# HMS Sandwich (L12)

HMS Sandwich (L12) was a Bridgewater-class sloop built by Hawthorn Leslie, Newcastle. After a decade of peacetime service on the China Station, she escorted Atlantic convoys through World War II.

## Construction and design

HMS Sandwich was ordered from Hawthorn Leslie on 19 September 1927, one of two Bridgwater-class sloops ordered from Hawthorn Leslie that day. The Bridgewaters were intended as replacements for the Flower-class sloops, and were to combine the role of peacetime patrol work at distant overseas stations (with the Bridgewaters being specifically intended for service in the Persian Gulf) with a wartime role as minesweepers.
Sandwich was 266 feet 4 inches (81.18 m) long overall and 250 feet (76 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 34 feet (10 m) and a draught of 11 feet 5 inches (3.48 m). Displacement was 1,045 long tons (1,062 t) standard and 1,600 long tons (1,600 t) full load. The ship was powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boiler. The turbines developed a total of 2,000 shaft horsepower (1,500 kW) and were designed to give a maximum speed of 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph). The main armament consisted of a pair of QF four-inch (102 mm) Mk V guns on the ship's centreline, one forward and one aft, with the forward gun on a high-angle mount, capable of anti-aircraft fire and the second gun on a low-angle mount, for anti-surface use only. Two 3-pounder saluting guns were also carried, while the anti-submarine armament initially consisted of four depth charges. The ship's crew consisted of 96 officers and ratings.
Sandwich was laid down at Hawthorn Leslie's Tyneside shipyard on 9 February 1928 and was launched without ceremony on 29 September. Sandwich reached a speed of 17.27 knots (31.98 km/h; 19.87 mph) during sea trials and was commissioned on 23 March 1929.
In 1938, the aft four-inch gun was replaced by one on a high-angle mounting and the two saluting guns were exchanged for a pair of quadruple Vickers 0.5 in (12.7 mm) anti-aircraft (AA) machinegun mounts. By the outbreak of the Second World War, the ship had been fitted with ASDIC, and the depth charge outfit was increased to 15 charges.

## Service
### China Station

While ordered for service in the Persian Gulf, both Sandwich and her sister ship Bridgewater were first deployed to the China Station, replacing the old sloops Foxglove and Bluebell. She was recommissioned with a new crew at Hong Kong in October 1931, remaining on the China Station. Sandwich, along with the cruiser Cornwall was based at Shanghai during the Shanghai Incident in early 1932. On 23 March 1932, while still at Shanghai, the American destroyer USS Stewart collided with Sandwich and two Chinese barges. While Sandwich suffered minimal damage, Stewart ended up with a length of anchor chain off one of the barges wrapped around a propeller, requiring the propeller to be replaced. Sandwich again received a new crew at Hong Kong in April 1934. When the British owned steamer Tungchow went missing on 31 January 1935 on a voyage between Shanghai and Yantai, having been seized by pirates, Sandwich was one of several warships despatched to search for the missing ship. The pirates abandoned Tungchow when the ship was spotted by aircraft from the aircraft carrier Hermes.
In January 1938, as the Second Sino-Japanese War continued, Sandwich landed men at Weihaiwei to protect British property against rioting as Japanese forces advanced towards the city. The ship was refitted at Hong Kong from April to October 1938, recommissioning with a fresh crew in March 1939.

### Second World War

Sandwich was based at Hong Kong when war was declared, and patrolled the Tsushima Strait for German merchant shipping before sailing east in November 1939 to return to the United Kingdom in December with convoy HG 11. She escorted convoys between Liverpool and Gibraltar until May 1940 and then coastal and Western Approaches convoys rescuing survivors from the sunken freighters King Idwal and Anten of convoy OB 244 in November 1940.
Sandwich began refit at Tilbury in December and resumed convoy escort duties in April 1941 assigned to the 43rd Escort Group. Type 271 radar was installed during refit at Belfast from January through March 1942, and the original .50 caliber anti-aircraft machine guns were replaced with Oerlikon 20 mm cannon during a shorter refit in October. Sandwich was credited with sinking U-213 while escorting convoy OS 35, and then escorted convoys in support of Operation Torch until refit on the River Tyne from February through July 1943.
Upon completion of trials and workup, Sandwich escorted convoys between Liverpool and Sierra Leone as part of the 38th Escort Group from August 1943 until retirement in June 1944. Planned refit at Brindisi was not completed, and the ship was towed to Bizerte in 1945.

### Convoys escorted

| Convoy | Escort Group | Dates | Notes |
| HG 11 | | 16–24 December 1939 | 52 ships escorted without loss from Gibraltar to Liverpool |
| OG 16F | | 26-31 January 1940 | 23 ships outbound to Gibraltar |
| HG 17F | | 31 January-5 February 1940 | 25 ships escorted without loss from Gibraltar to Liverpool |
| SL 19 | | 17-20 February 1940 | 28 ships inbound to Western Approaches |
| OA 98 | | 26-27 February 1940 | 19 ships outbound from Western Approaches |
| HG 20F | | 28 February-3 March 1940 | 30 ships inbound to Western Approaches |
| OG 21F | | 5-11 March 1940 | 45 ships outbound to Gibraltar |
| HG 24 | | 28 March-7 April 1940 | 41 ships escorted without loss from Gibraltar to Liverpool |
| OG 26F | | 14-20 April 1940 | 54 ships outbound to Gibraltar |
| HG 29 | | 7-17 May 1940 | 45 ships escorted without loss from Gibraltar to Liverpool |
| OB 154 | | 24-27 May 1940 | 12 ships outbound from Western Approaches |
| HX 43 | | 27-30 May 1940 | 43 ships inbound to Western Approaches |
| OB 159 | | 1-4 June 1940 | 23 ships outbound from Western Approaches |
| HX 45 | | 5-7 June 1940 | 63 ships inbound to Western Approaches |
| OB 164 | | 9-12 June 1940 | 29 ships outbound from Western Approaches |
| HX 47 | | 14-17 June 1940 | 2 ships lost from 57 inbound to Western Approaches |
| OB 169 | | 17-20 June 1940 | 32 ships outbound from Western Approaches |
| HX 49 | | 20-24 June 1940 | 1 ship lost from 50 inbound to Western Approaches |
| OB 174 | | 25-28 June 1940 | 64 ships outbound from Western Approaches |
| HX 51 | | 29 June-2 July 1940 | 35 ships inbound to Western Approaches |
| OB 180 | | 7-10 July 1940 | 47 ships outbound from Western Approaches |
| HX 54 | | 11-14 July 1940 | 43 ships inbound to Western Approaches |
| OA 186 | | 17-21 July 1940 | 39 ships outbound from Western Approaches |
| HX 57 | | 23-26 July 1940 | 51 ships inbound to Western Approaches |
| OA 192 | | 30 July-3 August 1940 | 18 ships outbound from Western Approaches |
| HX 60 | | 4-7 August 1940 | 3 ships lost from 60 inbound to Western Approaches |
| OA 199 | | 15-19 August 1940 | 1 ship torpedoed of 29 outbound from Western Approaches |
| HX 64 | | 20-23 August 1940 | 62 ships inbound to Western Approaches |
| OA 206 | | 29 August-3 September 1940 | 1 ship torpedoed of 48 outbound from Western Approaches |
| SL 44 | | 3-7 September 1940 | 1 ship lost from 29 inbound to Western Approaches |
| OA 214 | | 14-19 September 1940 | 29 ships outbound from Western Approaches |
| OA 223 | | 2-6 October 1940 | 17 ships outbound from Western Approaches |
| SC 8 | | 15-31 October 1940 | 40 ships escorted without loss from Sydney to Liverpool |
| OB 244 | | 17-22 November 1940 | 3 ships sunk of 46 outbound from Western Approaches |
| OB 254 | | 4-7 December 1940 | 13 ships outbound from Western Approaches |
| OG 59 | 43rd EG | 15-28 April 1941 | 44 ships escorted without loss from Liverpool to Gibraltar |
| HG 61 | 43rd EG | 6-20 May 1941 | 23 ships from Gibraltar to Liverpool; U-96 sank Empire Ridge |
| OB 332 | 43rd EG | 10-19 June 1941 | 43 ships escorted without loss from Liverpool to Iceland |
| HX 134 | 43rd EG | 26 June-4 July 1941 | 48 ships escorted without loss from Iceland to Liverpool |
| SC 36 | 43rd EG | 13-17 July 1941 | 40 ships inbound to Western Approaches |
| OS 2 | 43rd EG | 4-19 August 1941 | 17 ships escorted without loss from Liverpool to Sierra Leone |
| SL 85 | 43rd EG | 28 August-11 September 1941 | 11 ships from Sierra Leone to Gibraltar; bomber sank Daru |
| HG 72 | 43rd EG | 11-17 September | 17 ships escorted without loss from Gibraltar to Liverpool |
| OS 8 | 43rd EG | 4-20 October 1941 | 46 ships escorted without loss from Liverpool to Sierra Leone |
| SL 91 | 43rd EG | 27 October-19 November 1941 | Sierra Leone to Liverpool |
| OS 13 | 43rd EG | 1-18 December 1941 | 45 ships escorted without loss from Liverpool to Sierra Leone |
| SL 96 | 43rd EG | 28 December 1941 – 13 January 1942 | 35 ships from Sierra Leone to dispersal |
| OS 23 | 43rd EG | 25 March-11 April 1942 | 45 ships escorted without loss from Liverpool to Sierra Leone |
| SL 107 | 43rd EG | 16 April-5 May 1942 | 32 ships escorted without loss from Sierra Leone to Liverpool |
| OS 29 | 43rd EG | 22 May-10 June 1942 | 44 ships escorted without loss from Liverpool to Sierra Leone |
| SL 113 | 43rd EG | 15-29 June 1942 | 41 ships escorted without loss from Sierra Leone to Liverpool |
| OS 35 | 43rd EG | 25 July-12 August 1942 | 51 ships escorted without loss from Liverpool to Sierra Leone sank U-213 |
| SL 119 | 43rd EG | 14 August-5 September 1942 | Sierra Leone to Liverpool; two ships torpedoed and sunk |
| OS 41 | 43rd EG | 20 September-1 October 1942 | 41 ship Liverpool to dispersal |
| SL 123 | 43rd EG | 4-10 October 1942 | 27 ships escorted without loss from Sierra Leone to Liverpool |
| KMS 2 | 43rd EG | 26 October-12 November 1942 | 1 ship sunk of 51 from Loch Ewe to Operation Torch |
| TE 7 | 43rd EG | 28 November 1942 | Gibraltar to North Africa |
| GUF 3 | 43rd EG | 30 December 1942 – 1 January 1943 | North Africa to Gibraltar |
| CF 10 | 43rd EG | 5-8 January 1943 | Cape Town to United Kingdom |
| GUS 3 | 43rd EG | 18-19 January 1943 | North Africa to Gibraltar |
| MKS 7 | 43rd EG | 8-17 February 1943 | Algiers to Liverpool |
| SL 137 | 38th EG | 23 September-17 October 1943 | 49 ships escorted without loss from Sierra Leone to Liverpool |
| OS 57 | 38th EG | 31 October-18 November 1943 | 78 ships escorted without loss from Liverpool to Sierra Leone |
| SL 141 | 38th EG | 23 November-12 December 1943 | 14 ships escorted without loss from Sierra Leone to Liverpool |
| OS 61 | 38th EG | 19-29 December 1943 | 42 ships escorted without loss from Liverpool to Sierra Leone |
| SL 145 | 38th EG | 1-12 January 1944 | 33 ships escorted without loss from Sierra Leone to Liverpool |
| OS 65 | 38th EG | 26 January-6 February 1944 | 41 ships escorted without loss from Liverpool to Sierra Leone |
| SL 149 | 38th EG | 11-22 February 1944 | 47 ships escorted without loss from Sierra Leone to Liverpool |
| OS 69 | 38th EG | 5-15 March 1944 | 47 ships escorted without loss from Liverpool to Sierra Leone |
| SL 153 | 38th EG | 22 March-2 April 1944 | 47 ships escorted without loss from Sierra Leone to Liverpool |
| OS 73 | 38th EG | 16-25 April 1944 | 44 ships escorted without loss from Liverpool to Sierra Leone |
| SL 157 | 38th EG | 1-10 May 1944 | 45 ships escorted without loss from Sierra Leone to Liverpool |
| OS 77 | 38th EG | 23 May-2 June 1944 | 31 ships escorted without loss from Liverpool to Sierra Leone |
| SL 161 | 38th EG | 11-22 June 1944 | 41 ships escorted without loss from Sierra Leone to Liverpool |

## Disposal and fate

Sandwich was sold at Bizerte in 1946 for £3,050 to local interests for mercantile service. Some hold that she was scrapped after conversion was abandoned. Others say that she was renamed Prince Albert in 1946, then owned by Hui Bon Hua of Tunis and registered at that port as the mercantile Amoy. On 18 February 1948 Amoy foundered outside Port La Nouvelle, on a voyage from Oran to Sète with a cargo of oranges. Two lives were lost; 28 crew and 6 passengers were rescued. The wreck was cleared later in 1948.