HMS Retalick

The future HMS Retalick (K555) at Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard in Hingham, Massachusetts, on the day she was launched, 9 October 1943.
History
United States
Name	unnamed (DE-90)
Ordered	10 January 1942[1]
Builder	Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts
Laid down	21 July 1943[2]
Launched	9 October 1943[2]
Completed	8 December 1943[2]
Commissioned	never
Fate	Transferred to United Kingdom 8 December 1943[2]
Acquired	Returned by United Kingdom 25 October 1945[2]
Stricken	19 December 1945[2]
Fate	Sold for scrapping 7 May 1946[2]
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Retalick (K555)
Namesake	Captain Richard Retalick ( ? - 1803), British naval officer who was commanding officer of HMS Defiance during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801[3][4]
Acquired	8 December 1943[1]
Commissioned	8 December 1943[1]
Fate	Returned to United States 25 October 1945[2]
General characteristics
Displacement	1,400 long tons (1,422 t)
Length	306 ft (93 m)
Beam	36.75 ft (11.2 m)
Draught	9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion	Two Foster-Wheeler Express "D"-type water-tube boilers GE 13,500 shp (10,070 kW) steam turbines and generators (9,200 kW) Electric motors for 12,000 shp (8,900 kW) Two shafts
Speed	24 knots (44 km/h)
Range	5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement	186
Sensors and processing systems	SA & SL type radars Type 144 series Asdic MF Direction Finding antenna HF Direction Finding Type FH 4 antenna
Armament	3 × 3 in (76 mm) /50 Mk.22 guns 1 × twin Bofors 40 mm mount Mk.I 7–16 × 20 mm Oerlikon guns Mark 10 Hedgehog antisubmarine mortar Depth charges QF 2-pounder naval gun
Notes	Pennant number K555

HMS Retalick (K555) was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as a United States Navy Buckley class destroyer escort, she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1945.

The ship was laid down as the unnamed U.S. Navy destroyer escort DE-90 by Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., in Hingham, Massachusetts, on 21 July 1943 and launched on 9 October 1943.^[2] She was transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease upon completion on 8 December 1943.^[2]

Commissioned into service in the Royal Navy as the frigate HMS Retalick (K555) on 8 December 1943 simultaneously with her transfer, the ship served on patrol and escort duty for the remainder of World War II.^[1][2]

The Royal Navy returned Retalick to the U.S. Navy on 25 October 1945.^[2]

The U.S. Navy struck Retalick from its Naval Vessel Register on 19 December 1945. She was sold on 7 May 1946 for scrapping.^[2]

• Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive Retalick (DE-90) HMS Retalick (K-555)
• uboat.net HMS Retalick (K 555)
• Destroyer Escort Sailors Association DEs for UK
• Captain Class Frigate Association HMS Retalick K555 (DE 90)

• Photo gallery of HMS Retalick (K555)