| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | ASW Trawler |
| Class | Dance |
| Pennant | T 117 |
| Built by | Goole Shipbuilding & Repairing Co. Ltd. (Goole, U.K.) : Amos & Smith |
| Ordered | 9 Sep 1939 |
| Laid down | 18 Dec 1939 |
| Launched | 6 Aug 1940 |
| Commissioned | 7 Oct 1940 |
| End service | |
| History | Sold in 1947. |
Commands listed for HMS Morris Dance (T 117)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | ||
| 1 | Lt. Alexander Bruce, RCNVR | 10 Sep 1940 | 18 Jun 1942 | |
| 2 | T/Lt. Sidney Alan MacKechnie, RNVR | 18 Jun 1942 | mid 1943 | |
| 3 | T/Lt. John Gregory Haynes, RNVR | 1 Dec 1943 | 3 Jul 1944 | |
| 4 | T/Lt. Frederick Haakon Olaf Lambert, RNVR | 3 Jul 1944 | Jan 1945 | |
| 5 | T/Lt. Donald Blair Middleton, RNVR | Jan 1945 | ||
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Notable events involving Morris Dance include:
27 Oct 1941
HMS Severn (Lt.Cdr. A.N.G. Campbell, RN) departed Freetown for a few days of exercises together with the destroyer HMS Vansittart (Lt.Cdr. R.L.S. Gaisford, RN), the corvettes HMS Armeria (T/Lt. H.N. Russell, RNR), HMS Cyclamen (Lt. H.N. Lawson, RNR), HMS Aster (Lt.Cdr. E. Hewitt, RD, RNR), the A/S trawlers HMS Fandango (Lt. J.A.T. Maishman, RNR), HMS Morris Dance (Lt. A. Bruce, RCNVR) and several ML's. (1)
22 Nov 1942
HMS P 614 (Lt. H.W. Wilkinson, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Freetown together with HMS Burdock (Lt.Cdr. E.H. Lynes, RD, RNR), FFS Commandant Drogou, FFS Commandant Detroyat, HMS Morris Dance (T/Lt. S.A. MacKechnie, RNVR) and HMS Rumba (T/Lt. E.C.F.D. Jacquier, RNVR). (2)
25 Mar 1943
Passage of floating dock AFD 24 from Trinidad to Freetown.
On 25 March 1943, the dock in tow of the tugs HMS Frisky and HMS Zwarte Zee departed Trinidad. Escort was provided by the sloop HMS Milford (Lt.Cdr. G. MacClelland, RN), corvettes HMS Tamarisk (Lt. S. Ayles, RNR), HMS Woodruff (A/Lt.Cdr. F.H. Gray, RNR) and the ASW trawlers HMS Morris Dance (T/Lt. S.A. MacKechnie, RNVR) and HMS Yestor (Lt. R.C. Holt, RNVR). A third tug was also present as stand by tug, this was HMS Oriana.
On 1 April 1943, the armed merchant cruiser HMS Alcantara (A/Capt.(retd.) J.D. Harvey, RN) and the corvette HMS Amaranthus (T/Lt. W.S. Thomson, RNR) departed Trinidad to overtake and join the 'convoy'. HMS Alcantara was to fuel the oil firing sloop and corvettes at sea during the passage to Freetown. The coal firing trawlers were to coal in Brazilian ports.
On 24 April 1943, the corvette HMS Snowdrop (Lt. P.A. Tinne, RNVR) and the motor launches HMS ML 296 (T/Lt. R.C. Breckenridge, RCNVR), HMS ML 289 (?), HMS ML 287 (T/Lt. J.B. Bramwell, RNVR), HMS ML 281 (T/Lt. P.S. Castle, RNVR), HMS ML 266 (T/Lt. D.R. Beverley, RCNVR) and HMS ML 209 (T/Lt. A.M.C. Scott, RNVR) departed freetown to make rendezvous with the convoy which did at 1130Z/26. ML 281 had however returned to Freetown on the 26th after having been detached due to a defective Asdic installation.
On 27 April 1943, the A/S yacht HMS Virginia (T/A/Lt.Cdr. J. Dobson, RNR) and corvettes HMS Armeria (Lt. M. Todd, RNR), HMS Cyclamen (Lt. A.G. Scott, RNR) and HMS Thyme (Lt. H. Roach, RNR) departed Freetown to join the convoy which they did early in the evening of the same day.
The dock and it's escorts arrived at Freetown on 28 April 1943.
Sources
- ADM 173/16987
- ADM 173/17528
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.