HMS Loch Arkaig (K603)

HMS Loch Arkaig was a Loch-class frigate of the British Royal Navy, named after Loch Arkaig in Scotland. The ship was ordered from Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Dundee, Scotland, on 2 February 1943, and laid down on 1 November 1943. Launched on 7 June 1944, the ship was commissioned on 1 November 1945, and completed on 17 November. Unlike the rest of the class Loch Arkaig (along with Loch Tralaig) was fitted with Parsons single reduction geared turbines, rather than 4-cylinder vertical triple expansion reciprocating engines. The ship served in the Home Fleet until laid-up and put into Reserve in 1952, and was sold for scrapping in 1959.

Service history
After sea trials and commissioning in November 1945 Loch Arkaig sailed to the Clyde in December for modifications to stiffen her hull. In January 1946 the ship carried out Squid anti-submarine mortar and radio direction finding calibration, before joining the Flotilla at Derry to take part in "Operation Deadlight". She sank the U-boat GS U-975 on 10 February, and GS U-3514 on 12 February with her Squid mortar and Shark 4-inch projectiles. U-3514 was the last U-boat to be sunk in "Operation Deadlight".

For the next few years Loch Arkaig carried out training duties for anti-submarine personnel and Flotilla duties at Derry. In February 1949 Loch Arkaig, along with the aircraft carrier HMS Vengeance (R71), and destroyers HMS St. Kitts (D18) and HMS Gabbard (D47), sailed into the Arctic, around Jan Mayen island, to study the effects of very cold weather on the performance of naval personnel and equipment ("Operation Rusty").

In mid-1950 she took part in Flag Officer Submarines summer war exercises and Home Fleet visits, calling at Haugesund and Nordheimsund in Norway. In December, after a refit at Chatham Dockyard she joined the 6th Frigate Flotilla, Home Fleet. In April 1951 she took part in the search for the missing submarine HMS Affray (P421), before the usual programme of exercises and visits.

Disposal
In 1952 Loch Arkaig was decommissioned, and laid-up in Reserve at Hartlepool. In 1957 she was placed on the Disposal List, and sold to the British Iron & Steel Corporation (BISCO) in 1959 for demolition by J.J. King at Gateshead, arriving in tow at the breaker's yard on 28 January 1960.

Publications

 * Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War II : HMS Loch Arkaig
 * Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War II : HMS Loch Arkaig