HMS Rushen Castle was a Castle-class

Castle class corvette

The Castle-class corvettes were an updated version of the much more numerous Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Navy, and started appearing during late 1943...

 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 United Kingdom's 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 named after Castle Rushen

Castle Rushen

Castle Rushen is a medieval castle located in the Isle of Man's historic capital, Castletown in the south of the island. It towers over the Market Square to the south-east and the harbour to the north-east...

 in Castletown, Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

.

Built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, she was launched on 16 July 1943 and finished on 23 February 1944 - she served as a convoy

Convoy

A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...

 escort during the Second World War. She was transferred to the British Air Ministry on 26 September 1960 for use as a weather ship

Weather ship

A weather ship was a ship stationed in the ocean as a platform for surface and upper air meteorological observations for use in weather forecasting. They were primarily located in the north Atlantic and north Pacific oceans, reporting via radio...

, and was commissioned as Weather Surveyor on 21 December 1961. She was sold on 15 July 1977 and converted to a salvage vessel. She was scrapped at Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht

Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht

Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands. It is located in the Dutch province of South Holland, on the island of IJsselmonde, and borders with Zwijndrecht, Ridderkerk, and the Noord River. The jurisdiction of the municipality covers an area of 11.99 km² of...

 in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 in 1983.

The wartime commanding officer, R. C. Warwick, RNR, published a book, Really Not Required, detailing his wartime experience on this ship and his previous command, the anti-submarine trawler

Naval trawler

A naval trawler is a vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes. Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work...

 HMS Saint Loman.

External links

• Weather Surveyor at www.weatherships.co.uk, including several pictures.