HMS
Crane was
laid down at
William Denny and Brothers'
Dumbarton shipyard on 13 June 1941 and was
launched on 9 November 1942 and was completed on 10 May 1943, with the
pennant number U23. After
commissioning she joined the 7th Escort Group based at
Greenock in
Scotland, with other members including
sister ships and and to be later joined by and . Duties included the escort and support of convoys in the
North Atlantic and to
Gibraltar. In July 1943,
Crane took part in
Operation Husky, the Anglo-American invasion of
Sicily, escorting an assault convoy from Britain to the
Mediterranean from 28 June to 7 July, and then a second assault convoy to the beaches on 13 July. In August 1943, in order to avoid attacks by aircraft of
RAF Coastal Command in the
Bay of Biscay, German
U-boats on course for the north Atlantic started to hug the coast of France and Northern Spain. As a response, the Royal Navy deployed Escort groups to patrol off
Cape Finisterre to stop the Germans from using this route, but German air attacks forced the patrols to move further west, where they were less effective.
Crane was briefly deployed in one of these groups in September 1943, but saw no success. On 13 November 1943
Convoy MKS 30 left
Gibraltar from Britain, joining up with Convoy SL 139, Britain-bound from West Africa the next day, with the 7th Escort Group, including
Crane, ordered to reinforce the convoy, while the Germans formed three patrol lines of submarines to attack the convoy. On 18 December,
Crane and
Chanticleer attacked the submarine , with
U-515 firing a
T5 acoustic homing torpedo which hit and damaged
Chanticleer, which had to be towed to port in the
Azores.
Crane continued to attack
U-515 with depth charges for 10 hours, damaging the submarine and driving
U-515 off. German attacks on the convoy continued, and on 21 November 1943
Crane and the frigate sank with depth charges. There were no survivors from the submarine.
Crane and
Cygnet depth charged and sank the German submarine on 8 April 1944 in the North Atlantic northwest of
Cape Finisterre. In May 1944, the 7th Escort Group, including
Crane she was transferred to the
English Channel to support the
Allies planned
Normandy landings for
Operation Neptune. In August 1944, she was released from support duties in the Channel and sent for refit at
Hull, but while on passage to Hull, collided with the merchant steamer , sustaining structural damage. The refit and repairs continued until November 1944.
Crane was employed in escorting the replenishment ships of the fleet train supporting the carriers of the fleet, supporting operations against Japanese airbases during the
Battle of Okinawa in March–May 1945 She continued to protect replenishment ships in support of the British Pacific fleet until the end of the war,
Crane was present in
Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945 during
the signing of Japan's surrender. She was deployed on a
Hong Kong-based patrol until refitted at
Brisbane,
Australia from October 1945 to January 1946. Following completion of the refit, the ship was assigned to the 3rd Frigate Flotilla. She was the leader of the squadron, and served on blockade and bombardment duties off the west coast of Korea during the
Korean War, firing 1756 rounds of 4-inch ammunition during the war.
Crane was refitted in Hong Kong in February 1952. In 1956 she was deployed to the
Red Sea during the
Suez Crisis. While there, she was attacked by five
Israeli Air Force Dassault Mystère IV fighter aircraft after supposedly being mistaken for an Egyptian warship.
Crane was hit by rocket fire from the aircraft and small bombs which exploded around the stern, spraying the ship with shrapnel. The attack inflicted widespread damage on the hull, damaging two antiaircraft guns, destroying a depth charge thrower, and cutting various electrical circuits and water mains, but damage was limited as the rockets were impact-fused and did not penetrate deep into the ship's hull. The ship's fighting efficiency was only slightly impaired. Three crewmen were wounded in the attack.
Crane claimed to have shot down one of the Israeli fighters. She was then refitted at
Singapore, being modernised and having her accommodation improved, returning to service in January 1958. Duties included shelling
Malayan National Liberation Army targets in South Malaya during the
Malayan Emergency as well as fishery protection patrols off Hong Kong and training. She continued to serve in the Far East until 1962, the last of her class in service with the Royal Navy. The ship was paid off at the end of 1962 at
Portsmouth, and was transferred to
BISCO for disposal in 1965, being scrapped at the
Queenborough,
Kent yard of Lacmots Ltd from March 1965. ==Legacy==