- HMS Narcissus (K74)
HMS "Narcissus" was
Flower-class corvette which served in theRoyal Navy during the Second World War from 1941 to the end of the war in 1945. She primarily escorted convoys across theAtlantic Ocean .Construction and armament
The "Narcissus" was constructed at Lewis’s shipyard in
Aberdeen in April 1941, with the express purpose of joining the Battle of the Atlantic as a convoy escort. She was to act as a platform, from which attacking German submarines could be detected above or below the surface anytime, and driven away or destroyed. She was equipped withsonar and, eventually, type-271radar and armed withdepth-charge rails and throwers. A forward throwing Hedgehog was added at a later date. She was allocated the number K74.War Service
After her crew had been worked up at the training base at
Tobermory in August 1941, she joined the Clyde Escort Force atGreenock on theRiver Clyde . Apart from three annual refits and a rearmament atGovan ,Fort William andTroon , she escorted merchant ships continuously for three years. The "Narcissus" went across theNorth Atlantic toNewfoundland ; across theBay of Biscay toGibraltar ; and once toFreetown and back.During the course of these convoys, she expended countless depth-charges against under-water contacts and picked up survivors from several Allied ships. In March 1943, she took part in the rescue of survivors of the
destroyer HMS "Harvester", which had been sunk by "U-432" during the passage of convoy HX-228. In September 1943, she narrowly missed being torpedoed by "U-260" and witnessed the sinking of her consort, HMS "Itchen", by "U-666".On
6 June 1944 (D-day), she escorted the follow-up wave of theinvasion of Normandy , of the3rd Canadian Division in Landing Ships andLanding Craft (Infantry) toJuno Beach and the51st Highland Division toGold Beach respectively. After the first frantic months of re-supply convoy duties across theEnglish Channel , she acted as a local escort for the South-western Approaches.Post-war
When the Second World War ended, she was ordered to
Milford Haven to de-ammunition and be laid up in reserve.References
* Peter Coy, 1997 "The Echo of a Fighting Flower", Square One Publications
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