Hollyhock at Trincomalee in March 1942 — photograph by kind permission of Mr Tommy Thompson.
From her commissioning in August 1940 until her loss in April 1942, Hollyhock screened merchantmen across some of the most dangerous ocean lanes of the Second World War. What follows is a working timeline of her movements, drawn from convoy commodore reports, Admiralty signals and the Eastern Fleet War Diary.
OB267 / SLS59 / OB273 / HX101 / OB279 / HX104 / OB285 / HX107 / OB292 / SC23.
After escorting SC23 in early March 1941, Hollyhock reported damage to lifeboats, stanchions and depth-charge rails due to bad weather. She was out of action for a couple of weeks for repairs and a boiler clean. After repairs she escorted a convoy from Greenock to Rosyth, during which she was attacked by a Focke-Wulfe fighter but sustained no hits.
HX122 / HX119 / HX124 / OB310 / OB314 / OB318 / SC31.
At 04:42 on 10th May 1941, U-556 (Wohlfarth) attacked convoy OB-318 south-east of Cape Farewell in 59°23N / 35°25W and reported two ships of 10,000 tons sunk. In fact, only the British steam merchant Aelybryn (Master Harold William Brockwell) was hit and damaged. She was towed to Reykjavik by HMS Hollyhock (K64) under Lt-Cdr T.E. Davies OBE, arriving on 17 May. All 45 of her crew were picked up by the armed trawler HMS Daneman (FY 123) under Lt A.H. Ballard.
Note: OB318 was also the convoy involved with the capture of U-110 and the Enigma encryption machine.
OB331 / OB340 / SC33 / SC35 / HX134.
“Friday July 4th … Several ships of local escort for HX 134 joined. Following are the names of these ships: HMS Salamander, Britomart, Hollyhock, Carnation, St. Apollo, Angle, Nigella, Aubretia, St. Clair…” — Convoy Commodore’s report, HX134
Hollyhock sailed up the Clyde to Glasgow for a major refit: refrigerator, air-cooling, Type 271 RDF radar, forecastle extended beyond the bridge, and minesweeping gear fitted. The crew later learned the minesweeping gear was for sweeping the Eastern Fleet into Madagascar during the May 1942 invasion.
Under refit, she was reallocated to South Atlantic Command.
She sailed on 14 October to join convoy OS9 as additional escort, but had to return to Greenock the same day with defects, sailing again on the 15th to overtake. On the 25th she was detached with the Hunt-class destroyer Lamerton, refuelled at Ponta Delgada, and overtook OS9 to enter Freetown on 5 November.
Escorted convoy ST8 to Takoradi, returning to Freetown by 22 November.
Left Freetown on 27 November escorting a large troop convoy to Simonstown, refuelling at Pointe Noire. She was due to escort WS12Z but did not, for reasons unknown. At Simonstown she had defects rectified and a boiler clean. On 7 December 1941 — Japan entered the war — she was reassigned to the East Indies Fleet.
Hollyhock and some of her crew were in dock at Cape Town. While berthed seaward in Cape Town harbour, a merchantman attempting to come alongside in high winds dragged her hawser down Hollyhock’s mast and aerials — meaning she had to stay behind when the rest of escort group Aster S.O. (five corvettes) was ordered to Colombo. A new mast was fitted; she then sailed alone via Durban and Mauritius.
On arrival at Colombo, half the crew went up country by train to an old rest camp for a week. The ship was deployed as part of an escort force south of the Cape.
Her final movements:
| Arrival | Departure |
|---|---|
| Colombo — 3.3.42 | Colombo — 7.3.42 |
| Colombo — 11.3.42 | Colombo — 11.3.42 |
| Trincomalee — 15.3.42 | Trincomalee — 18.3.42 |
| Colombo — 20.3.42 | Colombo — 21.3.42 |
| Trincomalee — 31.3.42 | Trincomalee — 31.3.42 |
| Trincomalee — 8.4.42 | — she did not return — |
HX — Halifax (later New York) to UK. · OB — from Liverpool, usually joined by OA of the same number. · SC — Sydney CB (later Halifax / New York) to UK, slow convoys (1941–). · SLS — Freetown to UK, slow. · OS — UK outbound to Sierra Leone. · WS — troop convoys (“Winston Specials”). · SU — Suez to Australia (1940–41).
Hollyhock left Trincomalee harbour, along with the minelayer HMS Tiviot Bank, RFA Pearl Leaf, the tanker British Sergeant and RFA Athelstane, sailing southwards, with orders to keep close inshore and to be at least 40 miles from Trincomalee by dawn on the 9th. At around 12 o’clock, nine Japanese aircraft from Admiral Nagumo’s carrier fleet attacked the Hollyhock and Athelstane. The Hollyhock sank within five minutes… — the last sortie