Гүл классы корветі «Гладиолус» тарихы

Flower class corvette

HMS Gladiolus was a of the Royal Navy, the first ship of her class. She was laid down at Smiths Dock Company on the River Tees on 19 October 1939, launched on 24 January 1940, and commissioned on 6 April 1940. Gladiolus was active in the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II and spent most of her service career on convoy escort duty in the North Atlantic. She was lost in action on 16 October 1941.

After commissioning and working up, Gladiolus was assigned to the Western Approaches Escort Force. In her 18 months of service she escorted over 40 convoys, of which over a dozen were attacked; Gladiolus was involved in four major convoy battles, and participated destroying three U boats. She was engaged in all the duties performed by corvettes; escorting convoys, searching for and attacking U boats which attacked ships in convoy, and rescuing survivors. On 28 June 1940 she picked up 35 survivors from , that had been torpedoed and sunk by Fritz Julius Lemp's U 30 was launched in 1936

Gladiolus was involved in the sinking of the Type I U boat U 26 was launched in 1936. on 1 July 1940. U 26 had been heavily damaged by eight depth charges from Gladiolus, as well as bombs from a Short Sunderland aircraft, and subsequently scuttled herself. In June 1941 HX 133 came under attack; Gladiolus was detached from escorting OB 335 to join as reinforcement. On 24/25 June, after midnight, she sighted U 71 was launched in 1940., and attacked. She attempted to ram, but slowed to avoid major damage, and U 71 dived away. Gladiolus then launched five attacks, using 30 depth charges altogether, and was joined by , which launched another six. U 71 was severely damaged, and surfaced to try to escape on the surface; Gladiolus and Nasturtium opened fire, scoring hits on U 71s conning tower. Gladiolus claimed a kill for this, and was credited with sinking U 71, but the boat escaped to base. On 26/27 June in early hours, U 556 was launched in attacked the convoy, and was sighted by Nasturtium. She attacked and was joined by and Gladiolus. Altogether the three corvettes launched 50 depth charges; U 556 was forced to the surface as Gladiolus dropped a further three depth charges; the corvettes then opened fire at point blank range, hitting U 556s conning tower. Her captain, Wohlfarth and the crew abandoned ship, and the boat sank before she could be secured. In September 1941 Gladiolus was involved in the battle for SC 42. Under major attack, SC 42 lost 15 ships in two days, for the destruction of one U boat. Numerous escorts were drafted in as reinforcement; on 11 September Gladiolus arrived with EG 2, led by Douglas. SC 42 was stalked for a further five days, losing two more ships, though the destroyers of EG 2 were able to sink another U boat. This was, after SC 7, the worst convoy loss in the North Atlantic during the war. Following this, Gladiolus was reassigned to the Newfoundland Local Escort Group, led by In October 1941 she was part of the escort for SC 48, during which battle Gladiolus was lost.

Gladiolus was lost in October 1941 whilst escorting SC 48. At the time, she was under the command of Lieutenant Commander H. M. C. Sanders. British sources record Gladiolus separated from SC 48 on the night of 15/16 October. At 2130 Empire Heron was hit, and Gladiolus was detached to chase down the attacker and search for survivors. At 2200 she signalled she had picked up one man, and was continuing to search. This was her last contact; nothing more is known of her, and there were no survivors from either vessel. or been lost in a marine accident. However German sources, assuming Gladiolus was on station, credited her loss to possible hits reported by U 558 or U 432 during the melee on the night of 16/17 October: Another source has argued definitively for a stray torpedo from U 553 was launched in at 00.07. However historian Bernard Edwards is clear that Gladiolus was lost without rejoining the convoy; while acknowledging the claim for a loss in the early hours of the 17th, he states it is more likely that she went down before that. In an interview with the BBC, former crew member Dick Turner speculated Gladiolus was unstable due to her refit, and had overturned during a violent manoeuvre. In the absence of any conclusive explanation, the actual cause of her loss is unknown.