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HMS Peony (K40)
Encyclopedia
HMS Peony was a Flower-class
Flower class corvette
The Flower-class corvette was a class of 267 corvettes used during World War II, specifically with the Allied navies as anti-submarine convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic...
corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
of 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...
. She was transferred to the Royal Hellenic Navy
Hellenic Navy
The Hellenic Navy is the naval force of Greece, part of the Greek Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy has its roots in the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independence...
as Sachtouris, serving throughout World War II and the Greek Civil War. She was returned to the Royal Navy in 1951 and scrapped in April 1952.
Royal Navy
Throughout her career with the Royal Navy, Peony escorted convoys. She primarily escorted convoys in home waters, but was sometimes called upon to escort convoys in the Mediterranean SeaMediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
and to Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
.
In late 1940 through to early 1941, she was part of the 10th Corvette Group, Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
Fleet based in Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
. While based there, she escorted numerous convoys to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. In February 1941, she was equipped for minesweeping duties as there were not enough minesweepers available. In July 1941, she assisted in the transportation of men to Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. She carried out anti-submarine operations off Cyprus during the following months. She attacked a U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
on 8 October 1941 with the Australian destroyer , three corvettes and two anti-submarine aircraft, but the U-boat escaped.
In December 1941, while escorting Mediterranean convoy AT-6 (from Alexandria to Tobruk
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
), she came under attack by U-559
Unterseeboot 559
German submarine U-559 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for the German Kriegsmarine for service during World War II.Built in 1941 at the Blohm & Voss shipyards in Hamburg, she was most famous for an incident during her sinking in the Mediterranean Sea in 1942, in which British sailors seized...
which torpedoed the Polish steamer Warszawa. Peony took the stricken ship in tow until another torpedo hit from the U-boat doomed the steamer and she sank. Peony and Avon Vale
HMS Avon Vale (L06)
HMS Avon Vale was an escort destroyer of the Hunt Type II class. The Royal Navy ordered Avon Vales construction three months after the outbreak of the Second World War. John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd laid down her keel at their Clydebank yard on 12 February 1940, as Admiralty...
rescued some survivors, but 23 people died in the sinking.
Royal Hellenic Navy
In 1943, Peony was transferred to the Royal Hellenic Navy, where she was re-named Sachtouris (GreekGreek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: ΒΠ Σαχτούρης) after Georgios Sachtouris, an admiral during the Greek War of Independence
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
. She was the first ship to bear this name, the second being the USS Arnold J. Isbell
USS Arnold J. Isbell (DD-869)
USS Arnold J. Isbell , a Gearing-class destroyer, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Arnold J. Isbell, an aircraft carrier captain during World War II....
.
She served the remainder of the Second World War
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...
under the Greek flag
Flag of Greece
The flag of Greece , officially recognized by Greece as one of its national symbols, is based on nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white...
. She also served in the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
, which started after the end of the Second World War.
In 1947, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
proclaimed that it would support the Greek government in its war against the Communist guerrillas in what became known as the Truman Doctrine
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a policy set forth by U.S. President Harry S Truman in a speech on March 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere...
. In the early 1950s, the Mutual Defense Assistance Act
Mutual Defense Assistance Act
The Mutual Defense Assistance Act was a United States Act of Congress signed by President Harry S. Truman on 6 October 1949. For US Foreign policy, it was the first U.S. military foreign aid legislation of the Cold War era, and initially to Europe...
started the transfer of American ships to Greece. Four s entered Greek service and so the old British Flower-class corvettes were superseded.
Fate
Sachtouris was returned to the Royal NavyRoyal 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...
in September 1951 and was scrapped on 21 April 1952.