HMS Cotton

HMS Cotton (K510) was a Captain-class frigate of the British Royal Navy that served in World War II. The ship was laid down as a Buckley-class destroyer escort at the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard at Hingham, Massachusetts on 2 June 1943, with the hull number DE-81, and launched on 21 August 1943. The ship was transferred to the UK under Lend-Lease on 8 November 1943, and named after Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Cotton, an officer who served in the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Service history
Cotton served as a convoy escort from May to December 1944, operating mostly between Liverpool and Gibraltar. In 1945 she escorted three convoys to the United States, and was part of Russian Convoy JW 66 in April 1945, during which she participated in the sinking of GERMAN SUBMARINE U-286, with HMS Loch Insh (K433) and HMS Anguilla (K500) on 29 April – the last naval gun battle of the war with Germany. Between 25 June and 29 August 1945 she was commanded by Lt. Dudley Davenport.

Cotton was returned to the U.S. Navy on 5 November 1945, and struck from the Navy List on 3 January 1946, and subsequently sold for scrapping that year.