HMCS Eyebright (K150)


HMCS Eyebright, between 1943-1945.
Career (Canada) Royal Canadian Navy
Namesake: Euphrasia
Builder: Canadian Vickers Ltd., Montreal
Laid down: 20 Feb 1940
Launched: 22 July 1940
Commissioned: 26 November 1940
Identification: Pennant number: K150
Fate: Returned to the Royal Navy 17 June 1945.
General characteristics
Class and type: Flower-class corvette (original)[1]
Displacement: 925 long tons (940 t; 1,036 ST)
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 x fire tube Scotch boilers
  • 1 x 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 x SW1C or 2C radar
  • 1 x Type 123A or Type 127DV sonar
Armament:

HMCS Eyebright was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Canadian Navy. She was ordered for the Royal Navy from Canadian Vickers Ltd. in Montreal and laid down on 20 February 1940. She was launched on 22 July 1940, transferred to the RCN, and commissioned on 26 November 1940. She was named after the Euphrasia genus of medicinal flowering plants.[1]

Contents

Background

Main article: Flower class corvette

Flower-class corvettes like Eyebright serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II were different to earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes.[2][3][4] The "corvette" designation was created by the French in the 19th century 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]

War duty

Eyebright escorted trade convoys between Halifax Harbour and the Western Approaches through the battle of the Atlantic. Eyebright participated in the battle for convoy SC 44 in September 1941. It was to be the only convoy she escorted to lose ships to submarine torpedoes. Eyebright served with Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) groups C1, C3 and C4 from 1942 through 1944. Eyebright escorted North American coastal convoys with the Western Local Escort Force during 1945.[8] At the end of hostilities, Eyebright escorted the last HX convoy of the war to the United Kingdom where she was returned to the Royal Navy and sold for civilian use as Albert W. Vinke.[1]

Trans-Atlantic convoys escorted

Convoy Escort Group Dates Notes
HX 104 21 January-8 February 1941[9] 21 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland
OB 332 13-23 June 1941[9] 43 ships escorted without loss from Iceland to Newfoundland
HX 136 30 June-13 July 1941[9] 46 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland
OB 345 16-24 July 1941[9] 60 ships escorted without loss from Iceland to Newfoundland
HX 142 5-12 August 1941[9] 65 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland
ON 7 21-25 August 1941[10] 38 ships escorted without loss from Iceland to Newfoundland
HX 149 13-20 September 1941[9] 57 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland
SC 44 20-22 Sept 1941[11] Newfoundland to Iceland; 4 ships torpedoed & sunk
ON 19A 28 Sept-4 Oct 1941[10] Iceland shuttle
SC 49 13-21 Oct 1941[11] 31 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland
ON 29 28 Oct-5 Nov 1941[10] 31 ships escorted without loss from Iceland to Newfoundland
SC 66 23 January-4 February 1942[11] 29 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland
ON 64 11-18 February 1942[10] 37 ships escorted without loss from Iceland to Newfoundland
SC 72 10-16 March 1942[11] 19 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland
ON 78 22 March-3 April 1942[10] 27 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 79 15-27 April 1942[11] 53 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 93 MOEF group C3 9-17 May 1942[10] 25 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 85 MOEF group C4 31 May-11 June 1942[9] 60 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 123 MOEF group C1 22-31 August 1942[10] 39 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 99 MOEF group C1 9-19 September 1942[11] 59 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 133 MOEF group C1 26 September-5 Oct 1942[10] 35 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 211 MOEF group C1 13-20 October 1942[9] 29 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 143 MOEF group C1 2-11 November 1942[10] 26 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 110 MOEF group C1 24 November-5 December 1942[11] 33 ships escorted without loss from Halifax to Newfoundland
HX 221 MOEF group C3 5-13 January 1943[9] 36 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 163 MOEF group C3 25 January-8 February 1943[10] 38 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 226 MOEF group C3 14-23 Feb 1943[9] 43 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 172 MOEF group C3 10-21 March 1943[10] 16 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 124 MOEF group C3 28 March-6 April 1943[11] 33 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 180 MOEF group C3 25 April-7 May 1943[10] 65 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 238 MOEF group C3 13-21 May 1943[9] 45 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 187 2-10 June 1943[10] 75 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 256 15-21 September 1943[9] 59 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ONS 19 27 September-9 October 1943[10] 49 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 261 17-25 October 1943[9] 65 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 210 7-17 November 1943[10] 42 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 147 23 November-3 December 1943[11] 50 ships escorted without loss from Halifax to Newfoundland
ON 216 17-29 December 1943[10] 40 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 150 3-14 January 1944[11] 19 ships escorted without loss from Halifax to Newfoundland
ONS 28 29 January-11 February 1944[10] 29 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 279 27-28 February 1944[9] 59 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 227 9-17 March 1944[10] 61 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 284 26 March-5 April 1944[9] 80 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 232 14-23 April 1944[10] 45 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 289 3-13 May 1944[9] 130 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 237 20-29 May 1944[10] 64 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 294 9-19 June 1944[9] 113 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 242 29 June-5 July 1944[10] 99 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 161 19 November-3 December 1944[9] 49 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ONS 38 14 December 1944-2 January 1945[10] 26 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 358 25 May-6 June 1945[9] 56 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland; the last HX convoy of the war

References

  1. ^ a b c Lenton, H.T. & Colledge, J.J British and Dominion Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company pp.201&212
  2. ^ Ossian, Robert,"Complete List of Sailing Vessels", www.thepirateking.com, Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  3. ^ Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons & Warfare (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volume 11, pp.1137–1142.
  4. ^ Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II, New Jersey: Random House, 1996, ISBN 0-517-67963-9, page 68.
  5. ^ Blake, Nicholas and Lawrence, Richard, The Illustrated Companion to Nelson's Navy, Stackpole Books, 2005, pp 39-63. ISBN 0811732754
  6. ^ Chesneau, Roger and Gardiner, Robert, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships (1922-1946), US Naval Institute Press (June 1980), p. 62 ISBN 0870219138
  7. ^ Milner, Marc (1985). North Atlantic Run. Naval Institute Press. pp. 117–119,142–145,158,175–176,226,235&285–291. ISBN 0-87021-450-0. 
  8. ^ "Convoy Web". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hague/index.html. Retrieved 2011-06-27. 
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "HX convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hx/index.html. Retrieved 2011-06-19. 
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "ON convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/on/index.html. Retrieved 2011-06-19. 
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "SC convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/sc/index.html. Retrieved 2011-06-19. 

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