_IWM_A_11113.jpg) HMSVetch in coastal waters off Liverpool | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSVetch |
| Ordered | 12 December 1939 |
| Builder | Smiths Dock Company,Middlesbrough |
| Laid down | 15 March 1941 |
| Launched | 27 May 1941 |
| Commissioned | 11 August 1941 |
| Decommissioned | 29 June 1945 |
| Out of service | Sold in August 1945 |
| Renamed |
|
| Reclassified | Merchant vessel in 1945 |
| Refit | Liverpool: 8 May – 13 August 1942 |
| Identification | Pennant number: K132 |
| Fate | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Flower-classcorvette |
| Displacement | 1,060 tons |
| Length | 205 ft (62 m) |
| Beam | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draught | 16.6 ft (5.1 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h) at 2,750 hp (2,050 kW) |
| Range | 3,500 nautical miles at 12 knots (6,500 km at 22 km/h) |
| Complement | 85 men |
| Armament |
|
HMSVetch (K132) was aFlower-classcorvette that served in theRoyal Navy during the Second World War. After helping to escort many convoys and sinking two U-boats, she was decommissioned and sold in 1945.
As part of the 1939 War Programme, HMSVetch was ordered on 12 December 1939 fromSmiths Dock Company Limited ofMiddlesbrough. The ship was not laid down until 15 March 1941 but she was quickly launched on 27 May 1941 and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 11 August 1941.
In October 1941Vetch was assigned to the36th Escort Group (36 EG) based at Liverpool, part ofWestern Approaches Command. Between 20 August and 4 September the ship underwent sea trials atTobermory and her first convoy escort duty was withOG 74 between 13 and 27 September 1941 (which included 27 ships plus the first escort carrier,Audacity and theOcean Boarding Vessel,Corinthian which was continuing on into theSouth Atlantic).
OG 74 was protected by the sloopDeptford and other corvettes (Arbutus,Marigold andPentstemon). The convoy was spotted by a U-boat on 20 September which shadowed and reported the convoy's position to German headquarters. An aircraft fromAudacity forced this U-boat to dive and the submarine was also attacked byDeptford andArbutus (these vessels were relieved by destroyers and rejoined the convoy). Other U-boats were now directed against the convoy and two merchant ships were sunk and during an emergency turn four merchant vessels became detached from the convoy. On 21 September, a German long-rangeCondor aircraft located the convoy and bombed and sank theWalmer Castle.Audacity launchedMartlet aircraft which managed to shoot down the German aircraft.
Vetch arrived at Gibraltar on 27 September and 36 Escort Group remained there whilst escorting convoysHG 74 andOG 76 between 2 October and 11 November 1941. Whilst during offensive sweeps around Gibraltar,Vetch picked up and attacked a submarine contact on 6 December approximately 15 miles fromTarifa Point.
76 HG was now led by Commander"Johnnie" Walker inHMS Stork. A large convoy,HG 76, consisting of 32 ships which sailed on 14 December 1941 from Gibraltar. Protection was fromAudacity again and the sloopsStork andDeptford plus the corvettesVetch,Convolvulus,Marigold,Pentstemon,Rhododendron andSamphire. Also detailed wereHunt-class destroyersHMS Blankney andHMS Exmoor as well asTown-class destroyerHMS Stanley.
Walker introduced new methods to combat the U-boat threat and successfully usedAudacity's aircraft to locate submarines which were then attacked. During the convoy's journey five U-boats were sunk (U-127,U-131,U-434,U-574 andU-567) as well as two Condor aircraft, but the losses were heavy –Audacity (lost 21 December),Stanley (lost 19 December) and two merchant ships were sunk.
In April 1942Vetch had been fitted withType 271 radar with which, while escorting convoy OG 82 in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland, she detectedU-252 which she then sank with the help ofStork.[1]
36 EG was disbanded in June 1942 andVetch continued with other escort groups until 1944. On 25 May 1943, while escorting a convoy to Algiers, she sankU-414 in the western Mediterranean north ofOran.[2] She remained in the Mediterranean escorting convoys in support ofOperation Husky.
On 29 June 1945, theVetch arrived atGibraltar and was put in navy reserve. On 23 August 1945 she was loaned to the Greek government and renamedPatrai.
The Greeks soldPatrai in 1951 and the vessel was renamedOlympic Hunter. In 1956 she was resold as theOtori Maru No.18 and sailed until 1966 when she was finally scrapped.
