This page is dedicated to all those that served during the war of 1939 - 1945. The bravery and dedication of the sailors involved in the Atlantic Convoys was paramount to the survival of the United Kingdom. HMS Bryony was one corvette of many built during the Second World War conflict but it was during the late Thirties when the German nation again began to look menacing, the British government started to embark upon a re-armament programme. The 1939 Naval Supplementary Estimates and subsequent War Emergency programmes provided for a large number of small coastal escort vessels. |
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| The first Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Rodger
Backhouse professional head of the Royal Navy (1938 - 1939) recognised
the need for a particular type of vessel, being that trawlers where
too slow and fleet escort ships were to expensive, plus took to long
to construct and required a very large crew.
The Admiral instructed Sir Stanley Goodhall the Director of Naval Construction to produce a suitable design. William Reed of Smiths Dock Company of South Shields had designed a whale catching vessel from which the Flower Class Corvette design was taken. |
Mr. Reed successfully achieved the Admiralty requirements with the assistance of Mr. A. W. Watson of the Naval Construction Department. There were 155 vessel built for the Royal Navy and 118 for the Commonwealth and Allied Navies of which many were supplied to the Royal Canadian Navy with the following supplied to others. |
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| Royal New Zealand Navy | 2 | Royal Indian Navy | 4 | |
| Royal Hellenic Navy (Greece) | 4 | Free French Navy | 9 | |
| Royal Netherlands Navy | 2 | Royal Belgium Navy | 1 | |
| Royal Yugoslavian Navy | 1 | United States Navy | 18 | |
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7ft model of HMS Bryony |
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| Technical Details | Defences | |||
| Length B.P. 205ft | 1 off 4in gun single action | |||
| Beam 33ft | 1 off 2 pound Pom Pom Anti Aircraft Guns | |||
| Draft 14ft 6ins | 2 off .303 Anti Aircraft Gun | |||
| 2 off 20mm Oerlikon | ||||
| 4 cylinder V.T.E. Reciprocating Engine, 1 shaft | 2 off Depth Charge throwers | |||
| 2 off Double Depth Charge racks | ||||
| Crew 40 up to 85 some times over. | "LL" Mine sweeping gear | |||
| The information on this page is taken from the book written by Ron Horabin, 'Tribute to a Flower.' Only 500 books have been printed, but copies can be obtained by contacting Ron Horabin via the email button. | ||||
