HMS Lawford (K514) was a 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...

 converted 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...

 (pennant DE-516), built in the US in 1944. She was converted into an HQ ship for the Normandy landings

Operation Neptune

The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Operation Overlord, during World War II. The landings commenced on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 , beginning at 6:30 AM British Double Summer Time...

. On 8 June 1944, whilst operating off Juno Beach

Juno Beach

Juno or Juno Beach was one of five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. The sector spanned from Saint-Aubin, a village just east of the British Gold sector, to Courseulles, just west of the British Sword sector...

, she was hit by enemy fire during an air attack and sunk. Thirty-seven of her crew died. The Royal Navy's damage summary report states that the ship was hit by an "aerial torpedo

Aerial torpedo

The aerial torpedo, airborne torpedo or air-dropped torpedo is a naval weapon, the torpedo, designed to be dropped into water from an aircraft after which it propels itself to the target. First used in World War I, air-dropped torpedoes were used extensively in World War II, and remain in limited...

", which has been taken to mean a torpedo dropped from an aircraft. However, a survey of the ship undertaken as part of the Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 TV series "Wreck Detectives

Wreck Detectives

Wreck Detectives is the title of 2 TV documentary series from UK Channel 4 aired in 2003 and 2004 presented by Jeremy Seal, Miranda Krestovnikoff and David Manley.-Series 1 - 2003:#Alum Bay wreck, Alum Bay#Earl of Abergavenny, Weymouth Bay...

" found evidence that the vessel was broken up and sunk by an internal explosion, indicating a hit from one or more bombs or from an early guided missile such as an Hs-293 or (less likely) a Fritz X

Fritz X

Fritz X was the most common name for a German guided anti-ship glide bomb used during World War II. Fritz X was a nickname used both by Allied and Luftwaffe personnel. Alternate names include Ruhrstahl SD 1400 X, Kramer X-1, PC 1400X or FX 1400...

.

Further consideration suggests that the term "aerial torpedo" used in the RN damage summaries was actually intended to refer to guided missiles.

The wreck lies in 21 meters of water at 49°25′43"N 00°23′47"W.