HMS ''Hollyhock'' was a that served in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
. During her career, she was frequently used for escorting convoys.
She was captained by Lt. Thomas Edward Davies.
Career
''Hollyhock'' was ordered from
John Crown & Sons Ltd
John Crown & Sons Ltd, was a British shipbuilding company founded in 1847 and based on the River Wear, Sunderland.
History
In its centenary year the shipyard was acquired by J.L. Thompson & Sons
Ships built by John Crown & Sons Ltd
See a ...
on 31 August 1939, laid down on 27 November 1939, and launched on 19 August 1940.
She was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 19 November 1940.
''Hollyhock's'' career began with conducting and participating in exercises from 4 December 1940 to 7 December 1940.
Early in March of 1941, she escorted the convoy SC 23 and was damaged by strong weather, but was repaired shortly afterwards.
On 19 April 1941, she escorted the convoy HX 119, which had departed from Halifax 13 days earlier on 6 April 1941.
She aided convoy OB 318 on 10 May 1941, and towed the ''Aelybryn'' to
Reykjavik after it had been damaged by torpedoes.
''Hollyhock'' then escorted convoy HX 124 on 11 May 1941.
Between the 8 June and 8 July 1941, ''Hollyhock'' escorted OB 331, OB 340, SC 33 and HX 134.
On 8 July 1941, she sailed to
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
to be fitted with new equipment. She was fitted with a refrigerator and air cooling so as to be better suited for a tropical environment, and was also fitted with a
271 RDF Radar and
minesweeping
Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...
gear.
After she had been fitted with the new equipment on 9 October,
she soon departed from
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
for
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...
on 13 October, escorting convoy OS 9.
Upon arriving in Freetown on 9 November, she would be a part of training exercises, along with ''HMS Severn, Brilliant, Bridgewater'' and ''Turcoman.''
On 28 November 1941, she left Freetown, escorting the convoy WS 12Z on it's voyage to
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
.
The convoy arrived December 18th, and she would spend the next month escorting other convoys in the area.
During this time, she was repaired and had her
boilers
A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...
cleaned while in
Simonstown on 15 December. It was also during this time that Japan entered the war (7 December 1941).
On 28 February 1942, convoy SU 1 departed from
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
and was escorted by the ''Hollyhock'' part of the way, before parting ways.
''HMS Hollyhock'' and ''Express'' returned to Colombo, arriving on 3 March 1942, and the rest of Convoy SU 1 arrived in
Freemantle
Freemantle is a suburb and electoral ward in Southampton, England.
There are similarly named places in Hampshire: notably Henry II's hunting lodge in Kingsclere; a suburb of Hannington, Hampshire, Hannington; and Freemantle Common in Bitterne. ...
on 15 March 1942.
Afterwards, ''Hollyhock'' escorted ''HMS Ranchi'' from the 7th-11th of March, Convoy C 7 on the 13th to 20th and then finally ''HMS Holxa,'' an
isles-class trawler
The Isles-class trawlers were a class of naval trawler used by the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II.
The type comprised 197 vessels built between 1939 and 1945 in the nearly identical Isles, Dance, ...
.
At the very end of March the ''Hollyhock'' was nominated to carry out the task of escorting ships that were laying
mines. At the start of April, she began this duty. It was also around this time that the Japanese navy increased aggression, starting with the bombing of an allied air base in Colombo on 5 April 1942.
Many aircraft were destroyed, along with the armed merchant cruiser ''HMS Hector'' and destroyer ''HMS Tenedos.''
On the 8th of April, the Japanese First Carrier Fleet, consisting of five aircraft carriers, four battlecruisers, two heavy cruisers, and nine destroyers, were spotted advancing for an attack on
Trincomalee
Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...
, where ''Hollyhock'' was currently situated.
She, along with a few others were given the orders to depart from Trincomalee and sail southwards, and to be 40 miles from Trincomalee by the dawn of April 9th.
On 9 April 1942, ''Hollyhock'' was escorting the ''SS Athelstane'' as they and a few others fled southwards from Trincomalee.
Japanese reconnaissance aircraft from ''The Haruna'' soon sighted the convoy, and shortly thereafter, 85 Japanese
dive bombers
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact throughou ...
and 3 Japanese fighter aircraft were deployed from the Japanese First Carrier Fleet.
At around 12 o'clock'', Hollyhock'' was bombed by Japanese naval aircraft launched from the carrier
Sōryū in the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
, 30 miles SSE of
Batticaloa, Ceylon (7.30N 81.56E)''.''
Nine total aircraft attacked ''Hollyhock'' and ''Athelstane'', and ''Hollyhock'' was soon sunk after being bombed.
It was reported that she sunk in five minutes, due to multiple bombs going down her funnels.
Her captain, two officers, and fifty
ratings on board lost their lives.
After ''Hollyhock'' had been sunk, the Japanese aircraft targeted the ''Athelstane'' and she was soon sunk as well, but all crew aboard survived, and even helped some of the crew from ''Hollyhock''.
Some of the survivors from ''Hollyhock'' and ''Athelstane'' were able to make it to the coast of Ceylon alive.
During the same engagement, the aircraft carrier and the Australian destroyer that were part of the convoy going south from Trincomalee were also sunk.
References
External links
*
HMS ''Hollyhock'' on the Arnold Hague database at convoyweb.org.uk.
Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Navy
World War II shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean
1940 ships
Maritime incidents in April 1942
Ships sunk by Japanese aircraft
Corvettes sunk by aircraft
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