HMS Zanzibar (K596)

HMS Zanzibar (K596) was a Colony-class frigate of the United Kingdom that served during World War II. She was ordered by the United States Navy as the Tacoma-class patrol frigate USS Prowse (PF-92) and was transferred to the Royal Navy prior to completion.

History
United States
Name	USS Prowse
Namesake	British name assigned in anticipation of ship's transfer to United Kingdom
Reclassified	Patrol frigate, PF-92, 15 April 1943
Builder	Walsh-Kaiser Company, Providence, Rhode Island
Laid down	20 October 1943
Renamed	Zanzibar, 1943
Namesake	Zanzibar
Launched	21 November 1943
Identification	PG-200
Fate	Transferred to the United Kingdom, 21 June 1944
Acquired	Returned by United Kingdom 21 May 1946^[1]
Stricken	29 October 1946
Fate	Sold for scrapping 17 June 1947
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Zanzibar
Acquired	21 June 1944
Commissioned	21 June 1944^[2]
Identification	Pennant number: K596
Fate	Returned to the United States, 21 May 1946^[1]
General characteristics
Class and type	Colony-class frigate
Displacement	1,264 long tons (1,284 t)
Length	303 ft 11 in (92.63 m)
Beam	37 ft 6 in (11.43 m)
Draft	13 ft 8 in (4.17 m)
Propulsion	3 × boilers 2 × turbines, 5,500 shp (4,100 kW) each 2 shafts
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	190
Armament	3 × single 3 in (76 mm)/50 AA guns 2 × twin 40 mm guns 9 × single 20 mm 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar 8 × Y-gun depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge racks

Construction and acquisition

The ship, originally designated a "patrol gunboat," PG-200, was ordered by the United States Maritime Commission under a U.S. Navy contract as USS Prowse. She was reclassified as a "patrol frigate," PF-92, on 15 April 1943 and laid down by the Walsh-Kaiser Company at Providence, Rhode Island, on 20 October 1943. Intended for transfer to the United Kingdom, the ship was renamed Zanzibar by the British prior to her launch on 21 November 1943.

Service history

Transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease on 21 June 1944, the ship served in the Royal Navy as HMS Zanzibar (K596). She operated out of Derry, Northern Ireland, and Greenock, Scotland, on convoy escort duty into the western Atlantic Ocean as far as Boston, Massachusetts. In addition, she served as a weather ship on Ocean Station No. 19 in both the spring of 1945 and the spring of 1946.

Disposal

The United Kingdom returned Zanzibar to the U.S. Navy on 21 May 1946 at Brooklyn, New York.^[1] She was stricken from the U.S. Naval Vessel Register on 29 October 1946 and sold on 17 June 1947 for scrapping.

References

Notes

1. According to uboat.net HMS Zanzibar (K596), the ship was returned on 31 May 1946.
2. uboat.net HMS Zanzibar (K596)

Bibliography

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Navsource Online: Frigate Photo Archive HMS Zanzibar (K 596) ex-Prowse ex-PF-92 ex-PG-200

External links

• navalhistory.flixco.info : HMS Zanzibar
• Photo gallery of USS Prowse