Dates: 1943 - 1945
HMS Kempthorne (K483) was a Captain-class (first group) frigate built at the Boston Navy Yard, she was to have been the Evarts-class destroyer escort USS Trumpeter. She was transferred to the Royal Navy under the Lend-Lease agreement and commissioned on 23 October 1943. Complement: 156.
Kempthorne was part of the 5th Escort Group serving in the North Atlantic, the North Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Irish Sea and the English Channel through to the end of World War II.
Although HMS Kempthorne participated in several actions which resulted in the sinking of U Boats, no specific kill is credited to her.
In May 1945, she was one of two British warships which attended the surrender of German U-boats at Trondheim, Norway. While still in the UK, Kempthorne was returned to US ownership on 20 August 1945 and commissioned in the US Navy the same day for the voyage to Philadelphia. She was scrapped in 1946.
Memorial:
On April 17, 2005 a memorial to the Captain class frigates and those that served in them was dedicated at the National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas, Staffordshire.
Association:
Captain Class Frigate Association
Website: http://www.captainclassfrigates.co.uk/
Contact: webmaster@peter-tynan.org
