HMS Amberley Castle
1943 Castle-class corvette
HMS Amberley Castle (K386) was a Castle-class corvette built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in late 1944, the ship spent the rest of the war escorting 11 convoys between the UK and Gibraltar. After the surrender of German in May 1945, she was assigned air-sea rescue duties until early 1946 when Amberley Castle was reduced to reserve. She was converted into a weather ship in 1959 and subsequently renamed Weather Advisor. The ship was renamed Admiral Fitzroy in 1977 before she was sold for scrap in 1982.
Design and description
The Castle-class corvette was a stretched version of the preceding Flower class, enlarged to improve seakeeping and to accommodate modern weapons. The ships displaced 1,010 long tons (1,030 t) at standard load and 1,510 long tons (1,530 t) at deep load. The ships had an overall length of 252 feet (76.8 m), a beam of 36 feet 9 inches (11.2 m) and a deep draught of 13 feet 9 inches (4.2 m). They were powered by a four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The engine developed a total of 2,880 indicated horsepower (2,150 kW) and gave a speed of 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph).
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “HMS Amberley Castle” is 1943 Castle-class corvette. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Amberley, Castle and Castle-class, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1943 Castle-class corvette” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5631296. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1944, 1945, 1946 and 1959.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “HMS Amberley Castle”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow HMS Amberley Castle primary sources, HMS Amberley Castle archive and Amberley research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “HMS Amberley Castle”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “HMS Amberley Castle” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.