HMS ''Periwinkle'' was a , built for 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 the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, 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 Allied naval blockade ...
.
In 1942 she was transferred to the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
as part of the
Reverse Lend-Lease 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,
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
, as part of the 1939 War Emergency building programme. 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 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 the phrase " be ...
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 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
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 co ...
, 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'' 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 City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
and the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
.
In August 1945 she was decommissioned and returned to the Royal Navy.
[''Restless'' at history.navy.mil]
retrieved 18 July 2020
Fate
''Periwinkle'' was stricken in 1947 and sold into commercial service as the merchant ship ''Perilock''. She was scrapped at
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
in 1953.
[''Periwinkle'']
at uboat.net; retrieved 18 July 2020
Notes
References
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*
*
* (Canada); (UK)
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Periwinkle (K55)
Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Navy
Temptress-class gunboats
1940 ships