Allied Warships

HMS Heliotrope (K 03)

Corvette of the Flower class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeCorvette
ClassFlower 
PennantK 03 
Built byJohn Crown & Sons Ltd. (Sunderland, U.K) : N.E. Marine 
Ordered31 Aug 1939 
Laid down23 Oct 1939 
Launched5 Jun 1940 
Commissioned12 Sep 1940 
End service24 Mar 1942 
Loss position
 
History

Ordered for French Navy but taken over with the fall of France.
Transferred to the USN at Hull, England, on 24 March 1942.
Commissioned as USS Surprise (PG-63) on the same day.
USS Surprise was decommissioned by the U.S.N. on 20 August 1945 at Chatham, England and returned to the Royal Navy on 26 August 1945.
Sold into Merchantile service and finally ended up in the Communist Chinese Navy as Lin I.

Commanding Officer:
Lt.Cdr. John Jackson, RNR
8 August 1940 >

 
Career notesTo the United States Navy as USS Surprise

Commands listed for HMS Heliotrope (K 03)

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CommanderFromTo
1Lt.Cdr. John Jackson, RNR8 Aug 1940???

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Noteable events involving Heliotrope include:


1 Dec 1940
HMS Heliotrope (Lt.Cdr. J. Jackson, RNR) picks up 32 survivors from the British tanker Appalachee that was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-101 about 340 nautical miles west of Bloody Foreland in position 54º30'N, 20º00'W.

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