HMIS Cornwallis (L09)

HMIS Cornwallis (L09) was an Aubrietia-class sloop, originally built during World War I and commissioned as HMS Lychnis in the Royal Navy (RN) in 1917. She was transferred to the Royal Indian Marine (RIM) and commissioned as Cornwallis in 1921.[1]

History
United Kingdom
NameLychnis
OrderedDecember 1916
BuilderWilliam Hamilton and Company
Launched21 August 1917
Commissioned1917
Out of service1921
FateTransferred to the Royal Indian Marine
British India
NameCornwallis
Acquired1921 (transferred from the Royal Navy)
Out of service1946
FateScrapped 1946
General characteristics
Class and typeAubrietia-class sloop
Displacement1,250 tons
Length
  • 255 ft 3 in (77.80 m) p/p
  • 267 ft 9 in (81.61 m) o/a
Beam33 ft 6 in (10.21 m)
Draught12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Propulsion
  • 1 × 4-cylinder triple expansion engine
  • 2 × cylindrical boilers
  • 1 screw
SpeedDesigned for 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h) at 2,500 ihp (1,900 kW), but actually made 15-16.5 knots with this power. Required 3,000 ihp (2,200 kW) for 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h).
Range205 tons of coal
Complement80 men
ArmamentDesigned to mount 3 × 12-pounder guns and 2 × 3-pounder AA, but had 2 × 4 inch gun, 1 × 3-pounder AA and depth charge throwers

She served during World War II in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN), the successor to the RIM. Her pennant number was changed to U09 in 1940. Although originally built as a minesweeper, she was primarily used as a convoy escort during the war. She was scrapped soon after the end of the war.

History

HMS Lychnis was ordered in December 1916 as a part of the Emergency War Programme of World War I from William Hamilton and Company, Port Glasgow and was launched on 21 August 1917.[2] She commissioned in 1917. She is credited with sinking the German submarine SM U-64 by depth charging and shelling on 17 June 1918 in the Mediterranean Sea.[3]

Following the end of the war, she was transferred to the Royal Indian Marine and commissioned as HMIS Cornwallis. In 1934, RIM was renamed Royal Indian Navy. During World War II, she was a part of the Eastern Fleet. She escorted numerous convoys in the Indian Ocean 1942-45.[4][5]

She was decommissioned and scrapped in 1946, soon after the end of the war.

Notes
  1. "HMIS Cornwallis (L 09 / U 09) of the Royal Indian Navy - Indian Sloop of the Cornwallis class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net".
  2. Dittmar and Colledge 1972, p. 95.
  3. Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: U 64". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net.
  4. "East Indies Fleet, Admiralty Diary Jan-March 1942".
  5. "Eastern Fleet War Diary 1943".

References
  • Collins, J.T.E. (1964). The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945. Official History of the Indian Armed Forces In the Second World War. New Delhi: Combined Inter-Services Historical Section (India & Pakistan).
  • Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
  • Kemp, Paul (1997). U-Boats Destroyed: German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. London: Arms & Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-321-5.
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