Brian O’Nolan

History
United States
Name	USS Eisner (DE-269)
Ordered	25 January 1942[1]
Builder	Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts
Laid down	7 April 1943
Launched	19 May 1943
Commissioned	Never
Fate	Transferred to United Kingdom 3 September 1943
Acquired	Returned by United Kingdom 5 March 1946
Fate	Sold for scrapping, 3 June 1947
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Domett (K473)
Namesake	Admiral Sir William Domett
Acquired	3 September 1943
Commissioned	3 September 1943
Identification	Pennant number: K473
Fate	Returned to United States, 5 March 1946
General characteristics
Displacement	1,190 long tons (1,210 t) (standard)
Length	289 ft 5 in (88.2 m)
Beam	35 ft 2 in (10.7 m)
Draught	10 ft 1 in (3.1 m)
Installed power	6,000 shp (4,500 kW) electric motors
Propulsion	2 shafts; 4 diesel engines
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	198
Sensors & processing systems	SA & SL type radars Type 144 series Asdic MF Direction Finding HF Direction Finding
Armament	3 × single 3 in (76 mm)/50 Mk 22 guns 1 × twin Bofors 40 mm 9 × single 20 mm Oerlikon guns 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar 2 × Depth charge rails and four throwers

HMS Domett (K473) was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy built during World War II. Originally constructed as the United States Navy Evarts-class destroyer escort USS Eisner (DE-269), she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1946.

The Evarts-class ships had an overall length of 289 feet 5 inches (88.2 m), a beam of 35 feet 2 inches (10.7 m), and a draught of 10 feet 1 inch (3.1 m) at full load. They displaced 1,190 long tons (1,210 t) at (standard) and 1,416 long tons (1,439 t) at full load.^[2] The ships had a diesel–electric powertrain derived from a submarine propulsion system^[3] with four General Motors 16-cylinder diesel engines providing power to four General Electric electric generators which sent electricity to four 1,500-shaft-horsepower (1,100 kW) General Electric electric motors which drove the two propeller shafts. The destroyer escorts had enough power give them a speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) and enough fuel oil to give them a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). Their crew consisted of 198 officers and ratings.^[4]

The armament of the Evarts-class ships in British service consisted of three single mounts for 50-caliber 3-inch (76 mm)/50 Mk 22 dual-purpose guns; one superfiring pair forward of the bridge and the third gun aft of the superstructure. Anti-aircraft defence was intended to consisted of a twin-gun mount for 40-millimetre (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft (AA) guns atop the rear superstructure with nine 20-millimetre (0.8 in) Oerlikon AA guns located on the superstructure, but production shortages meant that that not all guns were fitted, or that additional Oerlikons replaced the Bofors guns. A Mark 10 Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar was positioned just behind the forward gun. The ships were also equipped with two depth charge rails at the stern and four "K-gun" depth charge throwers.^[5]

The ship was assigned the name USS Eisner on 23 February 1943 and laid down as the U.S. Navy destroyer escort DE-269 by the Boston Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, on 7 April 1943. She was launched on 19 May 1943 and transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease. Commissioned into service in the Royal Navy as HMS Domett (K473) on 3 September 1943^[1] simultaneously with her transfer, the ship served on patrol and escort duty. On 29 June 1944 she joined the British frigates Cooke, Duckworth, and Essington and a Royal Air Force Liberator aircraft of No. 244 Squadron in a depth charge attack that sank the German submarine U-988 in the English Channel west of Guernsey at 49°37′00″N 003°41′00″W / 49.61667°N 3.68333°W / 49.61667; -3.68333 (U-988 sunk).^[1]

The Royal Navy returned Domett to the U.S. Navy on 5 March 1946 and the ship was sold for scrap on 3 June 1947.^[6]

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben & Bush, Steve (2020). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (5th revised and updated ed.). Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-9327-0.
• Friedman, Norman (2005). U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History (Revised ed.). Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-442-3.
• Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Cassell & Co. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.

• Captain Class Frigate Association HMS Domett K473 (DE 269)