HMS Auricula (K12)

History
United Kingdom
Name	Auricula
Namesake	Auricula
Ordered	25 July 1939
Builder	George Brown and Company, Greenock
Laid down	25 November 1939
Launched	14 November 1940
Commissioned	5 March 1941
Identification	Pennant number: K12
Fate	Sunk by mine, 6 May 1942
General characteristics
Class and type	Flower-class corvette
Displacement	925 long tons
Length	205 ft (62 m) o/a
Beam	33 ft (10 m)
Draught	11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
Propulsion	1 × 4-cycle triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine; 2 × fire tube Scotch boilers; Single shaft; 2,750 ihp (2,050 kW);
Speed	16 kn (30 km/h)
Range	3,500 nmi (6,500 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h)
Complement	85
Sensors and ; processing systems	1 × SW1C or 2C radar; 1 × Type 123A or Type 127DV sonar;
Armament	1 × BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk.IX gun; 2 × Vickers .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;

HMS Auricula was a

George Brown and Company in 1940. She was named after Auricula

. Commissioned in 1941 and sunk by a mine on 6 May 1942.

Design and description

In early 1939, with the risk of war with

Mid-Ocean Escort Force convoy protection during the first half of the war. The original Flowers had the standard RN layout, consisting of a raised forecastle, a well deck, then the bridge or wheelhouse, and a continuous deck running aft. The crew quarters were in the foc'sle while the galley was at the rear, making for poor messing arrangements.^[3]

The modified Flowers saw the forecastle extended aft past the bridge to the aft end of the funnel, a variation known as the "long forecastle" design. Apart from providing a very useful space where the whole crew could gather out of the weather, the added weight improved the ships' stability and speed and was retroactively applied to a number of the original Flower-class vessels during the mid and latter years of the war.

Construction and career

Auricula was

launched

on 14 November 1940. She was commissioned on 5 March 1941.

HMS Auricula hit a mine at Courrier Bay, Madagascar on 5 May 1942 during the invasion of Madagascar. Her crew suffered minor injuries and were taken aboard the Polish hospital ship MS Batory. Then from Batory, the crew were transferred again to the SS Atlantis to be take to Durban. On the next day while under tow, Auricula sank from her hull breach.^[4]

References

^ Brown 2007, pp. 41–43.
^ Lambert and Brown 2008, p. 3.
^ Brown D K, Nelson to Vanguard
^ "HMS Auricula (K 12) of the Royal Navy - British Corvette of the Flower class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 25 October 2020.

Sources

Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press.
ISBN 0-85177-146-7
.

ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8
.

Goodwin, Norman (2007). Castle Class Corvettes: An Account of the Service of the Ships and of Their Ships' Companies. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books.
ISBN 978-1-904459-27-9
.

Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 1-55750-048-7
.

Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 1-59114-119-2
.

[brown_atlantic_p41-3-1] Brown 2007, pp. 41–43.

[shipcraft_p3-2] Lambert and Brown 2008, p. 3.

[Brown_D_K,_Nelson_to_Vanguard-3] Brown D K, Nelson to Vanguard

[4] "HMS Auricula (K 12) of the Royal Navy - British Corvette of the Flower class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 25 October 2020.

[3]

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