Corvette of the Flower class
| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Corvette |
| Class | Flower |
| Pennant | K 56 |
| Built by | George Brown & Co. (Greenock, Scotland): Kincaid |
| Ordered | 25 Jul, 1939 |
| Laid down | 20 Oct, 1939 |
| Launched | 25 May, 1940 |
| Commissioned | 11 Sep, 1940 |
| Lost | 10 Mar, 1944 |
| Loss position | 45.24N, 18.09W (See a map) |
| |
| History | At 0154 hours on 10 March 1944 the German submarine U-575 attacked convoy SL-150, which was combined with convoy MKS-41 and sank HMS Asphodel (Lt. Michael Albert Halliday, RNZNR) with a Gnat torpedo in position 45º24'N, 18º09'W. Only five survivors out of a crew of 97 were picked up by the British corvette HMS Clover.
Commanding Officers:
Lt.Cdr. Kenneth Warden Stewart, RN (retired)
14 August 1940 – 6 September 1942
Lt.Cdr. Henry Patterson Carse, DSC, RNVR
6 September 1942 – early 1944
Lt. Michael Albert Halliday, RNZNR
Early 1944 - 10 March 1944+ Hit by U-boat
Sunk on 10 Mar, 1944 by U-575 (Boehmer). |
| Noteable events involving Asphodel include: 21 Oct, 1941
The British merchant Serbino is torpedoed and sunk west of Fastnet in position 51º10'N, 19º20'W by the German submarine U-82. HMS Asphodel (Lt.Cdr. K.W. Stewart, (retired), RN)) later picks up 51 survivors. 3 Feb, 1943
HMS Asphodel (Lt. G.L. Fraser, RNR) picks up 16 survivors from the British tanker Inverilen that is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-456 in the North Atlantic south of Iceland in position 56º35'N, 23º30'W. 22 Apr, 1943
HMS Asphodel (Lt. H.P. Carse, DSC, RNVR) picks up 54 survivors from the British merchant Amerika that was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-306 in the north Atlantic, south of Cape Farewell in position 57º30'N, 42º50'W. |
