HMS Kite ( U87 ) HMS " Kite " ( U87 ) was a Modified " Black Swan " - class sloop of the Royal Navy , commanded by Lt Cmdr Segram RN and once commanded by the famous U - boat hunter Captain Frederic John Walker . She was one of several ships of that class that took part in the famous " six in one trip " in 1944 ( in which six U - boat s were sunk in one patrol ) . She was built at Cammell Laird shipyard , Birkenhead , on the banks of the river Mersey ( she was to later to be based across the river in Gladstone Dock , Bootle ) . She was launched on 13 October 1942 and commissioned on 1 March 1943 . She took part in the sinking of five U - boats together with several sister ships : On 20 August 1944 " Kite " was escorting the aircraft carriers and , which in turn were escorting convoy JW - 59 to Northern Russia when the convoy was sighted in the Barents Sea by German aircraft . Soon a pack of U - boats attacked the convoy and one U - boat was sunk by Fairey Swordfish aircraft from one of the carriers . Two more were sunk by other destroyers . At 06 : 30 on 21 August , " Kite " slowed to 6 knots ( 10 km / h ) to untangle her " foxer s " ( anti acoustic torpedo noise makers , towed astern ) . The decision to do so , rather than severing the foxers ' cables and abandoning them , was made by her temporary commander , Lt Comdr Campbell , a submariner . At that speed " Kite " was a sitting duck , and she was hit by two torpedoes from " U - 344 " ( commanded by Oberleutnant Ulrich Pietsch ) and sank . Of " Kite ' s " crew of 10 officers and 207 ratings , 60 survived the attack , but from the freezing Arctic water only 14 sailors were picked up alive by . Five of the rescued died on board " HMS Keppel " leaving only nine to make it to shore . As of 2004 , there were two living survivors . See note below ( 2009 ) . " U - 344 " was sunk the next day by depth charge s from a single Swordfish plane , piloted by Gordon Bennett , from " Vindex " . Six in One . The U boats sunk in the 6 in 1 patrol were as follows : " U - 592 " - 31 January ( Type VIIC ) " U - 762 " - 8 February ( Type VIIC ) " U - 734 " - 9 February ( Type VIIC ) " U - 238 " - 9 February ( Type VIIC ) " U - 424 " - 11 February ( Type VIIC ) " U - 264 " 19 February ( Type VIIC ) The " U - 344 " was sunk by a single patrolling Swordfish from Vindex , piloted by Gordon Bennett , which dropped out of the cloud , surprising the U Boat on the surface , a single depth charge exploded beneath the U boat , sending her down with all hands . James Payne was a crew member aboard the Kite . HMS Kite was commanded by Lt Cmdr Segram RN , and on a couple of occasions when Starling was in for repairs , by Captain FJ Walker RN , the leader of the 2nd Support Group , took over Kite as his lead ship . Reg Holmes and Lionel Irish were the final two members to cross the bar , Holmes on 14 March 2009 and Lionel Irish on 30 June , also 2009 . HMS Kite Memorial . On 21 August 2004 - the 60th anniversary of Kite ’ s sinking - a memorial stone was unveiled in the Braintree and Bocking Public Gardens . Braintree District Council have also produced an Information Sheet on HMS Kite . See External links for more information . References . source site and author http : / / www . mikekemble . com / walker / windex . html