Flower-class corvettes like Snowberry serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes.[4][5][6] The "corvette" designation was created by the French for classes of smaller warships just below a frigate in size and power, but above a sloop or gunvessel; the Royal Navy borrowed the term for a period during the 19th Century, but discontinued its use after the 1880s, with the introduction of a new rating system for cruising warships.[7] During the hurried preparations for war in the late 1930s, Winston Churchill reactivated the corvette designation, needing a name for smaller ships used in an escort capacity, in this case based on a whaling ship design.[8] The generic name "flower" was used to designate the class of these ships, which – in the Royal Navy – were named after flowering plants.[9]
Constructionedit
Snowberry was ordered by the Royal Navy (RN) 22 January 1940 as part of the 1939-1940 Flower-class building program. She was laid down by George T. Davie & Sons Ltd. at Lauzon on 24 February 1940 and launched on 8 August 1940.[10] She was commissioned into the RN on 26 November 1940. She sailed to the United Kingdom in February 1941 and was completed at Greenock in April 1941.[11] On 15 May 1941 Snowberry was one of ten corvettes loaned to Canada. She could be told apart from other Canadian Flowers by her lack of minesweeping gear and the siting of the after gun tub amidships.[12]
During her career Snowberry had three significant refits. The first took place at Charleston beginning in December 1941 and taking six weeks to complete. Her second overhaul took place again at Charleston from March 1943 until 14 May 1943. In late March 1944 she went to Baltimore, Maryland for a five-week refit.[11]
War serviceedit
Royal Navyedit
After completing at Greenock and working up at Tobermory, Snowberry was assigned to Western Approaches Command. In June 1941, she sailed for Newfoundland after being loaned to the Royal Canadian Navy.[11]
Royal Canadian Navyedit
Upon her arrival in Newfoundland in June 1941 she joined Newfoundland Command as a convoy escort between St. John's and Iceland. From July to October 1941 she was deployed as such. She departed for a short refit and upon her return in February 1942 she was briefly deployed as an ocean escort once again.[11]
In March 1942 Snowberry transferred to Western Local Escort Force (WLEF). In June 1942, after the U-boats had begun attacking oil tankers sailing along the North American coast, she joined the newly formed Tanker Escort Force. In September 1942 she was placed under American control escorting convoys between Guantánamo and New York.[11]
She returned to service after her second major refit in August 1943, when she was assigned to Royal Navy controlled escort group EG 5.[11] On 23 August 1943 Snowberry as part of the 5th Support Group, was deployed to relieve the 40th Escort Group which was undertaking a U-boat hunt off Cape Ortegal. The warships of both groups were attacked by 14 Dornier Do 217s and 7 Junkers Ju 87s that were carrying a new weapon the Henschel Hs 293 anti-ship guided missile. Several sailors were injured and killed in HMS Bideford (40th EG) but Snowberry escaped damage. Two days later, the 5th SG was relieved by the 1st Support Group and the warships of both groups were again attacked by 18 Dornier Do 217s also carrying Hs 293 weapons. Athabaskan was heavily damaged and HMS Egret was sunk but Snowberry again escaped damage.[10]
When the group replaced its corvettes with frigates in March 1944, Snowberry departed for her final refit. After workups she was briefly assigned to WLEF again but transferred to Portsmouth Command in mid-September 1944. She remained with them until she was decommissioned by the Royal Canadian Navy.[11]
Post-war serviceedit
Snowberry was paid off from the RCN on 8 June 1945 when she was returned to the Royal Navy at Rosyth. In 1946 she was used as a target ship off Portsmouth. Her remains were sold for scrap and in August 1947 she was broken up at Middlesbrough.[11]
Notesedit
^"Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
^"Royal Canadian Warships – The Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence – Second World War". Veterans Affairs Canada. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
^Lenton, H.T.; Colledge, J.J (1968). British and Dominion Warships of World War II. Doubleday & Company. pp. 201, 212.
^Ossian, Robert. "Complete List of Sailing Vessels". The Pirate King. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
^Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. (1978). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons & Warfare. Vol. 11. London: Phoebus. pp. 1137–1142.
^Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II. New Jersey: Random House. 1996. p. 68. ISBN0-517-67963-9.
^Blake, Nicholas; Lawrence, Richard (2005). The Illustrated Companion to Nelson's Navy. Stackpole Books. pp. 39–63. ISBN0-8117-3275-4.
^Chesneau, Roger; Gardiner, Robert (June 1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946. Naval Institute Press. p. 62. ISBN0-87021-913-8.
^Milner, Marc (1985). North Atlantic Run. Naval Institute Press. pp. 117–119, 142–145, 158, 175–176, 226, 235, 285–291. ISBN0-87021-450-0.
^ abc"HMCS Snowberry (K 166)". Uboat.net. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
^ abcdefghMacpherson, Ken; Burgess, John (1981). The ships of Canada's naval forces 1910-1981 : a complete pictorial history of Canadian warships. Toronto: Collins. pp. 86, 231–232. ISBN0-00216-856-1.
^Macpherson, Ken; Milner, Marc (1993). Corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy 1939-1945. St. Catharines: Vanwell Publishing. ISBN0-92027-783-7.
Referencesedit
The Naval Museum of Manitoba's page devoted to HMCS Snowberry 7 February 2005 at the Wayback Machine.
Uboat.net page devoted to HMCS Snowberry.
HMCS Snowberry on the Arnold Hague database at convoyweb.org.uk.
External linksedit
HMCS SNOWBERRY Ship's Company February 1945 – Portsmouth, England 4 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
December 14, 2023
hmcs, snowberry, flower, class, corvette, that, originally, built, royal, navy, spent, most, service, with, royal, canadian, navy, fought, primarily, convoy, escort, during, second, world, served, primarily, battle, atlantic, 1943historyunited, kingdomnamesnow. HMCS Snowberry was a Flower class corvette that was originally built for the Royal Navy but spent most of the war in service with the Royal Canadian Navy She fought primarily as a convoy escort during the Second World War She served primarily in the Battle of the Atlantic HMCS Snowberry in May 1943HistoryUnited KingdomNameSnowberryNamesakeSnowberryOrdered22 January 1940BuilderDavie Shipbuilding LauzonLaid down24 February 1940Launched8 August 1940Commissioned26 November 1940Out of serviceloaned to Royal Canadian Navy 15 May 1941IdentificationPennant number K166FateReturned from RCN June 1945 Scrapped in August 1947 at Middlesbrough CanadaNameSnowberryAcquiredloaned from Royal NavyCommissioned15 May 1941Out of servicereturned to Royal Navy 27 June 1945RefitForecastle extended at Charleston on 14 May 1943 IdentificationPennant number K166Honours andawardsAtlantic 1941 44 Biscay 1943 English Channel 1945 1 Gulf of St Lawrence 1944 2 General characteristicsClass and typeFlower class corvette original 3 Displacement925 long tons 940 t 1 036 short tons Length205 ft 62 48 m o aBeam33 ft 10 06 m Draught11 5 ft 3 51 m Propulsionsingle shaft 2 fire tube Scotch boilers 1 4 cycle triple expansion reciprocating steam engine 2 750 ihp 2 050 kW Speed16 knots 29 6 km h Range3 500 nautical miles 6 482 km at 12 knots 22 2 km h Complement85Sensors and processing systems1 SW1C or 2C radar 1 Type 123A or Type 127DV sonarArmament1 BL 4 in 102 mm Mk IX gun 2 50 cal machine gun twin 2 Lewis 303 cal machine gun twin 2 Mk II depth charge throwers 2 Depth charge rails with 40 depth charges Contents 1 Background 2 Construction 3 War service 3 1 Royal Navy 3 2 Royal Canadian Navy 4 Post war service 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksBackground editMain article Flower class corvette Flower class corvettes like Snowberry serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were different from earlier and more traditional sail driven corvettes 4 5 6 The corvette designation was created by the French for classes of smaller warships just below a frigate in size and power but above a sloop or gunvessel the Royal Navy borrowed the term for a period during the 19th Century but discontinued its use after the 1880s with the introduction of a new rating system for cruising warships 7 During the hurried preparations for war in the late 1930s Winston Churchill reactivated the corvette designation needing a name for smaller ships used in an escort capacity in this case based on a whaling ship design 8 The generic name flower was used to designate the class of these ships which in the Royal Navy were named after flowering plants 9 Construction editSnowberry was ordered by the Royal Navy RN 22 January 1940 as part of the 1939 1940 Flower class building program She was laid down by George T Davie amp Sons Ltd at Lauzon on 24 February 1940 and launched on 8 August 1940 10 She was commissioned into the RN on 26 November 1940 She sailed to the United Kingdom in February 1941 and was completed at Greenock in April 1941 11 On 15 May 1941 Snowberry was one of ten corvettes loaned to Canada She could be told apart from other Canadian Flowers by her lack of minesweeping gear and the siting of the after gun tub amidships 12 During her career Snowberry had three significant refits The first took place at Charleston beginning in December 1941 and taking six weeks to complete Her second overhaul took place again at Charleston from March 1943 until 14 May 1943 In late March 1944 she went to Baltimore Maryland for a five week refit 11 War service editRoyal Navy edit After completing at Greenock and working up at Tobermory Snowberry was assigned to Western Approaches Command In June 1941 she sailed for Newfoundland after being loaned to the Royal Canadian Navy 11 Royal Canadian Navy edit Upon her arrival in Newfoundland in June 1941 she joined Newfoundland Command as a convoy escort between St John s and Iceland From July to October 1941 she was deployed as such She departed for a short refit and upon her return in February 1942 she was briefly deployed as an ocean escort once again 11 In March 1942 Snowberry transferred to Western Local Escort Force WLEF In June 1942 after the U boats had begun attacking oil tankers sailing along the North American coast she joined the newly formed Tanker Escort Force In September 1942 she was placed under American control escorting convoys between Guantanamo and New York 11 She returned to service after her second major refit in August 1943 when she was assigned to Royal Navy controlled escort group EG 5 11 On 23 August 1943 Snowberry as part of the 5th Support Group was deployed to relieve the 40th Escort Group which was undertaking a U boat hunt off Cape Ortegal The warships of both groups were attacked by 14 Dornier Do 217s and 7 Junkers Ju 87s that were carrying a new weapon the Henschel Hs 293 anti ship guided missile Several sailors were injured and killed in HMS Bideford 40th EG but Snowberry escaped damage Two days later the 5th SG was relieved by the 1st Support Group and the warships of both groups were again attacked by 18 Dornier Do 217s also carrying Hs 293 weapons Athabaskan was heavily damaged and HMS Egret was sunk but Snowberry again escaped damage 10 On 20 November 1943 Snowberry along with Nene and Calgary depth charged and sank U 536 northeast of the Azores at 43 50N 19 39W 10 When the group replaced its corvettes with frigates in March 1944 Snowberry departed for her final refit After workups she was briefly assigned to WLEF again but transferred to Portsmouth Command in mid September 1944 She remained with them until she was decommissioned by the Royal Canadian Navy 11 Post war service editSnowberry was paid off from the RCN on 8 June 1945 when she was returned to the Royal Navy at Rosyth In 1946 she was used as a target ship off Portsmouth Her remains were sold for scrap and in August 1947 she was broken up at Middlesbrough 11 Notes edit Battle Honours Britain s Navy Retrieved 24 August 2013 Royal Canadian Warships The Battle of the Gulf of St Lawrence Second World War Veterans Affairs Canada Retrieved 24 August 2013 Lenton H T Colledge J J 1968 British and Dominion Warships of World War II Doubleday amp Company pp 201 212 Ossian Robert Complete List of Sailing Vessels The Pirate King Retrieved 13 April 2011 Fitzsimons Bernard ed 1978 The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons amp Warfare Vol 11 London Phoebus pp 1137 1142 Jane s Fighting Ships of World War II New Jersey Random House 1996 p 68 ISBN 0 517 67963 9 Blake Nicholas Lawrence Richard 2005 The Illustrated Companion to Nelson s Navy Stackpole Books pp 39 63 ISBN 0 8117 3275 4 Chesneau Roger Gardiner Robert June 1980 Conway s All the World s Fighting Ships 1922 1946 Naval Institute Press p 62 ISBN 0 87021 913 8 Milner Marc 1985 North Atlantic Run Naval Institute Press pp 117 119 142 145 158 175 176 226 235 285 291 ISBN 0 87021 450 0 a b c HMCS Snowberry K 166 Uboat net Retrieved 24 August 2013 a b c d e f g h Macpherson Ken Burgess John 1981 The ships of Canada s naval forces 1910 1981 a complete pictorial history of Canadian warships Toronto Collins pp 86 231 232 ISBN 0 00216 856 1 Macpherson Ken Milner Marc 1993 Corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy 1939 1945 St Catharines Vanwell Publishing ISBN 0 92027 783 7 References editThe Naval Museum of Manitoba s page devoted to HMCS Snowberry Archived 7 February 2005 at the Wayback Machine Uboat net page devoted to HMCS Snowberry HMCS Snowberry on the Arnold Hague database at convoyweb org uk External links editHMCS SNOWBERRY Ship s Company February 1945 Portsmouth England Archived 4 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title HMCS Snowberry amp oldid 1157813217, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
