HMS Polyanthus (K47)

HMS Polyanthus was a of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 30 November 1940 from Leith Docks on the Firth of Forth, at an estimated cost of £55,000.Warship Week(s) in World War 2 , RishtonWeb, Retrieved 13 April 2011. Polyanthus was sunk by the using new German weapons technology on 20 September 1943 about 1,000 miles southwest of Reykjavík during convoy escort duty in the Battle of the North Atlantic.Lawson, Siri,"Convoy ON & ONS 18", WarSailors.com. Retrieved 13 April 2011.HMS Polyanthus (K-47) (+1943), www.wrecksite.eu, Retrieved 13 April 2011.

Background

Flower-class corvettes like Polyanthus serving with the Royal Navy during World War II were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes.Ossian, Robert,"Complete List of Sailing Vessels", www.thepirateking.com, Retrieved 13 April 2011.Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons & Warfare (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volume 11, pp.1137–1142.Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II, New Jersey: Random House, 1996, , page 68. 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.Blake, Nicholas and Lawrence, Richard, The Illustrated Companion to Nelson's Navy, Stackpole Books, 2005, pp 39-63. 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.Chesneau, Roger and Gardiner, Robert, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946, US Naval Institute Press (June 1980), p. 62 The generic name "flower" was used to designate the class of these ships, which – in the Royal Navy – were named after flowering plants.

War duty and sinking Although designed for quick and cheap construction, Polyanthus and ships like her in the Flower class were operative in convoy escort during the Battle of the North Atlantic. The primary mission of protection against U-boats saw Polyanthus active in several transatlantic convoys in the early part of the war. By late 1943, the Kriegsmarine were using an acoustic homing torpedo - known to the Allies as a GNAT - which they hoped would reverse the changing tide of war, favouring the Allies in the Atlantic.Pocock, Michael W., http://www.maritimequest.com/daily_event_archive/2007/pages/sept/23_convoy_on_202.htm "Daily Event for September 23", www.MaritimeQuest.com, 2007, Retrieved 13 April 2011.

On the night of 19–20 September 1943, two westbound Convoys ONS18 and ON 202 were facing frequent U-boat engagements, calling Polyanthus to their aid in the wake of several setbacks, including the near destruction of and . After successfully driving away , Polyanthus was ordered to rescue the crew from the escort , recently sunk by . Whilst under the command of Lieutenant John Gordon Aitken RNR, Polyanthus was sunk by U-952 using a GNAT before any rescue could be effected. At least 7 officers and 77 crew were lost with Polyanthus among them Lt Graham Shepard. The only known survivor drowned on the morning of 23 September when another U-boat, , torpedoed and sank , the ship that had rescued him.

HMS Polyanthus (K47)

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