HMS Bluebell (K80) ( eng. His Majesty the “Bell” ship ) is a British “corvette” type corvette, which served in the Navy of Great Britain and participated in the Second World War. Built at the Fleming & Ferguson shipyard in Paisley . Laid on July 27, 1939 , launched on April 24, 1940 , operated since July 19, 1940 He served in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean (he fought with submarines, supported landings in Italy and France from the sea), and also accompanied northern convoys from Great Britain to the USSR. Sank February 17, 1945 in the Kola Bay , protecting the convoy RA-64, marching from Murmansk . It was torpedoed by a German submarine U-711 under the command of Hans-Gunther Lange [1] . Only one crew member survived.
| Hms bluebell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Service | |
 Great Britain | |
| Title | Hms bluebell |
| Class and type of vessel | flower corvette |
| Organization | Royal Navy of Great Britain |
| Manufacturer | Fleming & Ferguson , paisley |
| Construction started | October 25, 1939 |
| Launched | April 24, 1940 |
| Commissioned | July 19, 1940 |
| Withdrawn from the fleet | February 17, 1945 |
| Status | sank as a result of a torpedo hit |
| Main characteristics | |
| Displacement | 940 t |
| Length | 62 m |
| Width | 10 m |
| Draft | 3.51 m |
| Engines | triple expansion four stroke steam engine, two boilers |
| Power | 2750 h.p. |
| Speed | 16 knots |
| Sailing range | 5000 nautical miles at 10 knots |
| Crew | 86 people |
| Armament | |
| Artillery | 102-mm naval gun Mk IX , two 40-mm guns Mk VIII |
| Flak | 2 x 20 mm Oerlikon , 2 x 7.7 mm Lewis machine guns |
| Anti-submarine weapons | Hedgehog bomb, 4 Mk II bombs (K-gun), 2 bomb drop compartments (40 bombs) |
Service
The Bluebell began its service in July 1940, guarding the convoys in the Atlantic [2] . The corvette was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Robert Sherwood. In October 1940, a corvette escorted an SC-7 convoy in the Central Atlantic, the death of which was the beginning of the battle for the Atlantic (an attack on the convoy in 1973 was published in the documentary television series Peace in War [3] ). On October 17, he picked up 39 survivors from the Scorsby steamer ( Eng. SS Scoresby ), torpedoed and sunk on the same day [4] .
In January 1941, the Bluebell, as part of the 5th escort group ( Liverpool ), which was subordinate to the command of the Western approaches, continued escorting convoys, and since September, as part of the 37th group, began guarding convoys traveling along the route Gibraltar-West Africa. In July 1942, after the repair, the Bluebell began to guard the northern convoys marching to the USSR: the first was the convoy PQ-18, marching from Reykjavik to Arkhangelsk (September-November 1942). Later, the corvette guarded the Atlantic convoys from December 1942 to January 1943. In February-March 1943 he escorted a convoy JW-53 from Yves to Cola, returning in March 1943 to serve in the Western Approaches [2] . In June 1943 he arrived in the Mediterranean, in July took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily, continuing to guard the convoys until the month of August, until he returned to the western approaches [2] . From February to April 1944 he accompanied the Soviet convoys JW-57 and JW-58, in May he was transferred to the 143rd escort group, which included fire support to the allies during the landing in Normandy from June 6 to 25. Since August, as part of the 8th escort group, he resumed guarding the northern convoys (convoy JW-59 under his cover arrived in September 1944 at the destination) [2] .
February 2, 1945 "Bluebell" was included in the group of ships guarding the northern convoy JW-64. Arriving in Murmansk , he discovered a group of submarines that was preparing to attack the new RA-64 convoy heading for the UK. On February 17, the corvette was torpedoed by the U-711 submarine and sank less than 30 seconds after the attack [5] . Of the 86 crew members, only one was saved [2] .
Notes
- ↑ HMS Bluebell (K 80) . uboat.net . Date of treatment December 4, 2010. Archived January 13, 2013.
- ↑ Robert Sherwood . imdb.com . Date of treatment December 4, 2010. Archived January 13, 2013.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur Scoresby . Ships hit by U-boats . Guðmundur Helgason (1995–2013). Date of treatment August 11, 2013.
- ↑ HMS Bluebell (K-80) . wrecksite.eu . Date of treatment December 4, 2010. Archived January 13, 2013.
Links
- Uboat.net: HMS Bluebell
- Clyde Warships database: HMS Bluebell (link unavailable from 11/08/2013 [2196 days] - history , copy ) (eng.)
- Warships of WW2: HMS Bluebell
- Arnold Hague convoy database: HMS Bluebell