HMS Cotton (K510) was a of the British Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 that served in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The ship was laid down as a at the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard at Hingham, Massachusetts

Hingham, Massachusetts

Hingham is a town in northern Plymouth County on the South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and suburb in Greater Boston. The United States Census Bureau 2008 estimated population was 22,561...

 on 2 June 1943, with the hull number

Hull number

Hull number is a serial identification number given to a boat or ship. A lower number implies an older vessel. The precise usage varies by country and type....

 DE-81, and launched on 21 August 1943. The ship was transferred to the UK under Lend-Lease

Lend-Lease

Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...

 on 8 November 1943, and named after Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Cotton

Sir Charles Cotton, 5th Baronet

Sir Charles Cotton, 5th Baronet was a senior Royal Navy officer of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars whose service continued until his death in command of the Channel Fleet from apoplexy in 1812. During his service, Cotton saw action off the Eastern Seaboard of the Thirteen Colonies and...

, an officer who served in the American Revolutionary

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Service history

Cotton served as a convoy escort from May to December 1944, operating mostly between Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 and Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

. In 1945 she escorted three convoys to the United States, and was part of Russian Convoy

Arctic convoys of World War II

The Arctic convoys of World War II travelled from the United Kingdom and North America to the northern ports of the Soviet Union—Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945...

 JW 66 in April 1945, during which she participating in the sinking of , with and on the 29th.

Cotton was returned to the U.S. Navy on 5 November 1945, and struck from the Navy List

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

on 3 January 1946, and subsequently sold for scrapping that year.