HMS Amaranthus (K17)

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HMS Amaranthus
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Amaranthus
Ordered	21 September 1939
Builder	Fleming & Ferguson, Paisley
Laid down	4 May 1940
Launched	17 October 1940
Commissioned	12 February 1941
Decommissioned	1946
Identification	Pennant number: K17
Fate	Sold in 1946. Broken up at Hong Kong in 1953.
General characteristics
Class and type	Flower-class corvette
Displacement	925 long tons
Length	205 ft (62 m) o/a
Beam	33 ft (10 m)
Draught	11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
Propulsion	1 × 4-cycle triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine 2 × fire tube Scotch boilers Single shaft 2,750 ihp (2,050 kW)
Speed	16 kn (30 km/h)
Range	3,500 nmi (6,500 km) at 12 kn (22 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 gun 2 × Vickers .50 cal machine gun (twin) 2 × Lewis .303 cal machine gun (twin) 2 × Mk.II Depth charge throwers 2 × Depth charge rails with 40 depth charges
Service record
Commanders:	Lt. Nicholas Bryan John Stapleton, RNR (January 1941 to August 1941); T/Lt. Walter Smith Thomson, RNR (August 1941 to June 1943); T/A/Lt.Cdr. William Godfrey Pardoe-Matthews, RNR (June 1943 to November 1944); T/A/Lt.Cdr. John Maurice Baldry, RNVR, (November 1944 to decommissioning)
Operations:	Battle of the Atlantic

HMS Amaranthus (K17) was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy.^[1] She took part in the Second World War, being involved in escorting convoys from West Africa to the United Kingdom from May 1941 onwards.^[2]

The Flower-class arose as a result of the Royal Navy's realisation in the late 1930s that it had a shortage of escort vessels, particularly coastal escorts for use on the East coast of Britain, as the likelihood of war with Germany increased. To meet this urgent requirement, a design developed based on the whale-catcher Southern Pride - this design was much more capable than Naval trawlers, but cheaper and quicker to build than the Hunt-class destroyers or Kingfisher-class sloops that were alternatives for the coastal escort role.^[3][4]

The early Flowers, such as Amerantus were 205 feet 0 inches (62.48 m) long overall, 196 feet 0 inches (59.74 m) at the waterline and 190 feet 0 inches (57.91 m) between perpendiculars. Beam was 33 feet 0 inches (10.06 m) and draught was 14 feet 10 inches (4.52 m) aft.^[5][6] Displacement was about 940 long tons (960 t) standard and 1,170 long tons (1,190 t) full load. Two Admiralty Three-drum water tube boilers fed steam to a Vertical Triple Expansion Engine rated at 2,750 indicated horsepower (2,050 kW) which drove a single propeller shaft. This gave a speed of 16 knots (18 mph; 30 km/h).^[6] 200 tons of oil were carried, giving a range of 4,000 nautical miles (4,600 mi; 7,400 km) at 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h).^[6]

Design armament was a single BL 4-inch Mk IX naval gun forward and a single 2-pounder "pom-pom" anti-aircraft cannon aft, although the pom-poms were not available until 1941, so early ships were completed with improvised close-range anti aircraft armament such as Lewis guns or Vickers .50 machine guns instead.^[7][8]

Amaranthus was one of a group of ten Flower-class corvettes ordered by the Admiralty on 21 September 1939.^[9][10] The ship was laid down at the Scottish shipbuilder Fleming and Ferguson's Paisley shipyard as Yard number 563 on 4 May 1940.^[9][10][11] She was launched on 17 October 1940 and completed on 12 February 1941.^[9][10]

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• Elliott, Peter (1977). Allied Escort Ships of World War II: A complete survey. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers. ISBN 0-356-08401-9.
• Friedman, Norman (2008). British Destroyers and Frigates: The Second World War and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-015-4.
• Lambert, John; Brown, Les (2008). Flower-Class Corvettes. St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada: Vanwall Publishing. ISBN 978-1-55068-986-0.