History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Builder | Henry Robb Ltd. |
Laid down | 19 March 1940 |
Launched | 30 November 1940 |
Completed | 23 April 1941 |
Out of service | 21 September 1943 |
Fate | Sunk by German submarine U-952 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Flower-class corvette |
Displacement | 925 long tons (940 t; 1,036 short tons) |
Length | 205 ft (62.48 m)o/a |
Beam | 33 ft (10.06 m) |
Draught | 11.5 ft (3.51 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 16 knots (29.6 km/h) |
Range | 3,500 nautical miles (6,482 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h) |
Complement | 85 |
Armament |
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HMS Polyanthus was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 30 November 1940 from Leith Docks on the Firth of Forth, at an estimated cost of £55,000. [1] [2] Polyanthus was sunk by the German submarine U-952 using new German weapons technology on 20 September 1943 about 1,000 miles southwest of Reykjavík during convoy escort duty in the Battle of the North Atlantic. [3] [4] [5]
Flower-class corvettes like Polyanthus serving with the Royal Navy during World War II were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes. [6] [7] [8] The "corvette" designation was created by the French in the 19th century as a class of small warships; the Royal Navy borrowed the term for a period but discontinued its use in 1877. [9] During the hurried preparations for war in the late 1930s, Winston Churchill reactivated the corvette class, needing a name for smaller ships used in an escort capacity, in this case based on a whaling ship design. [10] The generic name "flower" was used to designate the class of these ships, which – in the Royal Navy – were named after flowering plants. [1]
Although designed for quick and cheap construction, Polyanthus and ships like her in the Flower class were operative in convoy escort during the Battle of the North Atlantic. [11] The primary mission of protection against U-boats saw Polyanthus active in several transatlantic convoys in the early part of the war. By late 1943, the Kriegsmarine were using an acoustic homing torpedo - known to the Allies as a GNAT - which they hoped would reverse the changing tide of war, favouring the Allies in the Atlantic. [12]
On the night of 19–20 September 1943, two westbound Convoys ONS18 and ON 202 were facing frequent U-boat engagements, calling Polyanthus to their aid in the wake of several setbacks, including the near destruction of HMS Escapade and HMS Lagan. [12] After successfully driving away U-238, Polyanthus was ordered to rescue the crew from the escort HMCS St. Croix, recently sunk by U-305. Whilst under the command of Lieutenant John Gordon Aitken RNR, Polyanthus was sunk by U-952 using a GNAT before any rescue could be effected. [3] [13] At least 7 officers and 77 crew were lost with Polyanthus among them Lt Graham Shepard. The only known survivor drowned within days at the hands of another U-boat attack on the ship that rescued him, HMS Itchen. [3]
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