HMS Geranium (K16) was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. [1] She was later sold to Denmark and renamed Thetis.
HMS Geranium (K16) was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. [1] She was later sold to Denmark and renamed Thetis.
The ship was ordered 25 Jul 1939 and laid down 21 Sep 1939 at William Simmons & Co. in Renfrew, Scotland. [1] [2] The ship was lanched 23 Apr 1940 and commissioned 24 Jun 1940. [1]
In August 1942, the ship participated in Operation Pedestal, a British convoy to supply Malta. [3] [4] In the operation, she was assigned to Force R along with 3 other corvettes and a tug to protect the fleet oil tankers: RFA Brown Ranger and RFA Dingledale. [3] She was under the command of A.Foxall, RNR. [3] [5]
In 1943, the ship was operating in the Atlantic engaged in anti-submarine warfare. [6] On 31 October, together with HMS Whitehall she sunk the U-Boat U-306 with depth charges and hedgehog attacks. [6]
The ship was sold to the Royal Danish Navy in 1945. [7] [8] They renamed her Thetis (F340) and she entered service. [7] The ship was scrapped in 1963. [7] [8]
The ship featured on a 2012 Maltese postal stamp. [9]
Two ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Geranium, after the flower, the geranium:
The Flower-class corvette was a British class of 294 corvettes used during World War II by the Allied navies particularly as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the Battle of the Atlantic. Royal Navy ships of this class were named after flowers.
HMS Gladiolus was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy, the first ship of her class.
HMS Peony was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. In 1943 she was transferred to the Royal Hellenic Navy as RHNS Sachtouris, serving throughout World War II and the Greek Civil War. She was returned to the Royal Navy in 1951 and scrapped in April 1952.
USS Surprise (PG-63), the fourth American naval ship of the name, was a Temptress-class patrol gunboat during World War II. She was built as the British Flower-class corvette HMS Heliotrope, and was in service with the Royal Navy during the first years of the Battle of the Atlantic. She was loaned to and operated by the United States Navy from 1942 to 1945. After World War II, she was sold as a merchant vessel and ended her life in the Chinese navy as Lin I.
HMS Begonia was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy during World War II. In 1942 she was lent to the United States Navy and commissioned as USS Impulse. Returned to the Royal Navy in 1945, Begonia was stricken and sold into merchant service. She was wrecked off the coast of Spain in 1970.
HMS Arabis was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. The ship was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Arabis. She was transferred to the United States Navy in 1942, serving as USS Saucy. Returned to the United Kingdom in 1945, she was recommissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Snapdragon.
HMS Veronica 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 Temptress, the name ship of the Temptress-class gunboats. With the end of hostilities she was returned to the Royal Navy and sold into mercantile service.
HMS Salvia (K97) was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. She was ordered on the eve of the Second World War and entered service in September 1940. She rescued many survivors from the prison ship SS Shuntien when it was sunk on 23 December 1941. A few hours later, on Christmas Eve 1941, Salvia too was torpedoed. The corvette sank with all hands, and all of the survivors that she had rescued from Shuntien were also lost.
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.
HMS Candytuft 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 Tenacity, one of the Temptress-class gunboats. With the end of hostilities she was returned to the Royal Navy and sold into mercantile service.
The third HMS Windsor (D42) was a W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the final months of World War I and in World War II.
HMS Rhododendron was a Flower-class corvette that served with the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She served as an ocean escort in the Battle of the Atlantic.
HMS Honeysuckle was a Flower-class corvette that served with the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She served as an ocean escort in the Battle of the Atlantic.
HMS Coreopsis was a Flower-class corvette, built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War which served in the Battle of the Atlantic. In 1943, she was transferred to the Royal Hellenic Navy as RHNS Kriezis and participated in the 1944 Invasion of Normandy. Shortly before she was scrapped, she took part in the British war film, The Cruel Sea.
HMS Aubrietia (K96) was a Flower-class corvette built for the Royal Navy (RN) from 1941-1946. She was active as a convoy escort in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. In May 1941, Aubrietia sighted and depth charged the German submarine U-110, leading to its capture and the seizure of a German Naval Enigma and its Kurzsignale code book.
HMS Delphinium (K77) was a Flower-class corvette built for the Royal Navy (RN) from 1940-1946. From 1941 to 1943 she was active in the Mediterranean as an escort to convoys supporting the Eighth Army and the invasion of Sicily. From mid-1943 onwards she was on convoy escort duties between Africa, the Mediterranean and the United Kingdom; and Atlantic convoys between North America and the United Kingdom. She escorted a total of 68 convoys.
HMS Dianella was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War.
HMS Periwinkle 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 Restless, one of the Temptress-class gunboats. With the end of hostilities she was returned to the Royal Navy and sold into mercantile service.
HMS Coltsfoot (K140) was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.
