Service

HMS Duckworth was a Captain class frigate

Captain class frigate

The Captain class were 78 frigates of the Royal Navy, constructed in the United States, launched in 1942–1943 and delivered to the United Kingdom under the provisions of Lend-Lease. They served in World War II as convoy escorts, anti-submarine warfare vessels and coastal forces control frigates...

 of the 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...

. Built in Massachusetts USA, she was launched on 1 May 1943 as USS Gary (DE-61) in honor of Thomas J. Gary, a Texan

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 who died in the Attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

. Gary was transferred to the Royal Navy 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 4 August 1943. Her pennant number was K351

On 24 February 1945 along with her sister ship HMS Rowley, another frigate of the Captain Class, she was incorrectly credited for the destruction of the German U Boat U-480

German submarine U-480

U-480 was an experimental Kriegsmarine Type VIIC U-boat of World War II, considered by many to be the first stealth submarine. It was equipped with a special rubber coating that made it harder to detect by British ASDIC sonar.-The coating:The Germans developed a...

. The U Boat was thought to be sunk in the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

 at a point on a line due south of Bournemouth

Bournemouth

Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...

. Instead, it escaped but was ultimately destroyed by an underwater mine at a later time near Poole

Poole

Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...

.

Duckworth was returned to the US after the war and scrapped in 1946.