HMS DIANTHUS  

• During WW2 (World War Two), there was a need to protect (unarmed) merchantmen carrying goods between North America and Great Britain. These merchantmen sailed from one side of the North Atlantic to the other in convoy formation.
  
• The main - and the best - type of naval vessel used to escort and defend these convoys was the CORVETTE. This was designed as a small fast escort ship. Other craft were sometimes used: slower and smaller naval frigates; naval mine sweepers; and armed tugs, trawlers and merchantmen.
  
• The convoys were usually protected by 2-3 corvettes and led by a destroyer or small frigate §.
  

• Previous experience gained during WW1(World War One) showed that, for escort duties, a dedicated class of warship that was reliable, not over-engineered and easy to maintain at both sides of the Atlantic was necessary. And so the Flower Class of corvette came into being.
  
• Why call it the 'Flower' Class? The ‘Ships Names Committee’ decided to re-use names of warships that had operated during WW1 - specifically those belonging to the then HERBACEOUS BORDER class of escorts. But this time, the committee created the term ‘FLOWER’ to identify the class. An advantage of using the names of flowers was to avoid confusion, as they bore no resemblance to existing names in use at that time within the Royal Naval fleet. This policy also made it easy find names for new ships.
  
• The ONLY class of corvette used during WW2 was the Flower class. Its use for escort purposes lasted throughout the war.
  
• HMS DIANTHUS was one of over 250 Flower Class corvettes built during the war.
  
• Flowers were used by other allied navies as well as our own Royal Navy. They sank nearly 50 U-boats and a few Italian submarines.
  
• Originally designed as only a coastal escort, the Corvettes eventually became deployed right across the Atlantic. The Flower Class corvettes made their name by helping to get the strategic convoys through. To do this they had to do battle against severe weather and more and more enemy U-boats.
  
• The Flowers were very seaworthy, being able to stay out and hunt for submarines in storms long after the destroyers had to turn for home.
  
• However, they was not able to survive much battle damage. Once hit, the compartments below the waterline filled within seconds and caused the ship to sink rapidly - often in under 10 minutes. 32 Flowers were sunk during the war, mostly by torpedoes.
  
• Living conditions on board Corvettes were hard and caused illness. There was a lot of seasickness, because corvettes rolled a lot. The diet was poor because fresh food couldn't be kept for long - there was only room on board for a small refrigerator and a little other cooking equipment. Also, conditions were damp and cramped.

1. The very first convoy DIANTHUS escorted was OB 318 (every convoy was identified by a two or three letter code followed by a number) from Liverpool to Canada. During the crossing, five of our merchantmen were lost to torpedoes.
   

2. DIANTHUS rammed, depth-charged and sank the U-boat U379. (The photo to the right shows damage done to DIANTHUS's bow through ramming U379). She picked up five U379 survivors, plus more from other sinking U-boats. By the time that she docked at Liverpool, the ship's normal company of 90 had taken on board over 100 of our merchant seamen and 15 prisoners.
   
3. During another battle, it seems DIANTHUS positioned herself between a sinking U-boat and an allied escort vessel to try and halt the escort's machine-gun fire, which was targeting the submarine's escaping crew. Despite this effort to avoid unnecessary loss of life, several members of this crew, including their captain, were killed.
   
4. During the first half of 1944 the Allies gained almost total domination of the Atlantic shipping lanes. On 4th June, DIANTHUS helped escort a massive convoy carrying Allied troops and equipment for the decisive invasion of the Normandy beaches.
   
5. DIANTHUS spent the rest of the war escorting convoys up and down the English Channel. This was very dangerous work as the convoys where vulnerable from attacks by submarines, aircraft and E-Boats. (The ‘E-Boat’ was the allies' nickname for the Germans' fast attack craft, which was far superior to the allied version). During one such convoy, DIANTHUS's crew witnessed the first V1 "Flying Bomb" (later nicknamed as the Doodlebug) overhead. The puzzled anti-aircraft gunners held their fire. Next day, when the radio announced the destruction caused by the missile, they realised their mistake.