HMS Spiraea (K08)

HMS Spiraea was a Flower-class corvette of the British Royal Navy. Named for a genus of shrub, Spiraea served in the Second World War as an escort.

HMS Spiraea, 25 April 1942
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Spiraea
Ordered	21 September 1939
Builder	Harland and Wolff[1] (A&J Inglis)
Yard number	1056[1]
Laid down	31 May 1940
Launched	31 October 1940
Completed	27 February 1941[1]
Commissioned	27 February 1941
Decommissioned	1945
Identification	Pennant number: K08
Fate	Sold to Greece, renamed Thessaloniki
General characteristics
Class and type	Flower-class corvette
Displacement	925 long tons
Length	205 ft (62 m) o/a
Beam	33 ft (10 m)
Draught	11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
Propulsion	1 × 4-cycle triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine 2 × fire tube Scotch boilers Single shaft 2,750 ihp (2,050 kW)
Speed	16 kn (30 km/h)
Range	3,500 nmi (6,500 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h)
Complement	85
Sensors and processing systems	1 × SW1C or 2C radar 1 × Type 123A or Type 127DV sonar
Armament	1 × BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk.IX gun 2 × Vickers .50 cal machine gun (twin) 2 × Lewis .303 cal machine gun (twin) 2 × Mk.II Depth charge throwers 2 × Depth charge rails with 40 depth charges

The corvette was launched on 31 October 1940 at Glasgow, Scotland and entered nominal service on 27 February 1941. In 1943, she recovered the survivors of two separate sinkings (the merchant vessels Oporto and Fort Howe), of which the Fort Howe effort was in conjunction with HMS Alisma.