 HMCSWindflower during acceptance trials in 1940. Most of the ship's armament has not yet been fitted. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Windflower |
| Namesake | Windflower |
| Ordered | 22 January 1940 |
| Builder | Davie Shipbuilding,Lauzon |
| Laid down | 25 February 1940 |
| Launched | 4 July 1940 |
| Commissioned | 20 October 1940 |
| Out of service | 15 May 1941 |
| Identification | Pennant number: K155 |
| Fate | Loaned toCanada 1941; sunk 1941 |
| Canada | |
| Name | Windflower |
| Acquired | Loaned from United Kingdom |
| Commissioned | 15 May 1941 |
| Out of service | 7 December 1941 |
| Identification | Pennant number: K155 |
| Honours & awards | Atlantic 1941[1] |
| Fate | Sunk on 7 December 1941 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Flower-classcorvette |
| Displacement | 925 long tons (940 t) |
| Length | 205 ft (62 m)o/a |
| Beam | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draught | 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) |
| Installed power | 2,750 ihp (2,050 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 16 kn (18 mph; 30 km/h) |
| Range | 3,500 nmi (4,000 mi; 6,500 km) at 12 kn (14 mph; 22 km/h) |
| Complement | 85 |
| Sensors & processing systems | |
| Armament |
|
HMCSWindflower was aRoyal Canadian NavyFlower-classcorvette which took part in convoy escort duties in theBattle of the Atlantic during theSecond World War.
Flower-class corvettes likeWindflower serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes.[2][3][4] The "corvette" designation was created by the French 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 awhaling 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]
Windflower was ordered on 22 January 1940 as part of the 1939-1940 Flower-class building program and laid down atGeorge T. Davie & Sons Ltd.,Lauzon on 24 February 1940. Launched on 8 August 1940 she was commissioned into theRoyal Navy on 20 October.[8] She was among the ten corvettes to be transferred to the RCN and commissioned on 15 May 1941.[9] She could be told apart from other CanadianFlowers by her lack of minesweeping gear and the siting of the after gun tub amidships.[10]
After working up atTobermoryWindflower was assigned to Escort Group 4 with theRoyal Navy escorting convoys between the United Kingdom andIceland.[11]
After she was loaned to the Royal Canadian NavyWindflower transferred to Newfoundland Command after completing the voyage withOB 332. She made three round trips fromSt. John's toIceland only interrupted by a short refit atLiverpool, Nova Scotia from August to mid-October.[11]
On 7 December 1941,Windflower was escortingConvoy SC.58 when she collided with Dutch merchantZypenberg in dense fog on theGrand Banks at 46° 19N, 49° 30W. 23 crew were lost. At the time corvettes were not outfitted with radar.[8][9]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in December 1941 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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