HMS Lawford (K514) was a
Royal Navy converted
Captain class frigate (pennant DE-516), built in the US in 1944. She was converted into an HQ ship for the
Normandy landings. On 8 June 1944, whilst operating off
Juno Beach, 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[1] states that the ship was hit by an "
aerial torpedo", 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 TV series "
Wreck Detectives"[2] 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.
Further consideration suggests that the term "aerial torpedo" used in the RN damage summaries was actually intended to refer to guided missiles.[2]
^Collingwood, Donald (1998). The Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War : an operational history of the American built Destroyer Escorts serving under the White Ensign from 1943-1946. London: Leo Cooper. pp. 152–153.
ISBN9780850526158.