HMIS Cornwallis (L09) was an Aubrietia-class sloop, originally built during World War I and commissioned as HMS Lychnis in the Royal Navy (RN) in 1917. She was transferred to the Royal Indian Marine (RIM) and commissioned as Cornwallis in 1921.[1]
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Lychnis |
| Ordered | December 1916 |
| Builder | William Hamilton and Company |
| Launched | 21 August 1917 |
| Commissioned | 1917 |
| Out of service | 1921 |
| Fate | Transferred to the Royal Indian Marine |
 British India | |
| Name | Cornwallis |
| Acquired | 1921 (transferred from the Royal Navy) |
| Out of service | 1946 |
| Fate | Scrapped 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Aubrietia-class sloop |
| Displacement | 1,250 tons |
| Length | |
| Beam | 33 ft 6 in (10.21 m) |
| Draught | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | Designed for 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h) at 2,500 ihp (1,900 kW), but actually made 15-16.5 knots with this power. Required 3,000 ihp (2,200 kW) for 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h). |
| Range | 205 tons of coal |
| Complement | 80 men |
| Armament | Designed to mount 3 × 12-pounder guns and 2 × 3-pounder AA, but had 2 × 4 inch gun, 1 × 3-pounder AA and depth charge throwers |
She served during World War II in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN), the successor to the RIM. Her pennant number was changed to U09 in 1940. Although originally built as a minesweeper, she was primarily used as a convoy escort during the war. She was scrapped soon after the end of the war.
History edit
HMS Lychnis was ordered in December 1916 as a part of the Emergency War Programme of World War I from William Hamilton and Company, Port Glasgow and was launched on 21 August 1917.[2] She commissioned in 1917. She is credited with sinking the German submarine SM U-64 by depth charging and shelling on 17 June 1918 in the Mediterranean Sea.[3]
Following the end of the war, she was transferred to the Royal Indian Marine and commissioned as HMIS Cornwallis. In 1934, RIM was renamed Royal Indian Navy. During World War II, she was a part of the Eastern Fleet. She escorted numerous convoys in the Indian Ocean 1942-45.[4][5]
She was decommissioned and scrapped in 1946, soon after the end of the war.
Notes edit
- ^ "HMIS Cornwallis (L 09 / U 09) of the Royal Indian Navy - Indian Sloop of the Cornwallis class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net".
- ^ Dittmar and Colledge 1972, p. 95.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: U 64". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net.
- ^ "East Indies Fleet, Admiralty Diary Jan-March 1942".
- ^ "Eastern Fleet War Diary 1943".
References edit
- Collins, J.T.E. (1964). The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945. Official History of the Indian Armed Forces In the Second World War. New Delhi: Combined Inter-Services Historical Section (India & Pakistan).
- Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
- Kemp, Paul (1997). U-Boats Destroyed: German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. London: Arms & Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-321-5.