HMS Amaranthus (K17)

HMS Amaranthus
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Amaranthus
Ordered21 September 1939
BuilderFleming & Ferguson, Paisley
Laid down4 May 1940
Launched17 October 1940
Commissioned12 February 1941
Decommissioned1946
IdentificationPennant number: K17
FateSold in 1946. Broken up at Hong Kong in 1953.
General characteristics
Class & typeFlower-class corvette
Displacement925 long tons
Length205 ft (62 m) o/a
Beam33 ft (10 m)
Draught11 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)
Speed16 kn (30 km/h)
Range3,500 nmi (6,500 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h)
Complement85
Sensors &
processing systems
  • 1 × SW1C or 2C radar
  • 1 × Type 123A or Type 127DV sonar
Armament
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]

Design and construction

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]

Wartime service

References

Citations
  1. ^ Colledge, J. J. (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy : the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th century to the present. Ben Warlow. London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
  2. ^ "HMS Amaranthus (K 17) of the Royal Navy - British Corvette of the Flower class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  3. ^ Friedman 2008, pp. 133–134
  4. ^ Lambert & Brown 2008, pp. 3–4
  5. ^ Friedman 2008, p. 324
  6. ^ a b c Lambert & Brown 2008, p. 4
  7. ^ Elliott 1977, p. 184
  8. ^ Lambert & Brown 2008, p. 73
  9. ^ a b c Friedman 2008, p. 341
  10. ^ a b c Lambert & Brown 2008, p. 67
  11. ^ "Amaranthus". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.

Further reading

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