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HMS Amaranthus | |
History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Amaranthus |
Ordered | 21 September 1939 |
Builder | Fleming & Ferguson, Paisley |
Laid down | 4 May 1940 |
Launched | 17 October 1940 |
Commissioned | 12 February 1941 |
Decommissioned | 1946 |
Identification | Pennant number: K17 |
Fate | Sold in 1946. Broken up at Hong Kong in 1953. |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Flower-class corvette |
Displacement | 925 long tons |
Length | 205 ft (62 m) o/a |
Beam | 33 ft (10 m) |
Draught | 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 16 kn (30 km/h) |
Range | 3,500 nmi (6,500 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h) |
Complement | 85 |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Armament |
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Service record | |
Commanders: | Lt. Nicholas Bryan John Stapleton, RNR (January 1941 to August 1941); T/Lt. Walter Smith Thomson, RNR (August 1941 to June 1943); T/A/Lt.Cdr. William Godfrey Pardoe-Matthews, RNR (June 1943 to November 1944); T/A/Lt.Cdr. John Maurice Baldry, RNVR, (November 1944 to decommissioning) |
Operations: | Battle of the Atlantic |
HMS Amaranthus (K17) was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. [1] She took part in the Second World War, being involved in escorting convoys from West Africa to the United Kingdom from May 1941 onwards. [2]
The Flower-class arose as a result of the Royal Navy's realisation in the late 1930s that it had a shortage of escort vessels, particularly coastal escorts for use on the East coast of Britain, as the likelihood of war with Germany increased. To meet this urgent requirement, a design developed based on the whale-catcher Southern Pride - this design was much more capable than Naval trawlers, but cheaper and quicker to build than the Hunt-class destroyers or Kingfisher-class sloops that were alternatives for the coastal escort role. [3] [4]
The early Flowers, such as Amerantus were 205 feet 0 inches (62.48 m) long overall, 196 feet 0 inches (59.74 m) at the waterline and 190 feet 0 inches (57.91 m) between perpendiculars. Beam was 33 feet 0 inches (10.06 m) and draught was 14 feet 10 inches (4.52 m) aft. [5] [6] Displacement was about 940 long tons (960 t) standard and 1,170 long tons (1,190 t) full load. Two Admiralty Three-drum water tube boilers fed steam to a Vertical Triple Expansion Engine rated at 2,750 indicated horsepower (2,050 kW) which drove a single propeller shaft. This gave a speed of 16 knots (18 mph; 30 km/h). [6] 200 tons of oil were carried, giving a range of 4,000 nautical miles (4,600 mi; 7,400 km) at 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h). [6]
Design armament was a single BL 4-inch Mk IX naval gun forward and a single 2-pounder "pom-pom" anti-aircraft cannon aft, although the pom-poms were not available until 1941, so early ships were completed with improvised close-range anti aircraft armament such as Lewis guns or Vickers .50 machine guns instead. [7] [8]
Amaranthus was one of a group of ten Flower-class corvettes ordered by the Admiralty on 21 September 1939. [9] [10] The ship was laid down at the Scottish shipbuilder Fleming and Ferguson's Paisley shipyard as Yard number 563 on 4 May 1940. [9] [10] [11] She was launched on 17 October 1940 and completed on 12 February 1941. [9] [10]
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