HMS Campbeltown

There have been two ships of the Royal Navy named HMS Campbeltown, after Campbeltown in Scotland:

HMS Campbeltown (I42)

HMS Campbeltown was a Town-class destroyer of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She was originally US destroyer USS Buchanan, and, like many other obsolescent U.S. Navy destroyers, she was transferred to the Royal Navy in 1940 as part of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement. Campbeltown became one of the most famous of these ships when she was used in the St. Nazaire Raid in 1942.

Service history

As USS Buchanan

USS Buchanan was a Wickes-class destroyer, ordered from the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, and laid down on 29 June 1918. She was launched on 2 January 1919 and commissioned into the Navy on 20 January. She had a typical inter-war career, and was placed into the reserve in 1939. She then became one of 50 destroyers transferred to the Royal Navy in 1940 after the finalisation of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement. She was transferred on 3 September 1940 and commissioned on 9 September at Halifax, Canada.

As HMS Campbeltown

Having been formally commissioned she took passage from Halifax to Plymouth, travelling via St. Johns, Newfoundland. She arrived at Devonport Dockyard on 29 September and was taken in hand for modifications to fit her for service with the Royal Navy. The refits lasted throughout October, and on completion of the final harbour trials on 1 November she was nominated to join the 17th Flotilla operating in the Western Approaches. The next day, while carrying out sea trials she collided with SS Risoy and sustained damage, but continued and arrived safely at Liverpool, where she underwent repairs from 7 to 24 November. She then joined the flotilla.

HMS Campbeltown (F86)

HMS Campbeltown was a Batch 3 Type 22 frigate of the British Royal Navy. Built by Cammell Laird Shipbuilders Ltd. in Birkenhead, she was part of the third batch of Type 22s, which were considerably larger than their predecessors and incorporated more advanced weaponry after lessons learnt from the Falklands War. She was decommissioned on 7 April 2011.

History

Campbeltown's last deployment was a seven-month tour from 2007-2008 in the Persian Gulf, where she operated in support of Operation Calash and Operation Telic. In early 2004 the vessel was deployed as part of NATO's Standing Naval Force Atlantic. HMS Campbeltown entered refit in September 2008.

The ship's bell of the first HMS Campbeltown, a Second World War Town-class destroyer famous for her role in the St. Nazaire Raid, has been loaned from Campbelltown, Pennsylvania to the current Campbeltown for the duration of her Royal Navy service.

Decommissioning

The Royal Navy announced in March 2011 that Campbeltown would be decommissioned on 7 April 2011. She paid a final visit to her namesake town of Campbeltown, Argyll in March 2011 where a series of ceremonies, including a town centre parade by the ship's crew, took place to commemorate the end of the ship's active service.Campbeltown made her final entrance to Plymouth on 31 March 2011 before decommissioning in a traditional ceremony on 7 April 2011. She was laid up at Portsmouth and in July 2013 sold to Turkish company Leyal for demolition. She was towed to Turkey in Autumn 2013.

Campbeltown

Coordinates: 55°25′23″N 5°36′29″W / 55.423°N 5.608°W / 55.423; -5.608

Campbeltown (ⁱ/ˈkæmbəltən/; Scottish Gaelic: Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain or Ceann Locha) is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre peninsula. Originally known as Kinlochkilkerran (an anglicization of the Gaelic, which means "head of the loch by the kirk of Ciarán"), it was renamed in the 17th century as Campbell's Town after Archibald Campbell (Earl of Argyle) was granted the site in 1667. Campbeltown became an important centre for shipbuilding and Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing port.

Whisky

Campbeltown is one of five areas in Scotland categorised as a distinct malt whisky producing region, and is home to the Campbeltown single malts. At one point it had over 30 distilleries and proclaimed itself "the whisky capital of the world". However, a focus on quantity rather than quality, and the combination of prohibition and the Great Depression in the United States, led to most distilleries going out of business. Today only three active distilleries remain in Campbeltown: Glen Scotia, Glengyle, and Springbank.

Campbeltown (Parliament of Scotland constituency)

Campbeltown was a royal burgh that elected one Commissioner to the Estates of Scotland between 1700 and 1707.

Campbeltown in Kintyre was erected a royal burgh by charter of King William II on 19 April 1700, at the request of the Earl of Argyll.

The first and only Commissioner for the burgh was Mr Charles Campbell, who took his seat on 2 November 1700. He was Lord Argyll's brother, and represented the burgh from 1700 to 1702 and in the last Parliament from 1703 to 1707.

Following the Act of Union 1707, Campbeltown was represented in the Parliament of Great Britain as part of the Ayr district of burghs.

See also

References

Campbeltown (disambiguation)

Campbeltown may refer to:

See also