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HMS ''Gladiolus'' was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy, the first ship of her class. She was laid down at Smiths Dock Company on the River Tees on 19 October 1939, launched on 24 January 1940, and commissioned on 6 April 1940.〔 ''Gladiolus'' was active in the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II and spent most of her service career on convoy escort duty in the North Atlantic. She was lost in action on 16 October 1941. ==Service history== After commissioning and working up, ''Gladiolus'' was assigned to the Western Approaches Escort Force. In her 18 months of service she escorted over 40 convoys, of which over a dozen were attacked; ''Gladiolus'' was involved in 4 major convoy battles, and participated destroying 3 U-boats. She was engaged in all the duties performed by corvettes; escorting convoys, searching for and attacking U-boats which attacked ships in convoy, and rescuing survivors. On 28 June 1940 she picked up 35 survivors from the , that had been torpedoed and sunk by Fritz-Julius Lemp's ''U-30''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=HMS Gladiolus (K 34) )〕 ''Gladiolus'' was involved in the sinking of the Type I U-boat ''U-26'' on 1 July 1940.〔 This was the first U-boat kill by a corvette. ''U-26'' had been heavily damaged by eight depth charges from ''Gladiolus'', as well as bombs from a Short Sunderland aircraft, and subsequently scuttled herself.〔 As one of the early Flowers ''Gladiolus'' suffered from the drawbacks of her type; a short forecastle, merchant type bridge, and poor habitability. In October 1940 she went into dock for remedial work and was re-fitted with a longer foc’s’le to improve her habitability. This necessitated ballasting, to avoid pitch problems, and a tilt test, to check stability.〔 These were satisfactory, and she returned to action in January 1941, assigned to one of the new escort groups, 2 EG, led by ''Douglas''. In April 1941 ''Gladiolus'' involved in the battle for HX 121. On 28 April ''Gladiolus'' was sent with ''Roxborough'' and ''Leamington'' to re-inforce HX 121 which was under attack. During the onslaught ''Gladiolus'' and the destroyers gained contact and made a series of attacks; it was subsequently shown this was on ''U-96'', which escaped. ''Douglas'' also gained a contact and made an attack, but saw no result. On 29 April ''Gladiolus'' rescued survivors from ''Beacon Grange'' which had been torpedoed by ''U-552''. Later that day she sighted a U-boat on the surface and attacked, being rewarded with a gush of air bubbles and wreckage. ''Gladiolus'' was credited with destroying ''U-65'', but post-war re-evaluation found no U-boat attacked that day, and attributed ''U-65's'' destruction to the attack by ''Douglas'' the previous day.〔Blair p 273〕 In June 1941 HX 133 came under attack; ''Gladiolus'' was detached from escorting OB 335 to join as reinforcement. On 24/25 June, after midnight, she sighted ''U-71'', and attacked. She attempted to ram, but slowed to avoid major damage, and ''U-71'' dived away. ''Gladiolus'' then launched 5 attacks, using 30 depth charges altogether, and was joined by ''Nasturtium'', which launched another 6. ''U-71'' was severely damaged, and surfaced to try to escape on the surface; ''Gladiolus'' and ''Nasturtium'' opened fire, scoring hits on ''U-71’s'' conning tower. ''Gladiolus'' claimed a kill for this, and was credited with sinking ''U-71'', but the boat escaped to base.〔Blair p311〕 On 26/27 June in early hours, ''U-556'' attacked the convoy, and was sighted by ''Nasturtium''. She attacked and was joined by ''Celandine'' and ''Gladiolus''. Altogether the three corvettes launched 50 depth charges; U-556 was forced to the surface as ''Gladiolus'' dropped a further 3 depth charges; the corvettes then opened fire at point-blank range, hitting ''U-556’s'' conning tower. Her captain, Wohlfarth and the crew abandoned ship, and the boat sank before she could be secured.〔Blair p 312〕〔Kemp p70〕 In September 1941 ''Gladiolus'' was involved in the battle for SC 42. Under major attack, SC 42 lost 15 ships in 2 days, for the destruction of one U-boat. Numerous escorts were drafted in as reinforcement; on 11 September ''Gladiolus'' arrived with EG 2, led by ''Douglas''. SC 42 was stalked for a further 5 days, losing 2 more ships, though the destroyers of EG 2 were able to sink another U-boat. This was, after SC 7, the worst convoy loss in the North Atlantic during the war. Following this, ''Gladiolus'' was reassigned to the Newfoundland Local Escort Group, led by ''Columbia''. In October 1941 she was part of the escort for SC 48, during which battle ''Gladiolus'' was lost. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMS Gladiolus (K34)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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