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HMS Rhododendron (K78)

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way
HMS RHODODENDRON WWII IWM A23031.jpg
HMS Rhododendron during refueling trials at sea
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Rhododendron
Ordered19 September 1939
BuilderHarland and Wolff Ltd., Belfast, Northern Ireland
Laid down22 May 1940
Launched2 September 1940
Commissioned18 October 1940
Out of service17 May 1947 – placed in reserve
IdentificationPennant number: K78
FateSold 1950; scrapped 1968
General characteristics
Class and typeFlower-class corvette (original)
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 × fire tube Scotch 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
Sensors and
processing systems
  • 1 × SW1C or 2C radar
  • 1 × Type 123A or Type 127DV sonar
Armament
  • 1 × BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk.IX single gun
  • 2 x double Lewis machine gun
  • 2 × twin Vickers machine gun
  • 2 × Mk.II depth charge throwers
  • 2 × Depth charge rails with 40 depth charges
  • initially with minesweeper equipment, later removed
For other ships with the same name, see HMS Rhododendron.

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.[1][2]

Discover more about HMS Rhododendron (K78) related topics

Flower-class corvette

Flower-class corvette

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.

Corvette

Corvette

A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop-of-war.

Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service.

World War II

World War II

World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries, including all of the great powers, fought as part of two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. Many participants threw their economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind this total war, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and the delivery of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war.

Battle of the Atlantic

Battle of the Atlantic

The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany's subsequent counter-blockade. The campaign peaked from mid-1940 through to the end of 1943.

Background

The ship was ordered on 19 September 1939 from Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The ship's keel was laid on 22 May 1940,[3] and the ship was launched on 2 September. The ship was commissioned about one month later, on 18 October.[4]

War Service

On 21 November 1940, Rhododendron, part of the escort for Convoy OB244, attacked the German U-boat U-103 with depth charges, helping to drive the submarine away from the convoy. Although U-103 escaped unscathed, this attack led to the incorrect claim that Rhododendron had sunk U-104.[5][2] That same day, she picked up 36 survivors from the merchant ship Daydawn, which earlier that day had been sunk by U-103.[2] At the beginning of 1941, Rhododendron was part of the 8th Escort Group.[6] On 17 January 1941, she detonated a mine in Liverpool harbor, knocking out her engines and steering gear and causing minor structural damage. Rhododendron was under repair at Liverpool for three months.[7][8][2] On 28 July 1941, she picked up 26 survivors from the Lapland, a merchant ship which was torpedoed by U-203.[2][9] On 1 October 1941, Rhododendron was part of the 36th Escort Group, based at Liverpool.[10]

In November 1942, the British and Americans landed in French North Africa in Operation Torch, with Rhododendron helping to escort one of the convoys carrying invasion forces from Britain to the Centre Task Force beaches at Arzew near Oran in Algeria on 9 November.[11] On 4 July 1943, she picked up more than 300 survivors from several merchant ships which were torpedoed by German submarines U-409 and U-375 off of Algeria.

Discover more about War Service related topics

U-boat

U-boat

U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic-warfare role and enforcing a naval blockade against enemy shipping. The primary targets of the U-boat campaigns in both wars were the merchant convoys bringing supplies from Canada and other parts of the British Empire, and from the United States, to the United Kingdom and to the Soviet Union and the Allied territories in the Mediterranean. German submarines also targeted Brazilian merchant ships during both World Wars and, twice over, precipitated Brazil's decision to give up its neutral stance and declare war on Germany.

German submarine U-103 (1940)

German submarine U-103 (1940)

German submarine U-103 was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that operated during World War II. She was one of the most successful boats in the entire war, sinking 237,596 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied shipping in 11 patrols, in a career lasting more than four years.

Depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use high explosive charges and a fuze set to detonate the charge, typically at a specific depth. Depth charges can be dropped by ships, patrol aircraft, and helicopters.

German submarine U-104 (1940)

German submarine U-104 (1940)

German submarine U-104 was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was ordered by the Kriegsmarine on 24 May 1938 as part of the German naval rearmament program Plan Z. Her keel was laid down by DeSchiMAG AG Weser in Bremen in November 1939. Following about six and a half months of construction, she was launched on 25 May 1940 and formally commissioned into the Kriegsmarine on 19 August 1940.

German submarine U-203

German submarine U-203

German submarine U-203 was a German Type VIIC submarine U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II.

Operation Torch

Operation Torch

Operation Torch was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while allowing American armed forces the opportunity to engage in the fight against Nazi Germany on a limited scale. It was the first mass involvement of US troops in the European–North African Theatre, and saw the first major airborne assault carried out by the United States.

Arzew

Arzew

Arzew or Arzeu is a port city in Algeria, 25 miles (40 km) from Oran. It is the capital of Arzew District, Oran Province.

Oran

Oran

Oran is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural importance. It is 432 km (268 mi) west-south-west from Algiers. The total population of the city was 803,329 in 2008, while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000 making it the second-largest city in Algeria.

Algeria

Algeria

Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in North Africa. Algeria is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia; to the east by Libya; to the southeast by Niger; to the southwest by Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; to the west by Morocco; and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. It is considered part of the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has a semi-arid geography, with most of the population living in the fertile north and the Sahara dominating the geography of the south. Algeria covers an area of 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 sq mi), making it the world's tenth largest nation by area, and the largest nation in Africa, being more than 200 times as large as the smallest country in the continent, The Gambia. With a population of 44 million, Algeria is the tenth-most populous country in Africa, and the 32nd-most populous country in the world. The capital and largest city is Algiers, located in the far north on the Mediterranean coast.

German submarine U-409

German submarine U-409

German submarine U-409 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine in World War II. She was laid down on 26 October 1940 by Danziger Werft, Danzig as yard number 110, launched on 23 September 1941 and commissioned on 21 January 1942 under Oberleutnant zur See Hanns-Ferdinand Massmann.

German submarine U-375

German submarine U-375

German submarine U-375 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 14 March 1940 by Howaldtswerke in Kiel as yard number 6, launched on 7 June 1941 and commissioned on 19 July 1941 under Kapitänleutnant Jürgen Koenenkamp.

Fate

Whale catcher Maj Vinke
Whale catcher Maj Vinke

She was sold in 1950 to a shipping company, where she was turned into the merchant Maj Finke. She was sold for demolition in South Africa in 1968.

Source: "HMS Rhododendron (K78)", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, December 23rd), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Rhododendron_(K78).

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Further Reading

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HMS Jaguar (F34)

HMS Onslow (G17)

HMS Verulam (R28)

HMS Calcutta (D82)

HMS Beaufort (L14)

HMS Westcott (D47)

HMS Shikari (D85)

HMS Bideford (L43)

HMS Godetia (K226)

HMS Douglas

HMS Mackay (D70)

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HMS Mallard (L42)

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References
  1. ^ Mason, Geoffrey B. (31 May 2011). "HMS Rhododendron (K78) — Flower-class Corvette including Convoy Movements". Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2. www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e Helgason, Guðmundur. "HMS Rhododendron (K 78): Corvette of the Flower class". uboat.net. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  3. ^ Lynch, p. 98
  4. ^ Friedman, p. 340
  5. ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 42
  6. ^ Kindell, Don (7 April 2012). "Royal Navy Ships, January 1941 (Part 1 of 2)". British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day. naval-history.net. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  7. ^ H.M. Ships Damaged or Sunk by Enemy Action 1952, p. 349
  8. ^ Kindell, Don (7 April 2012). "Naval Events, January 1941 (Part 2 of 2): Wednesday 15th - Friday 31st". British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day. naval-history.net. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  9. ^ Kindell, Don (8 April 2012). "Naval Events, July 1941 (Part 2 of 2): Tuesday 15th - Thursday 31st". British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day. naval-history.net. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  10. ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 89
  11. ^ Winser 2002, pp. 12, 65
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