- Service History
- Loss
- References
- Publications
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}{{Infobox ship image| Ship image=HMS Holcombe IWM.jpg | Ship image size= | Ship caption=HMS Holcombe
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header= | Ship country= United Kingdom | UK|naval}} | Ship name= HMS Holcombe | Ship namesake= | Ship ordered= 23 August 1940 | Ship awarded= | Ship builder=Alexander Stephen and Sons, Glasgow | Ship original cost= | Ship yard number=J1489 | Ship way number= | Ship laid down= 3 April 1941 | Ship launched= 14 April 1942 | Ship sponsor= | Ship christened= | Ship completed= | Ship acquired= | Ship commissioned= 16 September 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: L56 | Ship motto= | Ship nickname= | Ship honours= | Ship captured= | U-593 | 2} on 12 December 1943 off the Algerian coast. | 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 Holcombe was a Type III {{sclass2-|Hunt|destroyer}} of the Royal Navy. She was named after the Holcombe Hunt in Lancashire. She was the first and thus far only ship of the Royal Navy named HMS Holcombe.Built on the Clyde by Alexander Stephen and Sons, she was laid down on 3 April 1941, launched on 14 April 1942 and commissioned on 16 September 1942.[1] Service HistoryHolcombe was allocated to the Mediterranean Fleet in October 1942 but only arrived at Gibraltar on 1 February 1943 after first escorting convoy WS24 to Freetown and then being retained there as a convoy escort. Once in the Mediterranean she was used on escort duties initially based at Gibraltar and subsequently at Algiers and then Malta. She was involved in escorting the invasion fleet for Operation Husky. LossWhilst escorting convoy KMS34 on 12 December 1943 her sister ship {{HMS|Tynedale|L96|6}} was torpedoed and sunk off Jijel, Algeria, by {{GS|U-593||2}} commanded by Kptlt. Gerd Kelbling. The other escorts commenced to search for the submarine but U-593 managed to torpedo Holcombe during the hunt. Holcombe sank rapidly with the loss of 81 men. U-593 was sunk after being depth charged by two other escorts of KMS34, {{USS|Wainwright|DD-419|6}} and {{HMS|Calpe|L71|6}}, off Bougie, Algeria, in position {{coord|37|38|N|05|58|E|scale:20000000}} on the following day. There were no casualties. References1. ^{{cite book|last1=English|first1=John|title=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.|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}}.
{{coord|35|55|N|1|50|W|display=title}}{{Hunt class destroyer|type3}}{{December 1942 shipwrecks}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Holcombe (L56)}}{{DISPLAYTITLE:HMS Holcombe (L56)}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Holcombe (L56)}} 8 : Hunt-class destroyers of the Royal Navy|Ships built on the River Clyde|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|Hunt-class destroyers of the Royal Navy |