The River class was a class of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the North Atlantic. The majority served with the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), with some serving in the other Allied navies: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the Free French Naval Forces, the Royal Netherlands Navy and, post-war, the South African Navy.
HMS Abelia was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy and was built by Harland and Wolff in 1941.
The Algerine-class minesweeper was a large group of minesweepers built for the Royal Navy (RN) and the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during the Second World War. 110 ships of the class were launched between 1942 and 1944.
The Loch class was a class of anti-submarine (A/S) frigate built for the Royal Navy and her Allies during World War II. They were an innovative design based on the experience of three years of fighting in the Battle of the Atlantic and attendant technological advances. Some shipyards had trouble building these larger ships, which led to widespread use of the Castle-class corvette, introduced around the same time.
HMS Balfour was a Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy which served during World War II. She was built as a TE (Buckley) type destroyer escort in the United States and delivered to the Royal Navy under the Lend-Lease arrangement.
HMS Magpie, pennant number U82, was a Royal Navy Modified Black Swan-class sloop launched in 1943 and broken up in 1959. She was the seventh Royal Navy ship to bear the name. She was reclassified as a frigate in 1947, receiving a new pennant number F82. The ship was the only vessel commanded by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who took command on 2 September 1950, when he was 29.
HMS Bentley was a Captain-class frigate which served during World War II. The ship was named after Sir John Bentley who entered the Royal Navy in 1720. Between 1744 and 1761 he commanded a series of ships and took part in the decisive victory at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759 while commanding a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line HMS Warspite.
HMS Chrysanthemum was an Anchusa-class sloop of the Royal Navy, launched on 10 November 1917. She received a Le Cheminant chronometer from the Royal Observatory on 15 May 1925. After service in the Mediterranean, in 1938 she became a drill ship with Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) and then the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR). She was sold in 1988 to private owners and subsequently scrapped in 1995.
HMS Mallow was a Flower-class corvette commissioned into the Royal Navy that served as a convoy escort during World War II; with the Royal Navy in 1940–1944, and with the Royal Yugoslav Navy-in-exile in 1944–1945. In Yugoslav service she was renamed Nada. Her main armament was a single 4-inch (102 mm) Mk IX naval gun, although a significant number of secondary and anti-aircraft guns were added towards the end of the war. During the war she escorted a total of 80 convoys whilst in British service, sinking one German U-boat, and escorted another 18 convoys whilst in Yugoslav service. After the war she served in the fledgling Yugoslav Navy as Nada then Partizanka, before being returned to the Royal Navy in 1949. Later that year she was transferred to the Egyptian Navy in which she served as El Sudan until she was decommissioned in 1975.
Two Royal Navy ships have been named HMS Anchusa after the flower:
HMS Bryony was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy and Royal Norwegian Navy.
HMS Rising Castle was a Castle-class corvette built for the Royal Navy in World War II. She was named for Castle Rising in Norfolk, England. Before she was commissioned she was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and renamed Arnprior and given a new pennant number. After the war she was sold to Uruguay and renamed Montevideo.
HMS Loyalty was a turbine-powered Algerine-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy, formerly HMS Rattler. She served during the Second World War. Commissioned in 1943, Loyalty saw action off the coast of Normandy during the Allied assault there in 1944. While performing duties off the coast, the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank.
HMS Mermaid was a Modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. Mermaid saw service as a convoy escort during the Second World War, taking part in the sinking of two German submarines while escorting Arctic convoys to and from the Soviet Union.
When the United States entered World War II at the end of 1941, the United States Navy found itself deficient in ocean escort-type vessels. A crash building program was instituted; but, to meet more immediate needs, the government contracted with shipbuilding firms in England and Canada to build Flower-class corvettes. Vim (PG-99) was one of those British-type escorts. She was launched on 1 April 1943 at the Collingwood Shipyard in Collingwood, Ontario. Nine days later, however, she was transferred to the Royal Navy under the terms of the lend-lease agreement in return for another Flower-class corvette then under construction in Canada. The British renamed her HMS Statice, and she served the Royal Navy under the name through World War II. On 21 June 1946, she was returned to the United States Navy. Though carried on the Navy list as PG-99, the corvette never saw active service with the United States Navy. She was sold on 7 May 1947. To whom she was sold and to what purpose she was put is unknown.
HMS Calendula was a Flower-class corvette, built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War, and was in service in the Battle of the Atlantic. In 1942 she was transferred to the United States Navy as part of the reverse Lend Lease arrangement and renamed USS Ready, one of the Temptress-class gunboats. With the end of hostilities she was returned to the Royal Navy and sold into mercantile service.
HMCS Algoma was a Flower-class corvette that served with the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War. Named for the Algoma District of Ontario, it served primarily in the Battle of the Atlantic. After the war it was sold to the Venezuelan Navy and renamed Constitución.
HMS Algerine was the lead ship of her namesake class of minesweepers built for the Royal Navy during World War II, the Algerine-class minesweepers. Initially assigned to the North Sea, she was transferred to lead the 12th Minesweeping Flotilla. The Flotilla were posted to the Mediterranean to assist with Operation Torch. In 1942, after a successful mine clearing operation off Bougie, she was torpedoed by the Ascianghi, causing Algerine to sink, leaving only eight survivors.
HMS Sherborne Castle was a Castle-class corvette constructed for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Before completion, the ship was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and renamed HMCS Petrolia. During the war Petrolia saw service as a convoy escort. Following the war, the corvette was sold for mercantile use and renamed Maid of Athens in 1946 and in 1947, renamed Bharat Laxmi. The ship remained in service until 1965 when Bharat Laxmi was sold for breaking up.
HMS Alisma was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy.
United Kingdom
