HMS Dianthus (K95)

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Mk VII depth charge.jpg
A depth charge being loaded onto a depth-charge thrower aboard the corvette HMS Dianthus on 14 August 1942
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
Builder Henry Robb Ltd.
Laid down31 October 1939
Launched9 July 1940
Commissioned17 March 1941
Out of serviceMay 1947
FateScrapped 1969
Notes [1]
General characteristics
Class and type Flower-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.

Contents

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 HMS Dianthus damage from ramming U-boat IWM A 11949.jpg
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. During this attack, due to its duration and distance from land, Dianthus ran out of conventional fuel, and had to improvise: amalgamating cooking oil, medical oils etc to make up the shortfall to return to port. [8]

Dianthus was assigned to MOEF group A3 after yard overhaul to repair damage from the ramming. 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. [9] The ship was decommissioned and sold for civilian use following the end of hostilities, becoming the Norwegian buoy tender Thorslep, and was later used for whaling before being scrapped in 1969. [1]

Trans-Atlantic convoys escorted

ConvoyEscort GroupDatesNotes
SC 773–12 April 1942 [10] 51 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 8822 April-3 May 1942 [11] 46 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 189 MOEF group C1 13–20 May 1942 [12] 20 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 100MOEF group C13–14 June 1942 [11] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland; 3 ships torpedoed & sunk
HX 195MOEF group C124 June-2 July 1942 [12] 30 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 112MOEF group C114–25 July 1942 [11] 36 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 94 MOEF group C12–8 Aug 1942 [10] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland; 10 ships torpedoed & sunk
ON 145 MOEF group A3 10–20 Nov 1942 [11] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland; 3 ships torpedoed (1 sank)
SC 111MOEF group A31–14 Dec 1942 [10] 20 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 156MOEF group A324 Dec 1942-8 Jan 1943 [11] 19 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 223MOEF group A319–28 Jan 1943 [12] 48 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
SC 117temporary reinforcement31 Jan-1 Feb 1943 [10] no ships lost
ON 166 MOEF group A312–25 Feb 1943 [11] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland; 12 ships torpedoed (11 sank)
SC 121 MOEF group A33–12 March 1943 [10] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland; 7 ships torpedoed & sunk
ON 175MOEF group A325 March-8 April 1943 [11] 36 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 233MOEF group A312–20 April 1943 [12] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland; 1 ship torpedoed & sunk
ON 182 MOEF group C5 7–16 May 1943 [11] 56 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 240MOEF group C525 May-3 June 1943 [12] 56 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 18811–20 June 1943 [11] 56 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 24529 June-5 July 1943 [12] 84 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 19317–25 July 1943 [11] 80 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 2505–11 Aug 1943 [12] 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. ↑ Leith-Built Ships in War service ECL YHE 56567
  9. ↑ "Convoy Web". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "SC convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "ON convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "HX convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.

Bibliography

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