HMS Bramham (L51) was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down in Alexander Stephen and Sons shipyards Govan, Scotland on 7 April 1941. She was launched on 29 January 1942 and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 16 June 1942. She was named after the Bramham Moor Hunt and has been the only Royal Navy warship to bear the name. She was adopted by the town of Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire during the Warship Week savings campaign of 1942.

HMS Bramham on the River Clyde, 1942 (IWM)
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Bramham
Ordered4 September 1940
BuilderAlexander Stephen and Sons
Laid down7 April 1941
Launched29 January 1942
Commissioned16 June 1942
DecommissionedMarch 1943
IdentificationPennant number: L51
FateTransferred to Royal Hellenic Navy, March 1943.
Greece
NameThemistoklis
NamesakeThemistocles
AcquiredMarch 1943
Commissioned1943
Decommissioned1959
Stricken12 November 1959
FateReturned to Royal Navy, 12 November 1959 and scrapped 1960
General characteristics
Class and typeType II Hunt-class destroyer
Displacement
  • 1,050 long tons (1,067 t) standard;
  • 1,490 long tons (1,514 t) full load
Length85.34 m (280.0 ft)
Beam9.62 m (31.6 ft)
Draught2.51 m (8 ft 3 in)
Propulsion2 shaft Parsons geared turbines; 19,000 shp
Speed25.5 kn (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph)
Range3,600 nmi (6,670 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement164
Armament

Royal Navy service

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Bramham was one of two ships that returned to rescue the survivors of HMS Curacoa.[1]

In the following August she served in Operation Pedestal, a mission to deliver supplies to the besieged island of Malta, as an escorting destroyer. On 12 August she rescued survivors from Deucalion. In the last stages of the operation Bramham along with two other destroyers, Ledbury and Penn took on the final tow of the tanker Ohio into Malta.[2]

Royal Hellenic Navy service

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In March 1943 Bramham was transferred to the Royal Hellenic Navy and renamed Themistoklis after the ancient Greek commander Themistocles. She served until 1959 and was then returned to the Royal Navy on 12 November 1959. She was scrapped in Greece in 1960.[3]

References

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  1. ^ http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80015884 - Recollection of Edgar Wilson, Seaman serving on board HMS Curacoa, Imperial War Museum interview.
  2. ^ "HMS Bramham, escort destroyer".
  3. ^ Raymond V B Blackman (ed.). Jane's Fighting Ships 1963-4. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd. p. 112.

Publications

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