HMS Porlock Bay (K650)
Encyclopedia

HMS Porlock Bay (K650/F650) was a Bay-class
Bay class frigate
The Bay class was a class of 26 anti-aircraft frigates built for the Royal Navy under the 1943 War Emergency Programme during World War II...

 anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...

 frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 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...

, named for Porlock Bay
Porlock Bay
Porlock Bay is on the Bristol Channel, between Hurlstone Point and Porlock Weir in Somerset, England.The coastline includes shingle ridges, salt marshes and a submerged forest...

 on the northern coast of Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

. Commissioned in 1946, she served on the American and West Indies Station and as a Fisheries Protection Vessel before being put into reserve in 1949. She was sold to Finland in 1962 and served as the training ship Matti Kurki until 1974.

Construction

The ship was ordered in 1944 from Charles Hill & Sons
Charles Hill & Sons
Charles Hill & Sons was a major shipbuilder based in Bristol, England, during the 19th and 20th centuries. Established in 1845, they specialised mainly in merchant and commercial ships, but also undertook the build of warships and governmental vessels especially during the First and Second World...

 at Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 in place of a Loch Seaforth which had been cancelled on 27 November 1943. The ship was laid down on 22 November 1944 as Admiralty Job No. 602 (Yard No. 302). She was launched on 14 June 1945 and completed on 8 February 1946. She was the last warship to be built by this shipyard.

HMS Porlock Bay

After sea trial
Sea trial
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft . It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.Sea trials are conducted to measure a vessel’s...

s Porlock Bay was commissioned on 14 February 1946 for service in the America and West Indies Station under the command of Lieutenant Dudley L. Davenport. After training she was attached to the Plymouth Local Flotilla and finally sailed for Bermuda with on 22 July. On arrival a minor collision meant that she did not participate with the Squadron in the Autumn Programme of visits to U.S. ports.

Once repaired she took part in visits to Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...

 and Canada, arriving at St John's
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...

 on 7 September for the National Convention
Newfoundland National Convention
The Newfoundland National Convention of 1946 was a forum established to decide the constitutional future of Newfoundland-Nominations:On 11 December 1945 the Government of Britain announced that there would be an election to a National Convention, which would debate constitutional options and make a...

 on the political future of the Colony, and took the Governor, Sir Gordon Macdonald
Gordon Macdonald, 1st Baron Macdonald of Gwaenysgor
Gordon Macdonald, PC, 1st Baron Macdonald of Gwaenysgor, was a British Labour Party politician and Newfoundland's final British governor as well as the last chairman of the Commission of Government serving from 1946 until the colony joined Confederation in 1949 and became a province of Canada...

 on an official tour of isolated settlements on south coast. After visits on the northern coast, she then visited mainland ports, arriving at Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 on 15 October. In early November she took part in joint exercises with ships of the Royal Canadian Navy
Royal Canadian Navy
The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...

 at Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

 before returning to Bermuda to refit at the Royal Dockyard
Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda
HMD Bermuda was the principal base of the Royal Navy in the Western Atlantic between American independence and the Cold War. Bermuda had occupied a useful position astride the homeward leg taken by many European vessels from the New World since before its settlement by England in 1609...

.

In December, while under refit, Commander Frank J. Twiss
Frank Twiss
Admiral Sir Frank Roddam Twiss, KCB, KCVO, DSC was a Royal Navy admiral who became Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel...

 assumed command, and in January 1947 the ship took part in exercises with the Squadron before making visits to Veracruz, Mexico
Veracruz, Veracruz
Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...

 and Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...

, then Galveston, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...

, Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

, and Key West, Florida
Key West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...

 before returning to to Bermuda in April. In July she took part in a programme of official visits by the Governor of the Bahamas to the Turks and Caicos Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands
The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union consisting of two groups of tropical islands in the Caribbean, the larger Caicos Islands and the smaller Turks Islands, known for tourism and as an offshore financial centre.The Turks and...

, but on the 21st was despatched to Belize City
Belize City
Belize City is the largest city in the Central American nation of Belize. Unofficial estimates place the population of Belize City at 70,000 or more. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country's principal port and its financial and...

 in British Honduras
British Honduras
British Honduras was a British colony that is now the independent nation of Belize.First colonised by Spaniards in the 17th century, the territory on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, became a British crown colony from 1862 until 1964, when it became self-governing. Belize became...

 after Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

n threats to the colony, remaining there until early August.

On 12 September the termination of her commission announced as part of a programme of cuts in naval spending. On 16 October she left Bermuda for the UK, arriving at Devonport on 3 November. Porlock Bay spent the year 1948 as part of the Fishery Protection Squadron in home waters, and was put into reserve at Devonport in January 1949. In February her pennant number
Pennant number
In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...

 was changed to F650. She remained in Reserve until 1962, during which she was refitted twice.

Matti Kurki

On 19 March 1962 she was sold to the Finnish Navy
Finnish Navy
The Finnish Navy is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS" simply short for "Finnish Navy Ship"...

 as the training ship Matti Kurki, named for the Finnish medieval military hero Matti Kurki
Matti Kurki
Matti Kurki, in Swedish Matts Kurck, was a legendary Finnish chieftain. If he was a real person, he is thought to have been living in the late 13th century....

 (Mats Kurck). Matti Kurki made seven global circumnavigations. It is estimated some 1,500 Finnish cadets and conscripts served onboard her during her service in the Finnish Navy. She was permanently anchored at Upinniemi
Upinniemi
Upinniemi is a village in the municipality of Kirkkonummi in southern Finland. It is located approximately 12 km south of the municipal centre....

 after being decommissioned in 1974. She was scrapped in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, Finland, in 1975.
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