Having completed training, Denbigh Castle arrived at Scapa Flow on 29 January to join the 7th Escort Group. Commanded by Lieutenant Commander Graham Butcher, the ship escorted Convoy JW 64 to Murmansk at the beginning of February. On the 7th, Denbigh Castle claimed to have shot down a German torpedo bomber. Almost a week later, the ship was torpedoed by U-992 as the convoy entered the Kola Inlet at 00:13 on 13 February; the corvette's radar had picked up the submarine at a range of , but had not identified her due to the confused radar returns and darkness. The torpedo struck the bow and the crew thought that the ship had struck a mine. The explosion killed eleven ratings and threw the four-inch gun onto the Squid platform behind it. The remaining bow structure sagged downwards, although Denbigh Castle was in no danger of sinking. The destroyer transferred her medical officer over and the corvette came alongside around 00:45 to receive casualties, and Butcher ordered as many ratings aboard her as he thought he could spare. Bluebell began towing Denbigh Castle at 02:05 and reached a maximum speed of , Serapis screening the ships during the tow. The came alongside at 04:30 to transfer a salvage pump as the corvette was still taking on water. At 05:01, Butcher ordered all remaining hands aboard the Soviet ship because Denbigh Castle was slowly sinking by the bow, only the officers remaining aboard. Buresvestniks captain, not wanting the corvette to founder in the channel, took over the tow at 06:15, by which time her stern was nearly out of the water. Denbigh Castle was beached at 07:30 at Bolshaya Volokovaya Bay near Vaenga; Buresvestnik then pushed her stern around. The ship began to slowly list with the ebbing tide and the officers abandoned her at 09:05; five minutes later she capsized and slid into deeper water. The intense cold made later efforts to retrieve or destroy secret documents and equipment still aboard extremely difficult, but the diving team from the light cruiser did manage to demolish the radar office. In recognition of her service, Denbigh Castle was awarded the battle honour Arctic 1945. References Bibliography External links HMS Denbigh Castle on uboat.net Castle Class Corvettes on www.worldnavalships.com HMS Denbigh Castle on www.wrecksite.eu Steel Corvettes Castle-class corvettes 1944 ships Shipwrecks in the Barents Sea Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II