- Service History
- References
- Publications
- External links
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}{{Infobox ship image| Ship image= | Ship caption=Blean in dazzle camouflage
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header= | Ship country= United Kingdom | UK|naval}} | Ship name= HMS Blean | Ship namesake= | Ship ordered= 28 July 1940 | Ship awarded= | Ship builder=Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn-on-Tyne | Ship original cost= | Ship yard number= | Ship way number= | Ship laid down= 22 February 1941 | Ship launched= 15 January 1942 | Ship sponsor= | Ship christened= | Ship completed= | Ship acquired= | Ship commissioned= 23 August 1942 | Ship recommissioned= | Ship decommissioned= | Ship maiden voyage= | Ship in service= | Ship out of service= | Ship renamed= | Ship reclassified= | Ship refit= | Ship struck= | Ship reinstated= | Ship homeport= | Ship identification=pennant number: L47 | Ship motto= | Ship nickname= | Ship honours= | Ship captured= | U-443 | 2} on 11 December 1942 11 miles north-west of Oran. | Ship status= | Ship notes= | Ship badge=
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header= | Header caption= | Hunt|destroyer}} | 1050|LT|t}} standard- {{convert|1435|LT|t}} full load
| 85.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}} o/a | 10.16|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship height= | 3.51|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship propulsion=*2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers- 2 shaft Parsons geared turbines, {{convert|19,000|shp|abbr=on}}
| 27|kn|lk=in}} | 2350|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|20|kn|km/h|abbr=on}} | Ship endurance= | Ship complement=168 | Ship sensors= | Ship EW= | 4|in|mm|sing=on|sigfig=3}} Mark XVI on twin mounts Mk. XIX- 4 × QF 2-pounder Mk. VIII on quad mount MK.VII
- 2 × 20 mm Oerlikons on single mounts P Mk. III
- 2 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
- 110 depth charges, 4 throwers, 3 racks
| Ship armour= | Ship notes=
}} | HMS Blean was a Type III {{sclass2-|Hunt|destroyer}} of the Royal Navy. She was named after the Blean Beagles Hunt at the village of Blean just north of Canterbury. She had the shortest career of any of the Hunt-class destroyers. Built at Hebburn-on-Tyne by Hawthorn Leslie, she was laid down on 22 February 1941, launched on 15 January 1942 and commissioned on 23 August 1942.[1] Service HistoryAfter working up at Scapa Flow followed by some repairs on the Thames she escorted a convoy to Gibraltar arriving on 2 November 1942. She then joined the 58th Destroyer Division escorting Operation Torch convoys. While escorting the British convoy MKF-4 off the Algerian coast, Blean was torpedoed by {{GS|U-443||2}} on 11 December 1942 {{convert|11|mi|km}} north-west of Oran. The U-boat aimed one torpedo against her and then one against the convoy, but both hit Blean and she sank within four minutes with the loss of 89 men.[2] A memorial to her was unveiled in the church of St. Cosmus and St. Damian in the village of Blean on 10 December 2006. References1. ^{{cite web|title=HMS Blean|url=http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4671.html|website=uboat.net|accessdate=28 November 2015}}
2. ^{{cite book|last1=English|first1=John|title=The Hunts|date=1987|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Cumbria|isbn=0-905617-44-4}}
Publications- {{colledge}}
- English, John (1987). The Hunts: a history of the design, development and careers of the 86 destroyers of this class built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II. England: World Ship Society. {{ISBN|0-905617-44-4}}.
External links- HMS Cavalier site
- Casualty list
- U-boat.net
{{coord|35|55|N|1|50|W|display=title}}{{Hunt class destroyer|type3}}{{December 1942 shipwrecks}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Blean (L47)}} 7 : Hunt-class destroyers of the Royal Navy|Ships built on the River Tyne|1942 ships|World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom|Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II|World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean|Maritime incidents in December 1942 |