HMS Annan (K404)

HMS Annan was a River-class frigate built for the Royal Navy but was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy before commissioning. She served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War and saw action primarily as a convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic. She was returned to United Kingdom following the war and quickly sold to Denmark, who renamed the vessel Niels Ebbesen. She was primarily used as a training vessel until 1963 when she was broken up in Odense. She was named for the River Annan in Scotland in UK and Canadian service and Niels Ebbesen in Danish service.

For other ships with the same name, see HMCS Annan.

HMS Annan at anchor
History
United Kingdom
Name: Annan
Namesake: River Annan
Ordered: 26 December 1942
Builder: Hall, Russell & Co. Ltd., Aberdeen
Laid down: 10 June 1943
Launched: 29 December 1943
Identification: pennant number: K 404
Fate:
  • Transferred to Canada 13 January 1944
  • Returned 20 June 1945
  • Sold to Denmark November 1945
Canada
Name: Annan
Commissioned: 13 January 1944
Decommissioned: 20 June 1945
Identification: pennant number: K 404
Honours and
awards:		 Atlantic 1944, North Sea 1944[1]
Fate: Returned to Royal Navy 1945
Denmark
Name: Niels Ebbesen
Namesake: Niels Ebbesen
Commissioned: 27 November 1945
Decommissioned: 8 May 1963
Identification: pennant number: F 339
Fate: Broken up 1963 at Odense
General characteristics
Class and type: River-class frigate
Displacement:
  • 1,445 long tons (1,468 t; 1,618 short tons)
  • 2,110 long tons (2,140 t; 2,360 short tons) (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:
Speed:
  • 20 knots (37.0 km/h)
  • 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h) (turbine ships)
Range: 7,500 nautical miles (13,890 km) at 15 knots (27.8 km/h)
Endurance: 646 long tons (656 t; 724 short tons) oil fuel
Complement: 157
Armament:

Construction and service

Annan was ordered by the Royal Navy on 26 December 1942 and laid down on 10 June 1943 by Hall, Russell & Co. Ltd. at their shipyard in Aberdeen, Scotland.[2] The vessel was launched on 29 December 1943[2] and was handed over to the Royal Canadian Navy for commissioning as HMCS Annan on 13 January 1944 at Aberdeen.[3]

After working up at Tobermory, Annan joined escort group EG 6 at Londonderry. With this group she patrolled and escorted convoys in coastal waters around the United Kingdom. On 16 October 1944 while on patrol, EG 6 encountered the German submarine U-1006 south of the Faroe Islands.[4] Forced to surface, the submarine was sunk by Annan by depth charge.[3][5] Annan rescued forty-six survivors from the U-boat.[3]

In April 1945, the group EG 6 was transferred to Halifax, Nova Scotia.[3] However the following month, Annan returned to the United Kingdom and was handed back to the Royal Navy at Sheerness on 20 June 1945.[3][5]

Post-war service

Annan was sold to the Royal Danish Navy on 22 November 1945 as one of two River-class frigates. The two ships were renamed the Holger Danske class.[6][Note 1] Annan was renamed Niels Ebbesen for the Danish squire Niels Ebbesen. She was used as a training ship for naval cadets, carrying up to 90 trainees.[7] Niels Ebbesen went through several refits during her service with the Royal Danish Navy.[7] She was decommissioned on 8 May 1963[7] and broken up that year at Odense, Denmark.[3]

References

Notes
  1. uboat.net states it was 27 November 1945.

Footnotes
  1. "Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  2. "HMS Annan (ii) (K404)". uboat.net. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  3. Macpherson and Barrie, p. 97
  4. Rohwer, p. 360
  5. Helgason, Guðmundur. "HMCS Annan (ii) (K404)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  6. Balsved, Johnny E. (12 April 2005). "HOLGER DANSKE Class (1945–1963), Frigates". Danish Naval History. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  7. Balsved, Johnny E. (12 April 2005). "Niels Ebbesen (1945–1963), Frigate". Danish Naval History. Archived from the original on 7 October 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2014.

References
  • Balsved, Johnny E. (12 April 2005). "Niels Ebbesen (1945–1963), Frigate". Danish Naval History. Archived from the original on 7 October 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  • Macpherson, Ken; Barrie, Ron (2002). Warships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002 (3 ed.). St. Catharines: Vanwell Publishing Ltd. p. 97. ISBN 1-55125-072-1.
  • Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2
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