HMS Jonquil (K68)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Jonquil.

HMS Jonquil was a Flower-class corvette of the British Royal Navy. The corvette, named after the flower genus Jonquil, served in the Second World War.

Underway in 1944
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Jonquil
Ordered	31 August 1939
Builder	Fleming and Ferguson
Laid down	27 December 1939
Launched	9 July 1940
Commissioned	20 October 1940
Decommissioned	August 1945
Identification	Pennant number: K68
Fate	Sold to Greece, renamed Lemnos
Greece
Name	Lemnos
Renamed	Olympic Rider (1951)
Fate	Sank in 1955 after a collision.
General characteristics
Class & type	Flower-class corvette
Displacement	925 long tons (940 t)
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 & 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

Laid down by the company Fleming and Ferguson on 27 December 1939 and launched on 9 July 1940, Jonquil entered service on 20 October and assumed convoy responsibilities the following month.^[1] Her first deployment was as an escort for Convoy WS.5A, bound for the West African port of Freetown.^[1]

Jonquil survived the war but was relegated to the reserve at Gibraltar from August 1945. Bought by Greece, the corvette was renamed Lemnos and converted into a merchant vessel. Redesignated Olympic Rider in 1951, Jonquil sank after a collision with Olympic Cruiser in the Antarctic in 1955.^[1]