HMS ''Orchis'' was a that served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

North Atlantic trade convoy escort

In March 1941, ''Orchis'' was the first ship fitted with the very successful 10-cm wavelength Type 271 radar enabling detection of a surfaced

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

at or a submarine

periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...

at . ''Orchis'' was assigned first to the 4th Escort Group based at

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

Rohwer & Hummelchen (1992), p. 89 and then to Escort Group B3 of the Mid-Ocean Escort Force through early 1944.Rohwer & Hummelchen (1992), pp. 170, 185, 188, 198, 212, 227, 228, 234, 235, 239, 241 & 259 ''Orchis'' escorted convoy ONS 18 during the battle around this and ON 202.Rohwer & Hummelchen (1992), pp. 235–236

English Channel

''Orchis'' was then assigned to patrol the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, and sank the on 15 August 1944.Rohwer & Hummelchen (1992), p. 291 ''U-741'' torpedoed ''LST-404'' of convoy FTM-69 while ''Orchis'' was escorting nearby convoy FTC-68. ''Orchis'' gained and held

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

contact on ''U-741'' and flooded the forward part of the

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

with two

Hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduction. The ...

attacks and two

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

attacks. One person escaped from the aft torpedo-room hatch of the sunken U-boat, and was rescued by ''Orchis''.Blair (1998), p. 613 On 21 August 1944, ''Orchis'' struck a mine that destroyed the bow back to the 4-inch gun. The damaged ship was beached on

Juno Beach Juno and or Juno Beach was one of five beaches of the Allies (World War II), Allied invasion of German occupation of France during World War II, German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 during the World War II, Second Wo ...

and declared a total loss.Brown (1995), p. 119Rohwer & Hummelchen (1992), p. 299

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Orchis, HMS Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Navy Ships sunk by mines 1940 ships Ships built by Harland and Wolff Maritime incidents in August 1944