orders that ships were not to ram submarines except in dire circumstances.