HMS Lawford (K514) was a Royal Navy converted Captain class frigate (pennant DE-516), built in the US in 1944.
The Evarts-class ships had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draught of at full load. They displaced at (standard) and at full load. The ships had a dieselâÂÂelectric powertrain derived from a submarine propulsion system with four General Motors 16-cylinder diesel engines providing power to four General Electric electric generators which sent electricity to four General Electric electric motors which drove the two propeller shafts. The destroyer escorts had enough power give them a speed of and enough fuel oil to give them a range of at . Their crew consisted of 198 officers and ratings.
The armament of the Evarts-class ships in British service consisted of three single mounts for 50-caliber /50 Mk 22 dual-purpose guns; one superfiring pair forward of the bridge and the third gun aft of the superstructure. Anti-aircraft defence was intended to consisted of a twin-gun mount for Bofors anti-aircraft (AA) guns atop the rear superstructure with nine Oerlikon AA guns located on the superstructure, but production shortages meant that that not all guns were fitted, or that additional Oerlikons replaced the Bofors guns. A Mark 10 Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar was positioned just behind the forward gun. The ships were also equipped with two depth charge rails at the stern and four "K-gun" depth charge throwers.
Lawford was selected to be converted into an HQ ship in the UK for the Normandy landings and the only convoy that she escorted was the one in which she sailed to the UK. This involved the removal of her aft 3-inch gun, the extension of the superstructure to house all the staff and radio personnel and the installation of additional radar sets. The number of Oerlikons mounted aboard was increased to 16 weapons. On 8 June 1944, whilst operating off Juno Beach, she was hit by two bombs during an air attack and sunk. Thirty-seven of her crew died. The wreck lies in of water at .