HMCS Spikenard

Flower-class corvettes like Spikenard serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes.^[2][3][4] The "corvette" designation was created by the French 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]

She originally ordered on 22 January 1940 by the Royal Navy as part of the 1939-1940 Flower-class program as HMS Spikenard (K198). Spikenard was laid down 24 February 1940 and launched later that year on 10 August. She was commissioned on 6 December 1940 in Quebec City, Quebec.^[8][9] On 15 May 1941 she was one of ten corvettes loaned to the Royal Canadian Navy. She could be told apart from other Canadian Flowers by her lack of minesweeping gear and the siting of the after gun tub amidships.^[10]

Royal Navy

On 21 January 1941 she sailed with convoy HX 104 to get her final equipment at South Shields, Tyne in the United Kingdom. She was worked up at Tobermory and left on 10 June with convoy OB 332 as a full escort.^[9]

Royal Canadian Navy

After commissioning in the RCN she was assigned as part of the Newfoundland Escort Force (NEF). From July 1941 to January 1942 Spikenard made three round-trips to the Mid-Ocean Meeting Point off Iceland escorting the vital trans-Atlantic convoys. On opening night (27 January 1942), Spikenard's commander, Lt-Cdr. H.F. Shadforth, hammered a six-inch spike into the floor of the Seagoing Officers Club, "The Crows' Nest" in St. John's, Newfoundland (better known as "Newfyjohn" during the War). After Spikenard was torpedoed and sunk two weeks later with the loss of all except eight of her crew, fellow NEF officers preserved the nail as "'Spikenard' his Spike". It still remains on display and the members of the Club hold a "Corvette Wake" commemorative dinner every year to remember Spikenard and her crew.^[11]

Sinking

On the night of 10 February 1942, Spikenard was torpedoed by U-136^[9] while escorting convoy SC 67. The torpedo struck Spikenard at virtually the same instant as another torpedo exploded against a nearby Norwegian tanker, M/S Heina. In the confusion of battle, the other escorts in the group believed that only the now blazing and illuminated tanker had been struck, and rescued her entire crew. Spikenard was not on fire and the other escorts did not realize she was hit and sinking.^[12] The other escorts in the group had been caught up chasing contacts and did not realize that Spikenard was gone until she failed to answer repeated radio calls. Some escorts fell back and found only eight survivors. Spikenard's Commanding Officer had been the senior officer of the escort group.^[11]

Discover more about War service related topics

HX convoys

HX convoys

The HX convoys were a series of North Atlantic convoys which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War. They were east-bound convoys and originated in Halifax, Nova Scotia from where they sailed to ports in the United Kingdom. They absorbed the BHX convoys from Bermuda en route. Later, after the United States entered the war, HX convoys began at New York.

United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is 242,495 square kilometres (93,628 sq mi), with an estimated 2023 population of over 68 million people.

Tobermory, Mull

Tobermory, Mull

Tobermory is the capital of, and until 1973 the only burgh on, the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It is located on the east coast of Mishnish, the most northerly part of the island, near the northern entrance of the Sound of Mull. The village was founded as a fishing port in 1788; its layout was based on the designs of Dumfriesshire engineer Thomas Telford. It has a current population of about 1,000.

ON convoys

ON convoys

The ON convoys were a series of North Atlantic trade convoys running Outbound from the British Isles to North America during the Battle of the Atlantic.

German submarine U-136 (1941)

German submarine U-136 (1941)

German submarine U-136 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

Convoy SC 67

Convoy SC 67

Convoy SC 67 was the 67th of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. The convoy left Halifax on 30 January 1942 and picked up a tran-Atlantic escort in Newfoundland. This marked the start of the allied end-to-end convoy escort system, which remained in effect until the end of the war. The convoy was found by U-591 on 10 February, and attacked by U-136 of 6th U-boat Flotilla, operating out of St Nazaire. Surviving ships reached Liverpool on 15 February.