HMS Honeysuckle (K27)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Honeysuckle.

HMS Honeysuckle coming alongside the aircraft carrier Trumpeter in the Kola Inlet
History
United Kingdom
Name	Rhododendron
Ordered	31 August 1939
Builder	Ferguson Shipbuilders. Ltd., Port Glasgow
Laid down	26 October 1939
Launched	22 April 1940
Commissioned	14 September 1940
Out of service	1950 – sold to T.W. Ward
Identification	Pennant number: K27
Fate	Sold 1950; scrapped November 1950
General characteristics
Class and 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 Honeysuckle 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 31 August 1939 by Harland and Wolff from Port Glasgow in Scotland.

War service

On 20 September 1941, HMS Honeysuckle picked up 51 survivors from the CAM ship Empire Burton, which was torpedoed by the German U-boat U-74. That same day, she picked up an additional 22 survivors from the tanker T.J. Williams, which has torpedoed by a different U-boat, U-552. On 4 July 1943, she picked up 276 survivors from the merchant St. Essylt, which was torpedoed by U-375 off of Algeria.

Fate

She was scrapped in 1950 at Grays.

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.
• Friedman, Norman (2008). British Destroyers & Frigates - The Second World War and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-015-4.