HMS Orchis was a that served in the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

North Atlantic Trade Convoy Escort

In March 1941, Orchis was the first ship fitted with the very successful 10-cm wavelength Type 271 Radar enabling detection of a surfaced submarine at 5000 yards or a submarine periscope at 1300 yards. Orchis was assigned first to the 4th Escort Group based at Greenock

Greenock

Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...

 and then to Escort Group B3 of the Mid-Ocean Escort Force

Mid-Ocean Escort Force

Mid-Ocean Escort Force referred to the organization of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys between Canada and the British Isles...

 through early 1944. Orchis escorted convoy ONS-18 during the battle of Convoys ONS-18/ON-202.

English Channel

Orchis was then assigned to patrol the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

, and sank German submarine U-741

German submarine U-741

German submarine U-741 was a Type VIIC U-boat built by F Schichau GmbH of Danzig and commissioned on 10 April 1943.U-741 undertook five war patrols, sinking no ships until her fifth patrol. On 15 August 1944, she attacked convoy FTM-69 and torpedoed the Royal Navy Tank Landing ship , 35 miles South...

 on 15 August 1944. U-741 torpedoed LST-404 of convoy FTM-69 while Orchis was escorting nearby convoy FTC-68. Orchis gained and held SONAR

Sonar

Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...

 contact on U-741 and flooded the forward part of the U-boat with two Hedgehog

Hedgehog (weapon)

The Hedgehog was an anti-submarine weapon developed by the Royal Navy during World War II, that was deployed on convoy escort warships such as destroyers to supplement the depth charge. The weapon worked by firing a number of small spigot mortar bombs from spiked fittings...

 attacks and two Depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...

 attacks. Leo Leuwer escaped from the aft torpedo-room hatch of the sunken U-boat, and was rescued by Orchis.

On 21 August 1944, Orchis struck a mine destroying the bow back to the 4-inch gun. The damaged ship was beached on Juno Beach

Juno Beach

Juno or Juno Beach was one of five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. The sector spanned from Saint-Aubin, a village just east of the British Gold sector, to Courseulles, just west of the British Sword sector...

and declared a total loss.