HMS Coltsfoot (K140)
HMS Coltsfoot (K140) was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.[1][2]
Construction
[edit]The ship was ordered on 25 July 1939.[1] She was laid down on 4 September 1940 and built at Alexander Hall and Sons in Aberdeen.[1]
The ship was launched 15 May 1941 and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 1 Nov 1941.[1]
Career
[edit]From June 1941 until July 1943, her commander was William Keith Rous, 5th Earl of Stradbroke.[1][2] In February 1942, during Warship Week, the ship was adopted by the town of Amesbury.[2]
On 15 December 1941, she assisted the crew of the sunken ship SS Empire Barracuda after the Barracuda was torpedoed by U-77 under the command of Heinrich Schonder and sunk at 35°30′N 06°17′W while on a voyage from Gibraltar to Cape Town and Suez. Nine crew members and four DEMS gunners were killed. Thirty eight crew members and one DEMS gunner were rescued by HMS Coltsfoot and landed at Gibraltar.[3]
In August 1942, the ship participated in Operation Pedestal, a British convoy to supply Malta.[4][5] In the operation, she was assigned to Force R along with 3 other corvettes and a tug to protect the fleet oil tankers: RFA Brown Ranger and RFA Dingledale.[6][7]
In 1943, the ship was part of the 39th escort group in the Battle of the Atlantic.[8]
The ship was sold in 1947.[1]
Honours
[edit]The ship featured on a 2012 Maltese postal stamp.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f "HMS Coltsfoot (K 140) of the Royal Navy". uboat.net. 1939-07-25. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
- ^ a b c History, Amesbury (2019-08-01). "HMS Coltsfoot and Amesbury". Amesbury History. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
- ^ "Empire Barracuda". Uboat.net. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
- ^ Hastings, Max (2022-05-12). Operation Pedestal: the Fleet That Battled to Malta 1942. William Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-836498-4.
- ^ Smith, Peter Charles (1987). Pedestal. London: Kimber. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-7183-0632-8.
- ^ Henshaw, John (2024-02-16). Malta's Savior. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 261. ISBN 978-1-4766-4853-8.
- ^ Rodgaard, John A (2024-06-30). A Hard Fought Ship. Seaforth Publishing. p. 252. ISBN 978-1-0361-1237-0.
- ^ Rohwer, Jurgen (2015-11-15). Critical Convoy Battles of WWII. Stackpole Books. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-8117-6267-0.
- ^ "Coltsfoot HMS 1941". shipstamps.co.uk. 2009-03-22. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
