Allied Warships

HMS Heartsease (K 15)

Corvette of the Flower class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeCorvette
ClassFlower 
PennantK 15 
Built byHarland & Wolff Ltd. (Belfast, Northern Ireland) 
Ordered19 Sep 1939 
Laid down14 Nov 1939 
Launched20 Apr 1940 
Commissioned4 Jun 1940 
End service3 Apr 1942 
History

Transferred to the USN on 3 April 1942.
Returned to the RN on 23 August 1945.
Sold on 22 July 1946.
Became the merchant ship Roskva in 1951.
Name changed to Douglas in 1956.
Name changed to Seabird in 1958.
Lost in December 1958.

 
Career notesTo the United States Navy as USS Courage

Commands listed for HMS Heartsease (K 15)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1Lt.Cdr. Edward John Robert North, RNRMay 1940Nov 1940
2Lt.Cdr. (retired) Francis Babington Proudfoot, RNNov 194010 Jul 1941
3Lt.Cdr. John Albert Baragwanath, RNR10 Jul 19412 Dec 1941
4Lt. George Charles Wilson Meldrum, RD, RNR2 Dec 1941early 1942

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Notable events involving Heartsease include:


15 Jun 1940
HrMs O 10 (Lt. G. Quint, RNN(R)) participated in A/S exercises off Portland together with HMS Heartsease (Lt.Cdr. E.J.R. North, RNR) and two minesweepers. (1)

22 Sep 1940
HMS Heartsease (Lt.Cdr. E.J.R. North, RNR) picks up 31 survivors from the Norwegian merchant Simla that was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-100 west of Ireland in position 55°11'N, 17°58'W.

18 Oct 1940
HMS Heartsease (Lt.Cdr. E.J.R. North, RNR) picks up 9 survivors from the British merchant Thistlegarth that was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-103 45 nautical miles west-north-west of Rockall in position 58°43'N, 15°00'W on 15 October.

21 Mar 1941

Convoy HX 116.

This convoy departed Halifax on 21 March 1941 for Liverpool where it arrived on 9 April 1941.

Upon departure from Halifax the convoy was made up of the following merchant ships: Anna Knudsen (Norwegian (tanker), 9057 GRT, built 1931), Birgitte (British, 1595 GRT, built 1930), British Dominion (British (tanker), 6983 GRT, built 1928), British Prince (British, 4879 GRT, built 1935), Coulbeg (British, 5237 GRT, built 1940), Duke of Athens (British, 5217 GRT, built 1940), Ferncastle (British (tanker), 9940 GRT, built 1936), Gregalia (British, 5802 GRT, built 1929), Grey County (Norwegian, 5194 GRT, built 1918), Haakon Hauan (Norwegian (tanker), 6582 GRT, built 1935), Hercules (Dutch, 2317 GRT, built 1914), Iddesleigh (British, 5205 GRT, built 1927), Innerton (British, 5276 GRT, built 1919), Kaipara (British, 5882 GRT, built 1938), Lyras (Greek, 5685 GRT, built 1918), Mahout (British, 7921 GRT, built 1925), Mariso (Dutch, 7659 GRT, built 1930), Murena (Dutch (tanker), 8252 GRT, built 1931), Nellie (Greek, 4826 GRT, built 1913), Pacific Shipper (British, 6290 GRT, built 1924), Port Campbell (British, 7851 GRT, built 1924), Richmond Hill (British, 7579 GRT, built 1940), San Arcadio (British (tanker), 7419 GRT, built 1935), San Florentino (British (tanker), 12842 GRT, built 1919), Sovac (British (tanker), 6724 GRT, built 1938), Stanwell (British, 5767 GRT, built 1914), Tetela (British, 5389 GRT, built 1926) and Tornus (British (tanker), 8054 GRT, built 1936).

On departure from Halifax the convoy was escorted by the armed merchant cruiser HMS Ausonia (Capt.(Retd.) G.H. Freyberg, OBE, RN).

On 23 March the battleship HMS Royal Sovereign (Capt. H.B. Jacomb, RN) joined the convoy.

On 31 March HMS Royal Sovereign parted company with the convoy.

On 4 March 1941 HMS Ausonia parted company with the convoy after the destroyers HMS Ambuscade (Lt.Cdr. R.A. Fell, RN), HMS Bulldog (Cdr. A.J.B. Cresswell, RN), HMS Vanquisher (Cdr. N.V. Dickinson, DSC, RN) and corvettes HMS Campanula (Lt.Cdr. R.V.E. Case, DSC and Bar, RD, RNR), HMS Freesia (Lt.Cdr. T.P.G. Crick, RN), HMS Heartsease (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) F.B. Proudfoot, RN), HMS Pimpernel (Lt. F.H. Thornton, RNR) and A/S trawler HMS St. Apollo (T/Lt. R.H. Marchington, RNVR) had joined. The destroyer HMS Winchelsea (Lt.Cdr. W.A.F. Hawkins, DSC, RN) joined on 5 April. The destroyer HMS Whitehall (Lt.Cdr. A.B. Russell, RN) and corvette HMS Orchis (Lt. A.D. White, RNR)both joined on 6 April. HMS Orchis was detached on 7 April.

The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 9 April.

Sources

  1. File 2.12.03.6374 (Dutch Archives, The Hague, Netherlands)

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