HMS Heartsease (K15)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
|
|
| Name: | HMS Heartsease |
| Ordered: | 19 September 1939 |
| Builder: | |
| Yard number: | 1063 |
| Laid down: | 14 November 1939 |
| Launched: | 20 April 1940 |
| Completed: | 4 June 1940 |
| Commissioned: | 4 June 1940 |
| Decommissioned: | 3 April 1942 |
| Identification: | Pennant number: K15 |
| Fate: | Transferred to the US Navy 3 April 1942 |
 United States
|
|
| Name: | USS Courage |
| Acquired: | 18 March 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 3 April 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 22 August 1945 |
| Identification: | Hull number: PG-70 |
| Fate: | Returned to Royal Navy 23 August 1945 |
|
United Kingdom
|
|
| Name: | HMS Heartsease |
| Recommissioned: | 23 August 1945 |
| Out of service: | Sold into merchant service 22 July 1946 |
| Renamed: |
|
| Fate: | Sunk by Indonesian Air Force December 1958 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Flower-class corvette |
| Displacement: | 940 tons |
| Length: | 208 ft 6 in (63.55 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draught: | 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Range: | 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement: | 85 |
| Armament: |
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HMS Heartsease was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. She served with both the Royal Navy and the United States Navy during the Second World War, with the latter navy as USS Courage. She then spent several years under a succession of names in civilian service. In 1957 she was chartered on behalf of Indonesian rebels to smuggle rubber, copra and matériel. The Indonesian Air Force intercepted and sank her off the coast of Minahasa in North Sulawesi in December 1958.
Heartsease was originally to have been named HMS Pansy, but the name was changed prior to her launch. She was ordered on 19 September 1939 and laid down at the yards of Harland and Wolff, Belfast, Northern Ireland on 14 November 1939. She was launched on 20 April 1940 and commissioned into service on 20 April 1940.
Heartsease spent most of her early career escorting convoys through British waters. On 22 September 1940 she picked up 31 survivors from the Norwegian merchant SS Simla which had been torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat U-100 west of Ireland. On 15 October she rescued nine survivors from the British merchant SS Thistlegarth which had been sunk by U-103 45 nautical miles (83 km) west-north-west of Rockall. She was then called to the assistance of the inbound Convoy SC-7, which had come under attack from a U-boat wolfpack and was sustaining heavy losses. On arrival Heartsease was assigned to escort the damaged SS Carsbreck into port. On 23 December she collided with the Hunt-class destroyer HMS Tetcott in the Irish Sea. Both ships were saved and towed into port. A subsequent enquiry placed the blame on the captain of Heartsease.
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