HMS Portchester Castle was a Castle-class

Castle class corvette

The Castle-class corvettes were an updated version of the much more numerous Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Navy, and started appearing during late 1943...

 corvette

Corvette

A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...

 built in 1943 and scrapped in 1958. She was the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named after Portchester Castle

Portchester Castle

Portchester Castle is a medieval castle built within a former Roman fort at Portchester to the east of Fareham in the English county of Hampshire. Probably founded in the late 11th century, Portchester was a baronial castle that was taken under royal control in 1154. The monarchy controlled...

 in Hampshire, and was used for the 1952 film The Cruel Sea, in which she played Saltash Castle.

Construction

She was launched on 21 June 1943 at Swan Hunter

Swan Hunter

Swan Hunter, formerly known as "Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson", was one of the best known shipbuilding companies in the world. Based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century — most famously, the RMS Mauretania which...

 shipyard in Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

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Sinking of U-484

On 9 September 1944 Portchester Castle and Helmsdale sank U-484 in the North Atlantic north-west of Ireland, in position 55°45′N 11°41′W.

Sinking of U-1200

As one of four ships in 30th Escort Group under the command of Denys Rayner

Denys Rayner

Denys Arthur Rayner DSC & Bar, VRD, RNVR fought throughout the Battle of the Atlantic. After intensive war service at sea, Rayner became a writer, a farmer, and a successful designer and builder of small sailing craft - his first being the Westcoaster; his most successful being the glass fibre...

, Portchester Castle shared in the sinking of U-1200 south of Ireland (in position 50°24′N 09°10′W) on 11 November 1944, along with her sister ships Launceston Castle

HMS Launceston Castle (K397)

HMS Launceston Castle was a Castle-class corvette of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, named after Launceston Castle in Cornwall.She was launched by Blyth Shipbuilding and Drydock Company at Blyth in Northumberland on 27 November 1943....

, Pevensey Castle

HMS Pevensey Castle (K449)

HMS Pevensey Castle was a Castle-class corvette of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy.-Construction:She was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, launched on 11 January 1944 and commissioned in June 1944.-World War II:...

 and Kenilworth Castle

HMS Kenilworth Castle (K420)

HMS Kenilworth Castle was a Castle-class corvette of Britain's Royal Navy.She was built by Smiths Dock Company at South Bank-on-Tees, launched on 17 August 1943 and commissioned on 14 November 1943....

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Appearance in The Cruel Sea

In 1951 Portchester Castle was employed to represent the fictitious HMS Saltash Castle in the film The Cruel Sea

The Cruel Sea (film)

The Cruel Sea is a 1953 British film from Ealing Studios starring Jack Hawkins and Donald Sinden, with Denholm Elliott, Stanley Baker, Liam Redmond, Virginia McKenna and Moira Lister...

 (1952) in which she is shown wearing the pennant number F362, rather than her own K326. In 1955 The ship was also seen in the film The Man Who Never Was

The Man Who Never Was

The Man Who Never Was is a nonfiction 1953 book by Ewen Montagu and a 1956 Second World War war film, based on the book and dramatising actual events...

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