HMS Orchis

Underway in the River Clyde, December 1942
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Orchis
Builder	Harland & Wolff [1]
Yard number	1075 [1]
Laid down	18 June 1940
Launched	15 October 1940
Completed	29 November 1940 [1]
Commissioned	29 November 1940
Identification	Pennant number: K76
Fate	Mined off Juno Beach 21 August 1944
General characteristics
Class and type	Flower-class corvette
Displacement	925 long tons [2]
Length	205 ft (62 m) o/a [2]
Beam	33 ft (10 m) [2]
Draught	11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
Propulsion	1 × 4-cycle triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine 2 × fire tube Scotch boilers Single shaft 2,750  ihp (2,050 kW) [2]
Speed	16 kn (30 km/h) [2]
Range	3,500 nmi (6,500 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h)
Complement	90 [2]
Sensors and processing systems	1 × Type 271 radar from March 1941 [3] 1 × Type 123A or Type 127DV sonar
Armament	1 × BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk.IX gun [2] 2 × Vickers .50 cal machine gun (twin) 2 × Lewis .303 cal machine gun (twin) 2 × Mk.II Depth charge throwers 2 × Depth charge rails with 40 depth charges
Service record
Operations:	Battle of the Atlantic

HMS Orchis was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy during World War II.

North Atlantic trade convoy escort

In March 1941, Orchis was the first ship fitted with the very successful 10-cm wavelength Type 271 radar enabling detection of a surfaced submarine at 5,000 yards (4,600 m) or a submarine periscope at 1,300 yards (1,200 m). ^[3] Orchis was assigned first to the 4th Escort Group based at Greenock ^[4] and then to Escort Group B3 of the Mid-Ocean Escort Force through early 1944. ^[5] Orchis escorted convoy ONS 18 during the battle around this and ON 202. ^[6]

English Channel

Orchis was then assigned to patrol the English Channel, and sank the German submarine U-741 on 15 August 1944. ^[7] U-741 torpedoed LST-404 of convoy FTM-69 while Orchis was escorting nearby convoy FTC-68. Orchis gained and held sonar contact on U-741 and flooded the forward part of the U-boat with two Hedgehog attacks and two depth charge attacks. One person escaped from the aft torpedo-room hatch of the sunken U-boat, and was rescued by Orchis. ^[8]

On 21 August 1944, Orchis struck a mine that destroyed the bow back to the 4-inch gun. The damaged ship was beached on Juno Beach and declared a total loss. ^{[9] [10]}

Notes

1. McCluskie, Tom (2013). The Rise and Fall of Harland and Wolff. Stroud: The History Press. p. 148. ISBN   9780752488615.
2. Brown (1995), p. 178
3. Macintyre, Donald, CAPT RN "Shipborne Radar" United States Naval Institute Proceedings September 1967 p. 80
4. Rohwer & Hummelchen (1992), p. 89
5. Rohwer & Hummelchen (1992), pp. 170, 185, 188, 198, 212, 227, 228, 234, 235, 239, 241 & 259
6. Rohwer & Hummelchen (1992), pp. 235–236
7. Rohwer & Hummelchen (1992), p. 291
8. Blair (1998), p. 613
9. Brown (1995), p. 119
10. Rohwer & Hummelchen (1992), p. 299

References

• Blair, Clay (1998). Hitler's U-boat War The Hunted 1942–1945. Random House. ISBN   0-679-45742-9.
• Brown, David (1995) [1990]. Warship Losses of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN   1-55750-914-X.
• Rohwer, Jurgen; Hummelchen, Gerhard (1992) [1972]. Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN   1-55750-105-X.