| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSMarigold |
| Ordered | 31 August 1939 |
| Builder | Hall, Russell & Company,Aberdeen,Scotland |
| Laid down | 26 January 1940 |
| Launched | 16 November 1940 |
| Commissioned | 28 February 1941 |
| Identification | Pennant number: K87 |
| Fate | Sunk in air attack on 9 December 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Flower-classcorvette |
| Displacement | 925 long tons (940 t) |
| Length | 205 ft (62 m) |
| Beam | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draught | 11.5 ft (3.5 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h) at 2,750 hp (2,050 kW) |
| Range | 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 85 |
| Armament |
|
HMSMarigold was aFlower-classcorvette of theRoyal Navy. She was launched on 4 September 1940 and was sunk by an Italian air-dropped torpedo on 9 December 1942.
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-catcherSouthern Pride - this design was much more capable thannaval trawlers, but cheaper and quicker to build than theHunt-class destroyers orKingfisher-class sloops that were alternatives for the coastal escort role.[1][2]
The Flowers 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) anddraught was 14 feet 10 inches (4.52 m) aft.[3][4]Displacement was about 940 long tons (960 t) standard and 1,170 long tons (1,190 t) full load. TwoAdmiralty three-drum water tube boilers fed steam to avertical 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).[4] 200 tons of oil were carried, giving a range of 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).[4]
Design armament was a singleBL 4-inch Mk IX naval gun forward and a single2-pounder "pom-pom" anti-aircraft cannon aft, although the pom-poms were not available until 1941, so early Flowers such asMarigold were completed with improvised close-range anti aircraft armament such asLewis guns orVickers .50 machine guns instead.[5][6]
Marigold was one of 24 Flowers ordered by the British Admiralty on 31 August 1939 under the 1939/40 Naval estimates. She waslaid down atHall, Russell & Company'sAberdeen shipyard on 21 January 1940, waslaunched on 4 September 1940 and completed on 28 February 1941.[7][8]
Marigold served in a number of the theatres of theSecond World War.[9][10]
On 7 May 1941,Marigold, a member of the 7th Escort Group, was part of the escort for the westbound Atlantic convoyConvoy OB 318. That night, the convoy was attacked by the German submarineU-94 200 miles (320 km) south west ofReykjavík,Iceland.U-94 torpedoed and sunk two merchant ships.Marigold picked up 19 survivors from one of the ships sunk in the attack,SS Ixion. Meanwhile,U-94 was driven off by a sustained depth charge attack by the destroyersBulldog andAmazon and the sloopRochester.[11][12][13] The corvettes of the 7th Escort Group, includingMarigold were relieved by ships from the 3rd Escort group on 8 May, allowing the 7th Escort Group ships to join the inbound Convoy HX 123.[11] Attacks on OB 318 continued, with three merchant ships sunk on 8 May, at the cost ofU-110 which was captured by British warships, sinking under tow.[14]
Marigold remained part of the 7th Escort Group on 1 July 1941.[15] From 18 AugustMarigold, now part of Escort Group 36, formed part of the escort of Convoy HG 71, bound for the UK fromGibraltar. While four Italian submarines were deployed against the convoy, none managed to find it, and HG 71 reachedLiverpool unharmed on 1 September.[16][17] On 12 September 1941,Marigold left Liverpool as part of the escort for the Gibraltar-bound convoy OG 74. Two merchant ships were sunk by the German submarineU-124 on the night of 20/21 September, while the rescue shipWalmer Castle was badly damaged by a GermanFocke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor long-range bomber on 21 September and was scuttled byMarigold and the sloopDeptford.Marigold andDeptford were then detached from the convoy to support four ships that had lost contact with the convoy, but three of the four ships were sunk byU-201 on the night of 21/22 September.Marigold arrived in Gibraltar on 26 September. In total, six ships from OG 74 were sunk.[18][19][20]Marigold remained part of the 36th Escort Group on 1 October 1941.[21]
On 16 November 1941,Marigold set out from Gibraltar as part ofOperation Chieftain, a diversion operation forOperation Crusader, the British offensive in the North African desert. The operation was a dummy convoy (with empty merchant ships) intended to attract attention of German and Italian air power away from the land battle.[22][23] That nightMarigold which had lost contact with the convoy because of engine trouble, and was trying to rejoin the convoy, was spotted by theGerman submarine U-433 30 miles East of Europa Point and south ofMálaga.U-433 misidentified the corvette for a cruiser and attacked with a spread of four torpedoes, all of which missed.Marigold then detected the surfaced submarine on radar at a range of about 4,000 yards (3,700 m) and attacked, butU-433 dived away beforeMarigold could ram the submarine. An initial pattern of fivedepth charges was ineffective, but after 15 minutes,Marigold detected the submarine on sonar, and attacked with ten depth charges, causing the commander ofU-433 to surface the submarine so that the crew could abandon ship.Marigold opened fire on the submarine when it surfaced andU-433 sank quickly.Marigold picked up 38 survivors, with six ofU-433's crew killed.[22][24] The First Sea Lord congratulated theMarigold and its commander, LieutenantWilliam MacDonald R.N.V.R., on this action.[citation needed]
On 14 December 1941,Marigold, now part of the36th Escort Group, left Gibraltar as part ofConvoy HG 76. The convoy came under sustained U-boat attack from 17 December, and on 19 December,Marigold carried out a depth charge attack on a U-boat, which although failing to sink the submarine, helped to drive the U-boat away from the convoy. In total, the escort carrierHMS Audacity, the destroyerStanley and two merchant ships were sunk by German submarines, while the convoy's escort sank three U-boats.[25][26]
On 9 June 1942, the 36th Escort Group, includingMarigold, left Gibraltar escortingConvoy HG 84.Marigold and the corvetteConvolvulus attacked and drove off the submarinesU-89 andU-437 on 14 June.[27][28] On 15 June 1942 she picked up 41 survivors from the British merchantSS Etrib, 20 survivors from the Norwegian tankerSS Slemdal and 29 survivors from the British merchantSS Thurso that had beentorpedoed and sunk byU-552 380 miles (610 km) West ofCorunna,Spain.[9] On the night of 15/16 June,Marigold,Convolvulus and the sloopStork drove off the U-boatsU-71,U-84 andU552.[27][28] On 13 November 1942 she rescued 81 survivors from the British merchantSS Maron which had been torpedoed and sunk byU-81 offOran,Algeria.[9]
On the afternoon of 9 December 1942Marigold was escorting convoy MKS 3Y, offAlgiers, Algeria when she came under attack by three ItalianS.79 VTBs torpedo bombers of 254aSquadriglia (254th squadron) of 105º Gruppo AS (105th Torpedo group).Marigold was hit by a single torpedo and sank after about 9 minutes, with 40 of her crew killed.[29][30][31][32]
36°50′00″N03°00′00″E / 36.83333°N 3.00000°E /36.83333; 3.00000
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in December 1942 | |
|---|---|
| Shipwrecks |
|
| Other incidents |
|
