HMS ''Overdale Wyke'' (FY 338) was a Ceylonese

steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

trawler launched in 1924, which served as a Minesweeping Trawler with the

Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve The Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was the volunteer naval reserve of the British Crown colony of Ceylon from 1938 to 1950. Established as the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force (CNVF) on 1 January 1938 under the Naval Volunteer Ordinance, No, l o ...

during

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisin ...

Naval service

She was requisitioned into the service of 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 ...

in 1939 as a Minesweeping Trawler with the name His Majesty's Trawler Overdale Wyke (HMT Overdale Wyke). It was later sold to the Government of Ceylon in 1941. It was fitted with minesweeping gear and armament and sailed to

Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...

by a Royal Navy crew and was taken over by a Ceylon Naval Volunteer Reserve (CNVF) crew that included Lt. P.J.B. Oakley (C.O.), Lt. A.H.H. Boyns, Lt. B.A. Ohlson, Lt. A. Smith (Engineer), P/O Stanislaus, P/O (Tel) Rankine, P/O (SM) Bastiampillai, P/O (CK) Marshall and Stwd. Eric Perera leaving for Ceylon on 3 March 1941. She was commissioned as CNVF vessel as 15 March 1941. Between March 1941 and December 1944, HMS Overdale Wyke with a crew of 4 officers and 40 sailors took on multiple duties including patrolling, minesweeping, providing escort services, search-and-rescue work and anti-submarine attacks. On 5 April 1942, during the

Easter Sunday Raid The Easter Sunday Raid was an air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean raid by carrier-based aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy on 5 April 1942. The Japanese objective was to destroy the Ceylon-based British Eastern Fleet ...

on Colombo, Lt. Simpson moved her close to

HMS Hector Eleven ships of the British Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Hector'', named after the Troy, Trojan hero Hector in the Iliad. * The first was a 22-gun ship sold in 1656. * The second was a 30-gun ship sold in 1657. * The third was a 22-gun ...

which had been hit and ablaze to assist putting out its fires only missing a stick of bombs that fell on her former moorings. Along with other vessels of the CNVF the armed trawlers Hoxa and Balta; converted Antarctic whaler Okapi, Semla and Sambur supported by tugs Samson, Goliath and C-405; she formed part of the Ceylon Escort Group, which was later designated the ABCD (“Arabia-Bangala-Ceylon-Dutch East Indies”) group, carrying out patrol, escort, search-and-rescue, guard-ship and sundry other duties off Ceylon, Bay of Bengal and as far west as Addu Atoll and Diego Garcia. She also served as Guard ship at

Addu Atoll Seenu Atoll, historically known as Addu Atoll, is the southernmost atoll of the Maldives. Addu Atoll, together with Fuvahmulah, located 40 km north of Addu Atoll, extend the Maldives into the Southern Hemisphere. Addu Atoll is located 540& ...

, a secret RN port called “Port T”. She is credited with the rescue of several persons from sunken ships, and of carrying out depth charge attacks on enemy submarines, although she has not been credited with any “kills”. In September 1943, she intercepted and accepted the surrender of the Italian sloop ''

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

'' and escort her to the Colombo port with a prize crew on board. Following the end of the war she was decommissioned and remained in the Colombo harbour until she was sold for scrap. Her sole QF 12-pounder gun still stands at the entrance to SLNS Rangalle in the Port of Colombo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Overdale Wyke 1924 ships Anti-submarine trawlers of the Royal Navy Minesweepers of the Royal Navy Naval trawlers of the United Kingdom Ships of the Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve