View source for HMS Ascension

{{short description|Colony-class frigate}}
{{other ships|USS Hargood}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Ascension.JPG
|Ship caption=HMS ''Ascension'' 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1947}}
|Ship name= USS ''Hargood''
|Ship namesake=[[William Hargood]] (1762-1839), British naval officer (British name assigned in anticipation of ship{{'}}s transfer to [[United Kingdom]])
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
| Ship builder = [[Walsh-Kaiser Company]], [[Providence, Rhode Island|Providence]], [[Rhode Island]]
| Ship reclassified = [[Patrol frigate]] 15 April 1943
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = yes
| Ship laid down = 30 April 1943<ref name="uboatnet">[http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/276.html uboat.net HMS Ascension (K 502)]</ref>
| Ship renamed = USS ''Ascension'', 1943
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship namesake = [[Ascension Island]] (British name assigned in anticipation of ship{{'}}s transfer to United Kingdom)
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship launched= 6 August 1943
|Ship sponsor= Mrs. A. A. Kirby
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship identification=*PG-182
*PF-74
|Ship fate= Transferred to United Kingdom 24 November 1943
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship acquired= Returned by United Kingdom 31 May 1946
|Ship fate= Sold 16 October 1947 for scrapping 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name= HMS ''Ascension''
|Ship namesake=[[Ascension Island]]
|Ship launched= 
|Ship sponsor= 
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired= 24 November 1943
|Ship commissioned=24 November 1943 
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship maiden voyage
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship registry=
|Ship honours=
|Ship identification=K502
|Ship fate= Returned to United States 31 May 1946
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{sclass2|Colony|frigate|5}}/{{sclass|Tacoma|frigate}}
|Ship displacement= {{convert|1264|LT|t|lk=in}}
|Ship length={{convert|303|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|37|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship height= 
|Ship draft={{convert|13|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship propulsion=*3 × boilers
*2 × turbines, {{convert|5500|shp|abbr=on}} each
*2 shafts
|Ship speed= {{convert|20|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range= 
|Ship endurance=
|Ship complement=190
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*3 × single [[3-inch/50-caliber gun|3 inch/50 AA guns]]
*2 × twin [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm guns]]
*9 × single [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]]
*1 × [[Hedgehog (weapon)|Hedgehog]] [[anti-submarine mortar]]
*8 × [[Y-gun]] depth charge projectors
*2 × depth charge racks
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''HMS ''Ascension'' (K502)''' was a {{sclass2|Colony|frigate}} of the United Kingdom that served in the [[Royal Navy]] during [[World War II]]. She originally was ordered by the [[United States Navy]] as the {{sclass|Tacoma|frigate|1}} '''USS ''Hargood'' (PF-74)''' and was transferred to the Royal Navy prior to completion.

==Construction and acquisition==
The ship, originally designated a "patrol [[gunboat]]," '''PG-182''', was ordered by the [[United States Maritime Commission]] under a [[United States Navy]] contract as the first USS ''Hargood'', a British name she carried because of her intended transfer to the United Kingdom. Reclassified as a "[[patrol frigate]]," PF-74, on 15 April 1943, she was [[Keel laying|laid down]] by the [[Walsh-Kaiser Company]] at [[Providence, Rhode Island|Providence]], [[Rhode Island]], on 30 April 1943.<ref name="uboatnet"/> The British renamed her ''Ascension'' prior to [[Ship naming and launching|launching]]. She was launched on 6 August 1943, sponsored by Mrs. A. A. Kirby.

==Service history==
Transferred to the United Kingdom under [[Lend-Lease]] on 24 November 1943, the ship served in the [[Royal Navy]] as HMS ''Ascension'' (K502) on patrol and escort duty. On 25 November 1944 she sank the German [[submarine]] {{GS|U-482||2}} with [[depth charge]]s in the [[North Atlantic Ocean]] west of the [[Shetland Islands]] at {{coord|60|18|00|N|004|52|00|W}}.<ref name="uboatnet"/>

On 14 March 1945, ''Ascension'' led a Royal Navy hunter-killer group to the scene of an attack by the [[South African Navy]] frigate {{ship|HMSAS|Natal|K10|6}} on the German submarine {{GS|U-714||2}} off [[St. Abbs]], [[Scotland]], which had brought oil and a metal tank to the surface at {{coord|55|57|00|N|001|57|00|W|name="U-714 sunk"}}. While ''Natal'' proceeded to [[Scapa Flow]] in the [[Orkney Islands]], ''Ascension''{{'}}s group depth-charged the position, bringing more [[flotsam]] from the submarine to the surface. The [[destroyer]] {{HMS|Wivern|D66|6}} claimed a share of the kill after depth-charging an oil slick {{convert|10|nmi|lk=in}} to the south under the assumption that it was oil from ''U-714'', which ''Wivern''{{'}}s crew believed had been only been damaged by ''Natal'' and was attempting to escape. Although some controversy surrounds credit for the sinking, naval authorities later determined that ''Natal'' had sunk ''U-714'' with the loss of the submarine{{'}}s entire crew of 50 men and gave ''Natal'' sole credit for the sinking.<ref name="uboatnet"/><ref>[http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-09VW-Wivern.htm Naval History: HMS WIVERN (D 66) -  V & W-class Destroyer]</ref><ref>[http://www.uboat.net/boats/u714.htm uboat.net U-714]</ref><ref>[http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/252.html uboat.net HMSAS Natal (K 10)]</ref>

==Disposal==
The United Kingdom returned ''Ascension'' to the U.S. Navy on 31 May 1946. She was sold to the [[Hudson Valley Shipwrecking Corporation]] of [[Newburgh, New York|Newburgh]], [[New York (state)|New York]], for scrapping on 16 October 1947.

== References ==

===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h2/hargood.htm}}
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/08074.htm Navsource Online: Frigate Photo Archive HMS Ascension (K 502) ex-Hargood ex-PF-74 ex-PG-182]

== External links ==
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/08074.htm Photo archive of HMS ''Ascension'']

{{Portal|United Kingdom}}

{{Tacoma class patrol frigate}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ascension (K502)}}
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Providence, Rhode Island]]
[[Category:Tacoma-class frigates]]
[[Category:Colony-class frigates]]
[[Category:World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II frigates of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Royal Navy ship names]]