View source for HMS Erne (U03)

{{short description|Sloop of the Royal Navy}}
{{Other ships|HMS Erne}}

{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
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{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image               = HMS Erne (U03) IWM A 15632.jpg
| Ship caption             = HMS ''Erne'' in March 1943
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header              =
| Ship country             = United Kingdom
| Ship flag                = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
| Ship name                = HMS ''Erne''
| Ship owner               =
| Ship namesake            =
| Ship ordered             =
| Ship builder             = [[Furness Shipbuilding Co Ltd|Furness Shipbuilding]]
| Ship laid down           = 21 September 1939
| Ship launched            = 5 August 1940
| Ship acquired            =
| Ship commissioned        = 3 April 1941
| Ship decommissioned      =
| Ship in service          =
| Ship out of service      =
| Ship struck              =
| Ship reinstated          =
| Ship honours             =*NORTH AFRICA 1942
*ATLANTIC 1942–45
*SICILY 1943
| Ship identification=[[Pennant number]] U03
| Ship fate                = Scrapped 27 October 1965
| Ship badge               = On a field blue, an Erne rising white
| Ship motto               = Surtout: 'Above all'
| Ship notes               =
}}
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| Ship class               = {{sclass|Black Swan|sloop|0}} [[sloop-of-war|sloop]]
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'''HMS ''Erne''''', [[pennant number]] U03, was a {{sclass|Black Swan|sloop|0}} [[sloop-of-war|sloop]] in the [[Royal Navy]]. She was laid down by [[Furness Shipbuilding Co Ltd|Furness Shipbuilding]] at Haverton Hill-on-Tees, Co. Durham on 21 September 1939, launched on 5 August 1940 and commissioned on 3 April 1941. She was adopted by the district of [[Bootle]], then in Lancashire, as part of [[Warship Week]] in 1942.

She took her name like others in her class from birds, in this case a [[white-tailed eagle]], also known as the erne.

==Service history==

On 30 April 1941, while ''Erne'' was still at the builders yard (4 days after commissioning), a near miss during a German air attack caused heavy damage. Repairs took until June 1942.

On 31 July 1942, [[depth charge]]s from the three British sloops ''Erne'', {{HMS|Rochester|L50|2}} and {{HMS|Sandwich|L12|2}} sank the {{GS|U-213||6}} in the North Atlantic east of the [[Azores]], in position 36º45'N, 22º50'W.

On 29 August 1942, ''Erne'', scuttled the Dutch merchant ''Zuiderkerk'' with depth charges. The {{GS|U-566||6}} had torpedoed ''Zuiderkerk'' west-north-west of Lisbon, Portugal in position 40º20'N, 16º02'W. A torpedo had caused extensive flooding of the forward holds, which forced the 56 crew members and twelve passengers to abandon ship in the early morning. {{HMS|Leith|U36|2}} picked up the survivors.

==Fate==

''Erne'' was reduced to a drill ship on 4 June 1952 and renamed ''Wessex''. In 1965 she was sold for scrap and arrived at [[Antwerp]] on 27 October 1965 where she was broken up.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Publications==
* {{cite book|last=Hague|first=Arnold|title=Sloops: A History of the 71 Sloops Built in Britain and Australia for the British, Australian and Indian Navies 1926–1946|year=1993|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Kendal, England|isbn=0-905617-67-3}}
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}

{{Black Swan class sloop}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erne}}
[[Category:Black Swan-class sloops]]
[[Category:World War II sloops of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Sloops of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Tees]]
[[Category:1940 ships]]