HMS Rhododendron (K78)

HMS Rhododendron (K78)
HMS RHODODENDRON WWII IWM A23031.jpg HMS Rhododendron during refueling trials at sea
Career (United Kingdom)
Name:	HMS Rhododendron
Ordered:	19 September 1939
Builder:	Harland and Wolff Ltd., Belfast, Northern Ireland
Laid down:	22 May 1940
Launched:	2 September 1940
Commissioned:	18 October 1940
Out of service:	17 May 1947 – placed in reserve
Identification:	Pennant number: K78
Fate:	sold 1950; scrapped 1968
General characteristics
Class & type:	Flower-class corvette (original)
Displacement:	925 long tons (940 t; 1,036 short tons)
Length:	205 ft (62.48 m)o/a
Beam:	33 ft (10.06 m)
Draught:	11.5 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)
Speed:	16 knots (29.6 km/h)
Range:	3,500 nautical miles (6,482 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h)
Complement:	85
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

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.

Background

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

War Service

On 21 November 1940, Rhododendron attacked the German U-Boat U-103 with depth charges. Although U-103 escaped unscathed, this attack led to the incorrect claim that Rhododendron had sunk U-104. That same day, she picked up 36 survivors from the merchant ship Daydawn, which earlier that day had been sank by U-103. On 17 January 17, 1941, she detonated a mine in Liverpool harbor. This resulted in her being out of service for three months. On 28 July 1941, she picked up 26 survivors from the Lapland, a merchant which was torpedoed by U-203. 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.

Fate

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.

Sources

• Gardiner, Robert (1987). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7. 
• Preston, Antony; Raven, Alan (1982). Flower Class Corvettes. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-559-2. 
• Lynch, John (2012). Belfast Built Ships. Stroud, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-075246-539-5. 
• Friedman, Norman (2008). British Destroyers & Frigates - The Second World War and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-015-4.