HMS Coltsfoot (K140)
HMS Coltsfoot (K140) was a {{sclass2|Flower|corvette}} that served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.{{cite web | title=HMS Coltsfoot (K 140) of the Royal Navy | website=uboat.net | date=1939-07-25 | url=https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4737.html | access-date=2024-10-02}}{{cite web | last=History | first=Amesbury | title=HMS Coltsfoot and Amesbury | website=Amesbury History | date=2019-08-01 | url=https://www.amesburyhistorycentre.org.uk/post/hms-coltsfoot-and-amesbury | access-date=2024-10-02}}
Construction
The ship was ordered on 25 July 1939. She was laid down on 4 September 1940 and built at Alexander Hall and Sons in Aberdeen.
The ship was launched 15 May 1941 and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 1 Nov 1941.
Career
From June 1941 until July 1943, her commander was William Keith Rous, 5th Earl of Stradbroke. In February 1942, during Warship Week, the ship was adopted by the town of Amesbury.
On 15 December 1941, she assisted the crew of the sunken ship SS Empire Barracuda after the Barracuda was torpedoed by U-77 under the command of Heinrich Schonder and sunk at 35°30′N 06°17′W while on a voyage from Gibraltar to Cape Town and Suez. Nine crew members and four DEMS gunners were killed. Thirty eight crew members and one DEMS gunner were rescued by HMS Coltsfoot and landed at Gibraltar.{{cite web|url=http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1226.html |title=Empire Barracuda |publisher=Uboat.net |access-date=2 October 2024}}
In August 1942, the ship participated in Operation Pedestal, a British convoy to supply Malta.{{cite book | last=Hastings | first=Max | title=Operation Pedestal: the Fleet That Battled to Malta 1942 | publisher=William Collins | date=2022-05-12 | isbn=978-0-00-836498-4 }}{{cite book | last=Smith | first=Peter Charles | title=Pedestal | publisher=Kimber | publication-place=London | date=1987 | isbn=978-0-7183-0632-8 | page=72}} In the operation, she was assigned to Force R along with 3 other corvettes and a tug to protect the fleet oil tankers: RFA Brown Ranger and RFA Dingledale.{{cite book | last=Henshaw | first=John | title=Malta's Savior | publisher=McFarland | publication-place=Jefferson, North Carolina | date=2024-02-16 | isbn=978-1-4766-4853-8 | page=261}}{{cite book | last=Rodgaard | first=John A | title=A Hard Fought Ship | publisher=Seaforth Publishing | date=2024-06-30 | isbn=978-1-0361-1237-0 | page=252}}
In 1943, the ship was part of the 39th escort group in the Battle of the Atlantic.{{cite book | last=Rohwer | first=Jurgen | title=Critical Convoy Battles of WWII | publisher=Stackpole Books | date=2015-11-15 | isbn=978-0-8117-6267-0 | page=44}}
Honours
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Flower class corvette|original}}
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