HMS Woodcock (U90): The U-Boat Hunter of the Bay of Biscay

Govan-Built

HMS Woodcock was built by Fairfield at Govan, laid down on 21 October 1941 and completed in 1942, a Modified Black Swan-class sloop and the fifth Royal Navy ship to carry the name, joining the celebrated 2nd Escort Group for anti-submarine operations in the Bay of Biscay.

A Fierce Day of Action

As part of Operation Musketry, Woodcock took part in a major action on 30 July 1943 in the Bay of Biscay, where a group of U-boats travelling together had been sighted. Woodcock was among the sloops, backed by an RAF Halifax bomber, that engaged and so badly damaged U-462 that her crew scuttled her, a remarkably significant success against an enemy submarine caught while operating in company with others in the area.

A Creeping Attack That Sank U-226

On 6 November 1943, operating with the escort carrier HMS Tracker east-southeast of Newfoundland, Woodcock carried out a creeping attack, a slow, methodical depth-charge technique designed to catch a submarine that had gone silent, successfully sinking U-226 with the loss of her entire crew, a devastating outcome for the German submariners this account records with due respect even as it marks a genuine wartime success for Woodcock's crew.

From Repairs to the Pacific

After extensive repairs through 1944, Woodcock transferred to the Pacific Fleet, arriving at Manus Island in March 1945 and going on to escort replenishment ships during the Okinawa invasion and subsequent operations, remaining present in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945 for the formal Japanese surrender.

Scrapped at Rosyth

HMS Woodcock was towed to Rosyth by the tug Superman to be scrapped on 28 November 1955, bringing to a close the career of a sloop that had been among the most consistently successful U-boat hunters of the entire Battle of the Atlantic.