View source for HMS Loch Insh

{{short description|Frigate of the Royal Navy}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= HMS Loch Insh 1944 IWM FL 14742.jpg
|Ship caption=''Loch Insh'' in October 1944
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=<ref name="naval-history.net"/>
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=HMS ''Loch Insh''
|Ship namesake=[[Loch Insh]]
|Ship ordered=25 January 1943
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Henry Robb]], [[Leith]], [[Scotland]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=846
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=November 1943
|Ship launched=10 May 1944
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed= 20 October 1944
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=November 1944
|Ship decommissioned=April 1946
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=21 September 1950
|Ship decommissioned=22 June 1962
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]] K433/F433
|Ship motto= 
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=*Atlantic 1944
*Arctic 1945
|Ship fate= Sold to [[Malaysia]] in 1963
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=Malaysia
|Ship flag=[[File:Naval Ensign of Malaysia (1963-1968).svg|66px]] {{shipboxflag|Malaysia|naval}}
|Ship name= KD ''Hang Tuah''
|Ship namesake=[[Hang Tuah]]
|Ship acquired=1963
|Ship commissioned=1963
|Ship decommissioned=1971
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=1977
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=F 443
|Ship motto= 
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate= Retired and scrapped in 1977
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption= 
|Ship class={{sclass2|Loch|frigate|0}} [[frigate]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|1435|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{Convert|307|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{Convert|38|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{Convert|8|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
*2 shafts
*4-cylinder vertical triple expansion [[steam engine|reciprocating engines]], {{Convert|5500|hp|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed={{Convert|20|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{Convert|9500|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{Convert|12|kn|abbr=on}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=114
|Ship crew=
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*1 × [[QF 4-inch naval gun Mk V|QF {{convert|4|inch|mm|adj=on}} Mark V gun]] on 1 single mounting [[British ordnance terms#HA|HA]] Mk.III**
*4 × [[QF 2-pounder naval gun|QF 2-pounder]] Mk.VII on 1 quad mount Mk.VII
*4 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20&nbsp;mm Oerlikon]] A/A on 2 twin mounts Mk.V (or 2 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40&nbsp;mm Bofors]] A/A on 2 single mounts Mk.III)
*Up to 8 × 20&nbsp;mm Oerlikon A/A on single mounts Mk.III
*2 × [[Squid (weapon)|Squid]] triple barreled A/S mortars
*1 rail and 2 throwers for [[depth charge]]s
|Ship armour=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''HMS ''Loch Insh''''' was a {{sclass2|Loch|frigate|0}} [[frigate]] of the [[Royal Navy]], named after [[Loch Insh]] in [[Scotland]]. She was built by [[Henry Robb]] of [[Leith]] and launched on 10 May 1944. After service at the end of [[World War II]] she was decommissioned, but reactivated in 1950 and served, mostly in the [[Persian Gulf]], until 1962. The ship was sold to the [[Royal Malaysian Navy]] in 1963 and renamed '''KD ''Hang Tuah'' (F433)'''. She was scrapped in 1977.<ref name="naval-history.net">{{Cite web |url= http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-15Fr-Loch-LochInsh.htm |title=HMS Loch Insh, frigate |work=naval-history.net |last=Mason |first=Geoffrey B. |editor=Gordon Smith |date=1998 |accessdate=16 March 2010}}</ref>

==Service history==

===World War II===
After commissioning and [[sea trial]]s ''Loch Insh'' joined the 19th Escort Group at [[Liverpool]] in November 1944. The Group was deployed for convoy defence in the North-West Approaches and the [[Irish Sea]].<ref name="naval-history.net"/> For 14 hours on 6 December ''Loch Insh'' and {{HMS|Goodall|K479|2}} hunted for the {{GS|U-775}} off [[Cape Wrath]], but the [[U-boat]], which had torpedoed the frigate {{HMS|Bullen|K469|2}} and sent her to the bottom, escaped undamaged.<ref>{{Cite web
|url= http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/3385.html
|title=HMS Bullen (K 469) (Frigate) - Ships hit by U-boats
|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|accessdate=16 March 2010
}}</ref>

In January 1945 the Group was transferred to the [[English Channel]] for anti-submarine operations. In February it operated in the [[Irish Sea]] and [[South-Western Approaches]], and in April was assigned to support the Russian convoys. On 18 April ''Loch Insh'' and 19 EG joined the escort for Russian Convoy JW 66, arriving at [[Kola Inlet]] on 25 April after an uneventful passage. After anti-submarine operations off the Russian coast, the Group departed with Convoy RA 66 for the return journey.<ref name="naval-history.net"/>

On 29 April, in the [[Barents Sea]], ''Loch Insh'' sank {{GS|U-307||2}} using "Shark" anti-submarine projectiles and her [[Squid (weapon)|Squid]] [[anti-submarine mortar]],<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.uboat.net/boats/u307.htm
|title=The Type VIIC boat U-307
|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|accessdate=16 March 2010
}}</ref> and the same day, with frigates {{HMS|Anguilla|K500|2}} and {{HMS|Cotton|K510|2}} she sank {{GS|U-286||2}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.uboat.net/boats/u286.htm |title=The Type VIIC boat U-286 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net |accessdate=16 March 2010}}</ref> ''Loch Insh'' was detached from RA 66 with the other ships of 19 EG before their arrival in the [[River Clyde|Clyde]] and sent to [[Leith]] to refit and prepare for foreign service.<ref name="naval-history.net"/>

On 23 August she departed [[Rosyth]] to join the East Indies Escort Force, arriving at [[Colombo]] on 25 October. There she acted as escort to repatriation convoys. After a visit to the coast of East Africa, ''Loch Insh'' returned to the UK in April 1946 and was decommissioned and placed in Reserve at [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport]]. Whilst in Reserve her [[pennant number]] was changed to F433.<ref name="naval-history.net"/>

===1950&ndash;1962===
After a refit ''Loch Insh'' was recommissioned on 21 September 1950 to serve with 6th Frigate Flotilla, [[Home Fleet]], for exercises and visits. In April and May 1951 she joined to search for missing submarine {{HMS|Affray|P421|2}}.<ref name="naval-history.net"/>

In April 1952 she was decommissioned and was laid up at Devonport in readiness for a programme of extensive modernisation, of which ''Loch Insh'' would be the prototype for the rest of her class. The work finally began in May 1953 and took over a year. Recommissioned on 6 September 1954, she completed her [[sea trials]] in the Mediterranean, before arriving at [[Bahrain]] in December for duty in the [[Persian Gulf]] alongside {{HMS|Loch Alvie|K428|2}}. Her primary task was the protection of British tanker shipping, and she carried out a regular routine of patrols and port visits until returning to the UK in August 1955.<ref name="naval-history.net"/>

After a refit she returned to Persian Gulf patrol duty in March 1956. During the [[Suez Crisis]] ("[[Operation Musketeer (1956)|Operation Musketeer]]") ''Loch Insh'' was based at Bahrain where she protected Sitra Oil Jetties. In January 1957 she was relieved by {{HMS|Loch Lomond|K437|2}}, and returned to the UK via the [[Cape of Good Hope]], as the Suez Canal was closed. She arrived back at Devonport in March to refit.<ref name="naval-history.net"/>

In March 1958, after anti-submarine training at [[Derry]], she joined the [[Home Fleet]] for exercises and visits, and in June she returned to the Gulf. In October she joined other Royal Navy ships in the multi-national [[CENTO]] "Exercise Midlink" in the [[Indian Ocean]], based at [[Karachi]]. In March 1959 she made East African coast visits and called at [[Tanga, Tanzania|Tanga]], [[Mtwara]] and [[Zanzibar]] before returning to Devonport in April. ''Loch Insh'' returned to the Gulf for two further tours of duty from December 1959 to October 1960, and from May 1961 to June 1962.

==Decommissioning and sale==
Decommissioned on 22 June 1962 ''Loch Insh'' was laid up in Reserve. Placed on the Disposal List, she was sold to the [[Royal Malaysian Navy]] in 1963. After a refit at [[Portsmouth]], on 2 October 1964 the ship was commissioned into the Royal Malaysian Navy and renamed '''KD ''Hang Tuah'' (F433)'''.<ref name="naval-history.net"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book |last=Marriott |first=Leo |date=1983 |title=Royal Navy Frigates 1945-1983 |publisher=Ian Allan Ltd. |isbn=0-71101-322-5}}
* {{cite web |url= http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-15Fr-Loch-LochInsh.htm |title= HMS Loch Insh (K 433) - Loch-class Frigate |work=naval-history.net |last=Mason |first=Geoffrey B. |editor=Gordon Smith |date=1998 |accessdate=16 March 2010}}

==External links==
* [http://www.lochclassfrigates.com/index.html The Loch Class Frigates Association]

{{Loch class frigate}}

<!--- Use the DEFAULTSORT magic word to sort this article in all categories --->

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loch Insh (K433)}}
[[Category:Ships built in Leith]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:Loch-class frigates|Insh (K433)]]
[[Category:Frigates of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II frigates of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Barents Sea]]
[[Category:Frigates of the Royal Malaysian Navy]]