HMS Statice
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | Vim |
Builder | Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., Collingwood |
Laid down | In 1943 as Vim (PG 99) |
Launched | 1 April 1943 |
Fate | Transferred to the Royal Navy 20 September 1943 |
United Kingdom | |
Name | Statice |
Commissioned | 20 September 1943 |
Identification | Pennant number: K281 |
Fate | Returned to US Navy custody, 21 June 1946, Sold, 7 May 1947, scrapped 1961 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Action-class patrol boat |
Displacement | 1,375 long tons (1,397 t) |
Length | 205 ft (62 m) |
Beam | 33 ft (10 m) |
Draft | 14 ft 7 in (4.45 m) |
Propulsion | two 3-drum express boilers, 2,750ihp vertical triple expansion Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. engine, one shaft. |
Speed | 16.5 kn (19.0 mph; 30.6 km/h) |
Complement | 90 |
Armament |
|
When the United States entered World War II at the end of 1941, the United States Navy found itself deficient in ocean escort-type vessels. A crash building program was instituted; but, to meet more immediate needs, the government contracted with shipbuilding firms in England and Canada to build Flower-class corvettes. Vim (PG-99) was one of those British-type escorts. She was launched on 1 April 1943 at the Collingwood Shipyard in Collingwood, Ontario. Nine days later, however, she was transferred to the Royal Navy under the terms of the lend-lease agreement in return for another Flower-class corvette then under construction in Canada. The British renamed her HMS Statice, and she served the Royal Navy under the name through World War II. On 21 June 1946, she was returned to the United States Navy. Though carried on the Navy list as PG-99, the corvette never saw active service with the United States Navy. She was sold on 7 May 1947. To whom she was sold and to what purpose she was put is unknown.
Construction
Following the passing of the
As a modified Flower ship, Statice was 208 ft 4 in (63.50 m)
The ship was armed with a single QF 4-inch naval gun Mk XIX forward, with anti-aircraft armament of one 2-pounder. Mk.VIII single "pom-pom" AA gun or a twin Oerlikon 20 mm cannon and six single Oerlikon guns. Anti-submarine armament consisted of a Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar, together with four depth charge throwers and two depth charge rails.[7] 72[8] to 100[7] depth charges were carried. The ship had a complement of 109 officers and other ranks.[7][8]
Service
The Allied
Statice continued convoy escort duties to and from France until the end of August 1944, before switching to more general convoy escort duties in British coastal waters and the Western Approaches until the end of the war in Europe.[10]
The ship returned to US control as PG-99 on 21 June 1946, but saw no service with the US Navy, and was sold on 7 May 1947.[6] A planned conversion to a merchant ship was abandoned in 1951,[4] and the ship was finally scrapped during 1961 at Hamburg.[13]
References
- ^ Friedman 2008, p. 137
- ^ Lenton 1974, p. 10
- ^ Friedman 1987, p. 464
- ^ a b c Lambert & Brown 2008, p. 71
- ^ a b Friedman 2008, p. 343
- ^ a b "Vim". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
- ^ a b c d Elliott 1977, p. 196
- ^ a b c Gardiner & Chesneau 1980, p. 63
- ^ Elliott 1977, p. 340
- ^ a b Kindell, Don (9 May 2011). "World War 2 at Sea - Convoy Escort Movements of Royal and Dominion Navy Vessels: Modified Flower-Class Corvettes, Part 3 of 3, Royal Canadian Navy (ii)". Naval-history.net. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
- ^ Blair 2000, p. 590
- ^ Kemp 1997, p. 202
- ^ "HMS Statice (K 281): ex-Vim (PG 99)". NavSource Online. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
Sources
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Blair, Clay (2000). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942–1945. New York: Modern Library. ISBN 0-679-64033-9.
- Elliott, Peter (1977). Allied Escort Ships of World War II: A complete survey. London: Macdonald and Jane's. ISBN 0-356-08401-9.
- ISBN 978-1-84832-015-4.
- Friedman, Norman (1987). U.S. Small Combatants: Including PT-Boats, Subchasers and the Brown-Water Navy: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-713-5.
- Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger, eds. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- Kemp, Paul (1997). U-Boats Destroyed: German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. London: Arms & Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-321-5.
- Lambert, John; Brown, Les (2008). Flower-Class Corvettes. St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada: Vanwall Publishing. ISBN 978-1-55068-986-0.
- Lenton, H. T. (1974). American Gunboats and Minesweepers. London: Macdonald and Jane's. ISBN 0-356-08064-1.