A depth charge being loaded onto a depth-charge thrower aboard the corvette HMS Dianthus on 14 August 1942
History
United Kingdom
BuilderHenry Robb Ltd.
Laid down31 October 1939
Launched9 July 1940
Commissioned17 March 1941
Out of serviceMay 1947
FateScrapped 1969
Notes[1]
General characteristics
Class and typeFlower-class corvette
Displacement925 long tons (940 t; 1,036 short tons)
Length205 ft (62.48 m)o/a
Beam33 ft (10.06 m)
Draught11.5 ft (3.51 m)
Propulsion
  • single shaft
  • 2 × water tube boilers
  • 1 × 4-cycle triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine
  • 2,750 ihp (2,050 kW)
Speed16 knots (29.6 km/h)
Range3,500 nautical miles (6,482 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h)
Complement85
Armament

HMS Dianthus was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 9 July 1940 from the Leith Docks on the Firth of Forth and named after the genus of flowering plants including Carnation, Pink, and Sweet William. The ship escorted trade convoys between Newfoundland and the Western Approaches through the Battle of the Atlantic wolf pack attacks of the winter of 1942–43.

Background

Flower-class corvettes like Dianthus serving with the Royal Navy during World War II were different to earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes.[2][3][4] 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.[5] 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.[6] The generic name "flower" was used to designate the class of these ships, which – in the Royal Navy – were named after flowering plants.[7]

War duty

Bow damage to Dianthus from ramming U-379

Dianthus spent 1941 escorting trade convoys through coastal waters and the Western Approaches to the United Kingdom until assigned to Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) group C1. Dianthus rammed and sank U-379 while defending convoy SC 94. Dianthus was assigned to MOEF group A3 after yard overhaul to repair damage from the ramming collision. With group A3, she participated in the battles of convoys ON 145, ON 166, SC 121 and HX 233. When group A3 disbanded, Dianthus was assigned to MOEF group C5 until another yard overhaul in August 1943.[7] Dianthus completed refit in November and escorted four more trans-Atlantic convoys in two round trips before being returned to European coastal escort work for the remainder of the war.[8] The ship was decommissioned and sold for civilian use following the end of hostilities. She became the Norwegian buoy tender Thorslep, and was later used for whaling before being scrapped in 1969.[1]

Trans-Atlantic convoys escorted: winter of 1942–43

Convoy Escort Group Dates Notes
SC 77 3–12 April 1942[9] 51 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 88 22 April-3 May 1942[10] 46 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 189 MOEF group C1 13–20 May 1942[11] 20 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 100 MOEF group C1 3–14 June 1942[10] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland; 3 ships torpedoed & sunk
HX 195 MOEF group C1 24 June-2 July 1942[11] 30 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 112 MOEF group C1 14–25 July 1942[10] 36 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 94 MOEF group C1 2–8 Aug 1942[9] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland; 10 ships torpedoed & sunk
ON 145 MOEF group A3 10–20 Nov 1942[10] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland; 3 ships torpedoed (1 sank)
SC 111 MOEF group A3 1–14 Dec 1942[9] 20 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 156 MOEF group A3 24 Dec 1942-8 Jan 1943[10] 19 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 223 MOEF group A3 19–28 Jan 1943[11] 48 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
SC 117 temporary reinforcement 31 Jan-1 Feb 1943[9] no ships lost
ON 166 MOEF group A3 12–25 Feb 1943[10] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland; 12 ships torpedoed (11 sank)
SC 121 MOEF group A3 3–12 March 1943[9] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland; 7 ships torpedoed & sunk
ON 175 MOEF group A3 25 March-8 April 1943[10] 36 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 233 MOEF group A3 12–20 April 1943[11] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland; 1 ship torpedoed & sunk
ON 182 MOEF group C5 7–16 May 1943[10] 56 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 240 MOEF group C5 25 May-3 June 1943[11] 56 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 188 11–20 June 1943[10] 56 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 245 29 June-5 July 1943[11] 84 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 193 17–25 July 1943[10] 80 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 250 5–11 Aug 1943[11] 75 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. 1 2 Lenton, H.T. & Colledge, J.J British and Dominion Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company pp.201&211
  2. ↑ Ossian, Robert,"Complete List of Sailing Vessels", www.thepirateking.com, Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  3. ↑ Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons & Warfare (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volume 11, pp.1137–1142.
  4. ↑ Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II, New Jersey: Random House, 1996, ISBN 0-517-67963-9, page 68.
  5. ↑ Blake, Nicholas and Lawrence, Richard, The Illustrated Companion to Nelson's Navy, Stackpole Books, 2005, pp 39–63. ISBN 0-8117-3275-4
  6. ↑ Chesneau, Roger and Gardiner, Robert, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946, US Naval Institute Press (June 1980), p. 62 ISBN 0-87021-913-8
  7. 1 2 Milner, Marc (1985). North Atlantic Run. Naval Institute Press. pp. 117–119, 142–145, 158, 175–176, 226, 235&285–291. ISBN 0-87021-450-0.
  8. ↑ "Convoy Web". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "SC convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "ON convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "HX convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.

Bibliography

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