HMS PENNYWORT FLOWER CLASS CORVETTE K111

Download Mirage Hobby PDF catalogueHMS Pennywort (K111) was a British corvette from the Second World War. The keel for this unit was laid in March 1941, the launch took place in October of the same year, and entry into service took place in 1942. The total length of the ship was 62.5 meters and a width of 10.1 meters. Full displacement reached approx. 950 tons, and maximum speed - approx. 16 knots. The ship's armament included: a single 102 mm cannon, two 7.7 mm Vickers machine guns, two depth charge dumps and two depth charge launchers. HMS Pennywort (K111) was one of the Flower class gunboats. The ships of this type were designed as units intended primarily for the protection of Allied Atlantic convoys, and their main task was ZOP (anti-submarine combat) activities. Their design was simplified as much as possible, as it was supposed to be suitable for mass production of units even in small shipyards, without adequate experience. Units of this type had an archaic, for the years of World War II, but simple to build, a power plant based on a reciprocating steam engine, and not - which was rather standard then - a steam turbine. During the war, units of this type were modernized - mainly by adding new hydroacoustic devices. One of the units of this class was just HMS Pennywort (K111) which was built at the A and J Inglis Limited shipyard in Glasgow. The unit was adapted to perform the role of a minesweeper, and almost immediately after entering service, it was sent to cover the Atlantic convoys in the ongoing Battle of the Atlantic. During its long service in the Atlantic, the vessel took part in the action of lifting the survivors from the water four times. In this way, it saved the crews of such units as, for example, USS James Oglethorpe or HMS Orminster. In total, more than 100 sailors were saved. The unit happily lived to see the end of the war, to be withdrawn from the fleet in July 1945, and sold for scrap in 1947.