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{{Short description|Flower-class corvette}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMCS Snowberry (K166) IWM FL 5516.jpg
|Ship caption=HMCS ''Snowberry'' in May 1943
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name= ''Snowberry''
|Ship namesake=[[Symphoricarpos|Snowberry]]
|Ship ordered= 22 January 1940
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Davie Shipbuilding]], [[Lauzon, Quebec|Lauzon]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=24 February 1940
|Ship launched=8 August 1940
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=26 November 1940
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship maiden voyage=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service= loaned to Royal Canadian Navy 15 May 1941
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]: K166
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship honors=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate= Returned from RCN June 1945. Scrapped in August 1947 at [[Middlesbrough]].
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=Canada
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Canada|naval-1911}}
|Ship name= ''Snowberry''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship acquired= loaned from Royal Navy
|Ship commissioned= 15 May 1941
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship maiden voyage=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service= returned to Royal Navy 27 June 1945
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit= Forecastle extended at [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]] on 14 May 1943.
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=Pennant number: K166
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours= Atlantic 1941-44, Biscay 1943, English Channel 1945;<ref name=Britain>{{cite web |title= Battle Honours |url=http://www.britainsnavy.co.uk/Battle%20Honours/A%20Battle%20Honour%20Date.htm#1900 |website=Britain's Navy |access-date=24 August 2013}}</ref> Gulf of St. Lawrence 1944<ref name=veterans>{{cite web|title=Royal Canadian Warships – The Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence – Second World War|url=http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/battlegulf/canwarship|work=Veterans Affairs Canada|access-date=24 August 2013|archive-date=2 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902093911/http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/battlegulf/canwarship|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|Ship honors=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass2|Flower|corvette}} (original)<ref name=lenton>{{cite book|last=Lenton |first=H.T. |last2=Colledge |first2=J.J |year=1968 |title=British and Dominion Warships of World War II |publisher=Doubleday & Company |pages=201, 212 }}</ref>
|Ship displacement={{convert|925|LT|t ST|lk=in}}
|Ship length={{convert|205|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}[[Length overall|o/a]]
|Ship beam={{convert|33|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{convert|11.5|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*single shaft
*2 × fire tube Scotch boilers
*1 × 4-cycle triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine
*{{convert|2750|ihp|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed={{convert|16|kn|km/h|1}}
|Ship range={{convert|3500|nmi|km|0}} at {{convert|12|kn|km/h|1}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship complement=85
|Ship sensors=*1 × SW1C or 2C radar
*1 × Type 123A or Type 127DV sonar
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*1 × [[BL 4 inch Mk IX naval gun|BL {{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} Mk.IX gun]]
*2 × [[Vickers .50 machine gun|.50 cal machine gun (twin)]]
*2 × [[Lewis gun|Lewis .303 cal machine gun]] (twin)
*2 × Mk.II [[depth charge]] throwers
*2 × Depth charge rails with 40 depth charges
|Ship armour=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''HMCS ''Snowberry''''' was a {{sclass2|Flower|corvette}} that was originally built for the [[Royal Navy]], but spent most of the war in service with the [[Royal Canadian Navy]]. She fought primarily as a convoy escort during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. She served primarily in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]].

==Background==
{{main|Flower-class corvette}}
Flower-class corvettes like ''Snowberry'' serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ossian |first=Robert |url=http://www.thepirateking.com/ships/ship_types.htm |title=Complete List of Sailing Vessels |website=The Pirate King |access-date=13 April 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Fitzsimons |editor-first=Bernard |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons & Warfare |location=London |publisher=Phoebus |year=1978 |volume=11 |pages=1137–1142 }}</ref><ref name=Jane>{{cite book |title=Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II |location=New Jersey |publisher=Random House |year=1996 |isbn=0-517-67963-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/janesfightingshi00fran/page/68 68] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/janesfightingshi00fran/page/68 }}</ref> The "corvette" designation was created by the French for classes of smaller warships just below a frigate in size and power, but above a sloop or gunvessel; the Royal Navy borrowed the term for a period during the 19th Century, but discontinued its use after the 1880s, with the introduction of a new rating system for cruising warships.<ref>{{cite book |last=Blake |first=Nicholas |last2=Lawrence |first2=Richard |title=The Illustrated Companion to Nelson's Navy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I59v6rkg8egC&pg=PA39 |publisher=Stackpole Books |year=2005 |pages=39–63 |isbn=0-8117-3275-4}}</ref> During the hurried preparations for war in the late 1930s, [[Winston Churchill]] reactivated the corvette designation, needing a name for smaller ships used in an escort capacity, in this case based on a [[whaling ship]] design.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chesneau |first=Roger |last2=Gardiner |first2=Robert |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJBMBvyQ83EC&pg=PA62 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |date=June 1980 |page=62 |isbn=0-87021-913-8}}</ref> The generic name "flower" was used to designate the class of these ships, which – in the Royal Navy – were named after flowering plants.<ref name=Milner>{{cite book |title=North Atlantic Run |last=Milner |first=Marc |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=1985 |pages=117–119, 142–145, 158, 175–176, 226, 235, 285–291 |isbn=0-87021-450-0}}</ref>

==Construction==
''Snowberry'' was ordered by the Royal Navy (RN) 22 January 1940 as part of the 1939-1940 Flower-class building program. She was laid down by [[Davie Shipbuilding|George T. Davie & Sons Ltd.]] at [[Lauzon, Quebec|Lauzon]] on 24 February 1940 and launched on 8 August 1940.<ref name=uboat>{{cite web | url = http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/855.html | work = Uboat.net | title = HMCS ''Snowberry'' (K 166) | access-date = 24 August 2013}}</ref> She was commissioned into the RN on 26 November 1940. She sailed to the [[United Kingdom]] in February 1941 and was completed at [[Greenock]] in April 1941.<ref name=Macpherson>{{cite book |last=Macpherson |first=Ken |last2=Burgess |first2=John |year=1981 |title=The ships of Canada's naval forces 1910-1981 : a complete pictorial history of Canadian warships |publisher=Collins |location=Toronto|pages=86, 231–232 |isbn=0-00216-856-1}}</ref> On 15 May 1941 ''Snowberry'' was one of ten corvettes loaned to [[Canada]]. She could be told apart from other Canadian ''Flowers'' by her lack of minesweeping gear and the siting of the after gun tub amidships.<ref name=Macpherson2>{{cite book |last=Macpherson |first=Ken |last2=Milner |first2=Marc |year=1993 |title=Corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy 1939-1945|publisher=Vanwell Publishing |location=St. Catharines |isbn= 0-92027-783-7}}</ref>

During her career ''Snowberry'' had three significant refits. The first took place at [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]] beginning in December 1941 and taking six weeks to complete. Her second overhaul took place again at Charleston from March 1943 until 14 May 1943. In late March 1944 she went to [[Baltimore]], Maryland for a five-week refit.<ref name=Macpherson/>

==War service==

===Royal Navy===
After completing at Greenock and working up at [[Tobermory, Mull|Tobermory]], ''Snowberry'' was assigned to [[Western Approaches Command]]. In June 1941, she sailed for [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] after being loaned to the Royal Canadian Navy.<ref name=Macpherson/>

===Royal Canadian Navy===
Upon her arrival in Newfoundland in June 1941 she joined Newfoundland Command as a convoy escort between [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. John's]] and [[Iceland]]. From July to October 1941 she was deployed as such. She departed for a short refit and upon her return in February 1942 she was briefly deployed as an ocean escort once again.<ref name=Macpherson/>

In March 1942 ''Snowberry'' transferred to [[Western Local Escort Force]] (WLEF). In June 1942, after the U-boats had begun attacking oil tankers sailing along the North American coast, she joined the newly formed Tanker Escort Force. In September 1942 she was placed under American control escorting convoys between [[Guantánamo]] and [[New York City|New York]].<ref name=Macpherson/>

She returned to service after her second major refit in August 1943, when she was assigned to Royal Navy controlled escort group EG 5.<ref name=Macpherson/> On 23 August 1943 ''Snowberry'' as part of the 5th Support Group, was deployed to relieve the 40th Escort Group which was undertaking a U-boat hunt off [[Cape Ortegal]]. The warships of both groups were attacked by 14 [[Dornier Do 217]]s and 7 [[Junkers Ju 87]]s that were carrying a new weapon the [[Henschel Hs 293]] anti-ship guided missile. Several sailors were injured and killed in {{HMS|Bideford|L43|6}} (40th EG) but ''Snowberry'' escaped damage. Two days later, the 5th SG was relieved by the 1st Support Group and the warships of both groups were again attacked by 18 [[Dornier Do 217]]s also carrying Hs 293 weapons. {{HMCS|Athabaskan|G07|2}} was heavily damaged and {{HMS|Egret|L75|6}} was sunk but ''Snowberry'' again escaped damage.<ref name=uboat/>

On 20 November 1943 ''Snowberry'', along with {{HMS|Nene|K270|2}} and {{HMCS|Calgary|K231|2}}, [[depth charge]]d and sank {{GS|U-536||2}} northeast of the [[Azores]] at 43° 50N, 19° 39W.<ref name=uboat/>

When the group replaced its corvettes with frigates in March 1944, ''Snowberry'' departed for her final refit. After workups she was briefly assigned to WLEF again but transferred to Portsmouth Command in mid-September 1944. She remained with them until she was decommissioned by the Royal Canadian Navy.<ref name=Macpherson/>

==Post-war service==
''Snowberry'' was [[paid off]] from the RCN on 8 June 1945 when she was returned to the Royal Navy at [[Rosyth]]. In 1946 she was used as a target ship off [[Portsmouth]]. Her remains were sold for scrap and in August 1947 she was broken up at [[Middlesbrough]].<ref name=Macpherson/>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*[http://www.naval-museum.mb.ca/snowberry/index.htm The Naval Museum of Manitoba's page devoted to ''HMCS Snowberry''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050207022023/http://www.naval-museum.mb.ca/snowberry/index.htm |date=7 February 2005 }}.
*[http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/855.html Uboat.net page devoted to HMCS Snowberry].
*[http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hague/search3.php?query=Snowberry&Submit=Find+Vessel HMCS ''Snowberry'' on the Arnold Hague database at convoyweb.org.uk.]

==External links==
* [http://www.naval-museum.mb.ca/snowberry/crew_feb45.htm HMCS SNOWBERRY Ship's Company February 1945 – Portsmouth, England] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204075923/http://www.naval-museum.mb.ca/snowberry/crew_feb45.htm |date=4 February 2012 }}

{{Flower class corvette|original}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snowberry, HMCS}}
[[Category:Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy]]
[[Category:Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:1940 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Lévis]]

HMCS Snowberry - Revision history

imported>InternetArchiveBot: Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.9.5) (Whoop whoop pull up - 20256