HMS ''Periwinkle'' was a , built for the

Royal Navy during the Second World War The Royal Navy was an important component of the Allied forces during the Second World War and made a significant contribution to the victory over the Axis powers. Its main tasks included the protection of merchant ships in the Atlantic against ...

, and was in service in the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

. In 1942 she was transferred to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as part of the

Reverse Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),

arrangement and renamed USS ''Restless'', one of the s. With the end of hostilities she was returned to the Royal Navy and sold into mercantile service.

Design and construction

''Periwinkle'' was built at

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, as part of the 1939 War Emergency building program. She was laid down on 30 October 1939 and launched 24 February 1940. She was completed and entered service on 8 April 1940, being named for the periwinkle family of flowers. As built, ''Periwinkle'' had the short

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...

that was a feature of the early Flowers, and which adversely effected their habitability. She also had the merchant-style enclosed wheelhouse, and the foremast stepped ahead of the bridge, of the original design.

Service history

Royal Navy

After working up, ''Periwinkle'' was assigned to the Western Approaches Escort Force for service as a convoy escort. In this role she was engaged in all the duties performed by escort ships; protecting convoys, searching for and attacking U-boats which attacked ships in convoy, and rescuing survivors. In 23 months of service, ''Periwinkle'' escorted 41 North Atlantic, 10 Gibraltar and 10 South Atlantic convoys assisting in the safe passage of over 1500 ships. She was involved in three major convoy battles: In September 1940 ''Periwinkle'' was part of the escort for convoy

SC 2 SC2 may refer to: * *'' South Carolina Highway 2'', a state route in Cayce, South Carolina *, a United States Navy submarine chaser commissioned in 1918 and sold in 1930 *'' Saturn SC2'', a compact sport coupe car * Convoy SC 2, an Allied trade c ...

, which was attacked by a U-boat pack, losing 5 ships sunk. In October 1940 she was with HX 77, which lost six ships sunk. On 14 October 1940 ''Periwinkle'' and the destroyer rescued 220 members of the crew of , which had damaged by torpedo. In June 1941 ''Periwinkle'' was with OB 329, which saw four ships and sunk; ''Periwinkle'' and HMS ''Wanderer'' shared in the U-boat's sinking. In September 1941 she was with HG 73, which lost nine merchant and one warship sunk.

US Navy

Following the entry of the United States into the war, the US Navy was in need of anti-submarine warfare vessels, and to meet this need a number of ships were transferred from the Royal Navy as part of a reverse Lend-Lease arrangement. ''Periwinkle'' was commissioned into the USN on 15 March 1942 as USS ''Restless''. After an overhaul ''Restless'' was employed as an escort on convoys between

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. In August 1945 she was decommissioned and returned to the Royal Navy.''Restless'' at history.navy.mil
retrieved 19 May 2025

Fate

''Periwinkle'' was stricken in 1947 and sold into commercial service as the merchant ship ''Perilock''. She was scrapped at

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 1953.''Periwinkle''
at uboat.net; retrieved 18 July 2020

Notes

References

* * * * (Canada); (UK) *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Periwinkle (K55) Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Navy Temptress-class gunboats 1940 ships