HMSMallow

HMSMallow in January 1944
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMSMallow
Ordered	19 September 1939
Builder	Harland and Wolff,Belfast,Northern Ireland
Yard number	1065
Laid down	14 November 1939
Launched	22 May 1940
Commissioned	2 July 1940
Identification	Pennant number: K81
Fate	Transferred to theRoyal Yugoslav Navy on 11 January 1944
Yugoslavia
Name	Nada
Acquired	11 January 1944
Out of service	1945
SFR Yugoslavia
Name	Nada
Acquired	1945
Renamed	Partizanka
Fate	Returned to the Royal Navy in 1949
Egypt
Name	El Sudan
Acquired	28 October 1949
Stricken	1975
General characteristics
Class and type	Flower-classcorvette
Displacement	925long tons (940 t) (standard) 1,170 long tons (1,190 t) (deep load)
Length	205 ft (62.5 m)
Beam	33 ft 2 in (10.11 m)
Draught	15 ft 9 in (4.8 m) (deep load)
Installed power	2,750 ihp (2,050 kW) 2 ×cylindrical boilers
Propulsion	1 ×shaft 1 ×4-cylindertriple-expansion steam engine
Speed	16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range	3,450 nmi (6,390 km; 3,970 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	85
Armament	1 ×4 in (102 mm) Mk IX naval gun 1 ×2-pounder (40 mm [1.6 in]) "pom-pom"autocannon 2 × twin 0.303-inch (7.7 mm) machine guns 1 xHedgehog (anti-submarine projector) 2 ×depth charge throwers 2 × depth charge rails 40 × depth charges

HMSMallow was aFlower-classcorvette commissioned into theRoyal Navy that served as aconvoy escort duringWorld War II; with theRoyal Navy in 1940–1944, and with theRoyal Yugoslav Navy-in-exile in 1944–1945. In Yugoslav service she was renamedNada. Her main armament was a single4-inch (102 mm) Mk IX naval gun, although a significant number of secondary andanti-aircraft guns were added towards the end of the war. During the war she escorted a total of 80 convoys whilst in British service, sinking one GermanU-boat, and escorted another 18 convoys whilst in Yugoslav service. After the war she served in the fledglingYugoslav Navy asNada thenPartizanka, before being returned to the Royal Navy in 1949. Later that year she was transferred to theEgyptian Navy in which she served asEl Sudan until she wasdecommissioned in 1975.

TheFlower-classcorvettes had their origins in a sketch design by theSmiths Dock Company which was based on theirwhaling shipSouthern Pride, but lengthened by 9.1 metres (30 ft). Many ships of the class were modified while they were under construction, or as the opportunity presented itself during service.^[1]

Mallow had anoverall length of 205 feet (62.5 m), abeam of 33 ft 2 in (10.11 m), and adraught of 13 ft 7 in (4.14 m) extending to 15 ft 9 in (4.8 m) atdeep load. While herstandard displacement was 925long tons (940 t), she displaced 1,170 long tons (1,190 t) at deep load. She had a crew of 85 men.^[2][3] She was powered using steam created by twocylindrical boilers,^[4][5] driving a single4-cylindertriple-expansion steam engine that generated 2,750indicated horsepower (2,050 kW). The engine drove a singlepropeller andMallow could reach a top speed of 16knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). She carried 230 long tons (230 t) offuel oil, which gave her a range of 3,450nautical miles (6,390 km; 3,970 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).^[2][3]

The ship was armed with a single4-inch (102 mm) Mk IX naval gun, twodepth charge throwers and two depth charge rails, and could carry 40 depth charges.^[2] Ships of the class were also initially equipped with one2-pounder (40 mm [1.6 in]) "pom-pom"autocannon and two twin 0.303 inches (7.7 mm) machine guns. Later in the war, they received two additional depth charge throwers and their capacity was increased to 70 depth charges. The machine guns proved inadequate asanti-aircraft (AA) weapons, and were replaced by heavier guns.^[3][6] In 1944,Mallow's AA armament included a total of six single0.79 in (20 mm) Oerlikon cannons, and one 2-pounder "pom-pom". This was intended to better meet the higher air threat in theMediterranean Sea. She was also equipped with rocket rails fitted to thegun shield of the 4-inch gun, a forward-firinganti-submarineHedgehog fittedaft of the main gun, and had aType 271 radar fitted on the rear of herbridge.^[7] By 1945,Mallow's armament had been further enhanced with two6-pounder Hotchkiss guns.^[1]

Mallow was built by the firm ofHarland and Wolff atBelfast,Northern Ireland under asyard number 1065,^[8] and was ordered on 19 September 1939,laid down on 14 November,launched on 22 May 1940, andcommissioned on 2 July. She was allocated thepennant number K81,^[9] and her first captain wasLieutenant Commander William Brown Piggott.^[10]

Mallow was quickly put into service as aconvoy escort from July 1940 onwards; her first convoy was OB 187 which departedLiverpool on 21 July. During the balance of 1940, she was engaged as an escort for 24 convoys as they left from or arrived at Liverpool.^[11] During 1941, she escorted 22 convoys to and from Liverpool, as well as three that departed fromMilford Haven inWales.^[11] On 1 July 1941,Lieutenant William Robert Boyce Noall took command ofMallow.^[12] In October 1941 she was serving with the 37thEscort Group based in Liverpool, along with twosloops and seven other corvettes. In mid-October, the group was assigned to escort Convoy HG 75 fromGibraltar to Liverpool;^[13]Mallow and theShoreham-class sloopHMS Rochester participated in sweeps west of Gibraltar against the concentration of GermanU-boats awaiting the departure of the convoy, and together sankU-204 on the 19th. The convoy departed a week later than scheduled due to the submarine threat. On 26 October,Mallow assisted in driving awayU-563 andU-564 from the same convoy.^[14] Noall was later made aCompanion of the Distinguished Service Order for "skill and enterprise in dealing with submarines" whilst commandingMallow.^[15]

During 1942,Mallow escorted 15 convoys, again mainly to and from Liverpool, and escorted the same number in 1943,^[11] remaining with the 37th Escort Group covering the UK–Mediterranean and UK–Sierra Leone convoy routes.^[16] On 10 May 1943, Temporary Acting Lieutenant Commander Harold Thomas Stewart Clouston assumed command ofMallow.^[17] In December 1943,Mallow was not listed as active on theNavy List.^[18]

In early 1944,Mallow was transferred to theRoyal Yugoslav Navy-in-exile and renamedNada.^[19] She sailed with a reduced crew in convoy OS 68/KMS 42 which departed Liverpool on 12 February and arrived at Gibraltar on 25 February.Nada then commenced escort duties in May, conducting a total of 17 convoy escorts between Gibraltar andPort Said, Egypt, to October. During her final escort of 1944, she was detached from convoy KMS 66 as her crew was not considered "politically reliable" because they were not aligned withJosip Broz Tito'sPartisan forces. She is recorded as participating in one escort in early February 1945.^[20] After the conclusion of the war,Nada was taken over by the fledglingYugoslav Navy and renamedPartizanka. In 1949, she was returned to the Royal Navy and reverted to HMSMallow.^[19] The requirement to returnPartizanka was a painful blow to the Yugoslavs, as she was one of few modern warships in service with them at the time.^[21] On 28 October 1949,Mallow was transferred to theEgyptian Navy where she served asEl Sudan.^[22] By 1971 she was one of the last ships of her class in use.^[23] She remained in service until 1975, latterly in a training role, and wasdecommissioned in that year.^[22]

• "Awards to Members of the P. & O. Staff".Daily Commercial News and Shipping List. No. 17, 153. New South Wales, Australia. 12 January 1944. p. 4 (Supplement to "Daily Commercial News and Shipping List."). Retrieved24 June 2019.
• Blackman, Raymond V. B., ed. (1953).Jane's Fighting Ships 1953–54. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc.
• Blair, Clay (2000).Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939–1942. London, United Kingdom: Cassell & Co.ISBN 0-304-35260-8.
• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980).Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London, United Kingdom: Conway Maritime Press.ISBN 978-0-85177-146-5.
• Friedman, Norman (2008).British Destroyers & Frigates : The Second World War and After. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Seaforth.ISBN 978-1-84832-015-4.
• Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1995).Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. London, United Kingdom: Conway Maritime Press.ISBN 978-0-85177-605-7.
• Hague, Arnold (2017a)."HMSMallow on the Arnold Hague database".convoyweb.org.uk. Retrieved10 February 2017.
• Hague, Arnold (2017b)."Nada on the Arnold Hague database".convoyweb.org.uk. Retrieved11 February 2017.
• Lenton, H. T. (1998).British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
• Macpherson, Ken; Milner, Marc (1993).Corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy, 1939–1945. St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell.ISBN 978-0-920277-83-6.
• McCluskie, Tom (2013).The Rise and Fall of Harland and Wolff. Stroud, United Kingdom: The History Press.ISBN 978-0-7524-8861-5.
• McIvor, Aidan (1994).A History of the Irish Naval Service. Dublin, Ireland: Irish Academic Press.ISBN 978-0-7165-2523-3.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005).Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Rev. ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Rohwer, Jürgen & Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992).Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-1-55750-105-9.
• "The Navy List".National Library of Scotland. December 1940. Retrieved22 June 2019.
• "The Navy List".National Library of Scotland. August 1941. Retrieved22 June 2019.
• "The Navy List".National Library of Scotland. June 1943. Retrieved22 June 2019.
• "The Navy List".National Library of Scotland. December 1943. Retrieved22 June 2019.
• Wright, Malcolm George (2014).British and Commonwealth Warship Camouflage of WWII: Destroyers, Frigates, Sloops, Escorts, Minesweepers, Submarines, Coastal Forces and Auxiliaries. Barnsley, United Kingdom: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-84832-273-8.

• Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Navy
• Ships of the Royal Yugoslav Navy
• Ships of the Yugoslav Navy
• Ships of the Egyptian Navy
• World War II naval ships of Yugoslavia
• 1940 ships
• Ships built in Belfast
• Ships built by Harland and Wolff
• Corvettes by navy
• Corvettes of Egypt

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Good articles
• Use dmy dates from December 2016
• Use British English from December 2016