HMS Vetch (K132)
_IWM_A_11113.jpg) HMS Vetch in coastal waters off Liverpool | |
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Vetch |
| Ordered: | 31 August 1939 |
| Builder: | Smiths Dock Company, South Bank, North Yorkshire |
| Laid down: | 15 March 1941 |
| Launched: | 27 May 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 11 August 1941 |
| Out of service: | Sold in August 1945 |
| Renamed: |
Patrai in 1948 Olympic Hunter in 1951 Otori Maru No.18 in 1956 |
| Reclassified: | Merchant vessel in 1948 |
| Identification: | Pennant number: K132 |
| Fate: | Unknown |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Flower-class corvette |
| Displacement: | 940 tons |
| Length: | 205 ft (62 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draught: | 11.5 ft (3.5 m) |
| Propulsion: | Two fire tube boilers one 4-cycle triple-expansion steam engine |
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h) at 2,750 hp (2,050 kW) |
| Range: | 3,500 nautical miles at 12 knots (6,500 km at 22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 85 men |
| Armament: |
|
HMS Vetch (K132) was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy.
She was built at Smiths Dock, launched on 27 May 1941 and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 11 August 1941. After helping to escort many convoys and sinking two U-boats, she was decommissioned and sold in 1945.
War service
In October 1941 Vetch was assigned to the 36th Escort Group (36 EG), led by Commander FJ "Johnnie" Walker in HMS Stork. Among many others, 36 EG escorted HG 76 homeward from Gibraltar in December 1941, during which ships of 36 EG sank four U-boats. In April 1942 Vetch had been fitted with Type 271 radar with which, while escorting convoy OG 82 in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland, she detected U-252 which she then sank with the help of Stork.[1]
36 EG was disbanded in June 1942 and Vetch continued with other escort groups until 1944. On 25 May 1943, while escorting a convoy to Algiers, she sank U-414 in the western Mediterranean north of Oran.[2] She remained in the Mediterranean escorting convoys in support of Operation Husky.
Civilian service
HMS Vetch was sold out of the service in 1945 and became a merchant vessel. She was renamed Patrai in 1948, Olympic Hunter in 1951 and Otori Maru No.18 in 1956.
References
- HMS Vetch (K 132) of the Royal Navy – uboat.net
- British Escort Movements WW2 - Flower-class corvettes – naval-history.net
- ↑ HMS Stork, sloop (entry for 14 April 1942 – naval-history.net
- ↑ Bronson, David, Mosier's Raiders: The Story of LST-325, iUniverse, Bloomington, 2004, page 27
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