Buttercup - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945 (original) (raw)
Buttercup Corvette
Updated June 19-2008
Tonnage: 925 displ. t.
Built bu Harland & Wolff Ltd., Belfast in 1941.
5 British built Flower class corvettes were taken over by the Norwegian Navy in Gt. Britain. They were Montbretia, Eglantine, Acanthus and Rose in 1941, and Potentilla in Jan.-1942. The Norwegian navy was to be responsible for supplying the crews, their salary, food and uniforms, while other expenses were to be paid by Royal Navy. They were used as escorts in the North Atlantic and carried out over 80 attacks against U-boats. When Potentilla was returned to Royal Navy in March of 1944, it was replaced by a Castle class corvette, which was named Tunsberg Castle under the Norwegian flag. Buttercup, also Flower class, was transferred after the loss of Tunsberg Castle in 1944. Follow the links for details on each corvette.
Related item on this website:
Guestbook message - From the son of someone who served on Buttercup. He had previously survived the sinking of Rose.
Please keep in mind that she did not come under the Norwegian flag until the end of Dec.-1944.
| Follow the convoy links provided for more details on them - the links in bold text go to pages on my own website. * The ON and ONS convoys mentioned below will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section ; in the meantime, the ships sailing in them are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys and the page for ships in ONS convoys . All the KMS convoys will also be added, but for now, see the section listing ships in all KMS convoys. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Convoy: | Dates present: | Convoy departed and arrived: | |
| 1942 | ON 97* | May 22-June 2 | From Liverpool May 22, to Halifax June 5 |
| OT 11 (external link) | June 24-June 27 | From Curacao June 24, to Trinidad June 27 | |
| TAW 2 (external link) | July 5-July 14 | From Trinidad July 5, to Key West July 14 | |
| WAT 6 (external link) | July 17-July 26 | From Key West July 17, to Trinidad July 26 | |
| TAW 10 (external link) | July 31-Aug. 9 | From Trinidad July 31, to Key West Aug. 9 | |
| WAT 14 (external link) | Aug. 13-Aug. 23 | From Key West Aug. 13, to Trinidad Aug. 23 | |
| GN 19 (external link) | Nov. 11-Nov. 17 | From Guantanamo Nov. 11, to New York City Nov. 17 | |
| NG 325 (external link) | Nov. 28-Dec. 6 | From New York City Nov. 28, to Guantanamo Dec. 6 | |
| GN 26 (external link) | Dec. 9-Dec. 18 | From Guantanamo Dec. 9, to New York City Dec. 18 | |
| HX 220 | Dec. 21-Dec. 26 | From New York City Dec. 21-1942, to Liverpool Jan. 9-1943 | |
| 1943 | HX 221 | Jan. 5-Jan. 14 | From New York City Dec. 29-1942, to Liverpool Jan. 14-1943 |
| ON 168* | Febr. 22-March 6 | From Liverpool Febr. 21, dispersed March 12 | |
| SC 122 | March 12-March 23 | From New York City March 5, to Liverpool March 24 | |
| SC 126 | Apr. 10-Apr. 23 | From Halifax Apr. 8, to Liverpool Apr. 23 | |
| ONS 7* | May 8-May 21 | From Liverpool May 7, to Halifax May 25 | |
| SC 132 | May 29-June 11 | From Halifax May 26, to Liverpool June 11 | |
| UA 2 (external link) | Sept. 30-Oct. 9 | From Clyde Sept. 30, to Azores Oct. 9 | |
| KMS 30* | Oct. 26-Oct. 28 | From Liverpool Oct. 17, to Gibraltar Oct. 31 | |
| ON 214* | Dec. 3-Dec. 13 | From Liverpool Dec. 2, to New York City Dec. 20 | |
| SC 149 | Dec. 19-Dec. 29 | From Halifax Dec. 15, to Liverpool Dec. 30 | |
| 1944 | ONS 27* | Jan. 14-Jan 28 | From Liverpool Jan. 13, to Halifax Jan. 31 |
| HX 277 | Febr. 2-Febr. 12 | From New York City Jan. 28, to Liverpool Febr. 13 | |
| ON 225* | Febr. 22-March 2 | From Liverpool Febr. 22, to New York City March 8 | |
| HX 282 | March 11-March 21 | From New York City March 6, to Liverpool March 22 | |
| ON 252* | Sept. 8- | From Liverpool Sept. 7, to New York City Sept. 22 | |
| HX 310 | Sept. 26-Oct. 5 | From New York City Sept. 21, to Liverpool Oct. 5 | |
| ON 260* | Oct. 17-Oct. 27 | From Southend Oct. 15-to Halifax Oct. 30 | |
| SC 160 | Nov. 6-Nov. 17 | From Halifax Nov. 2, to Liverpool Nov. 17 | |
| HX 321 | Dec. 4-Dec. 7 | From New York City Nov. 19, to Liverpool Dec. 5 | |
| 1945 | ON 285* | Febr. 17-Febr. 27 | From Southend Febr. 16, to New York City March 5 |
| SC 169 (external link) | March 11-March 21 | From Halifax March 7, to Liverpool March 21 | |
| ON 294* | Apr. 3-Apr. 16 | From Southend Apr. 1, to New York City Apr. 20-1945 | |
| SC 173 (external link) | Apr. 22-May 4 | From Halifax Apr. 18, to Liverpool May 4 |
Jan-Olof has told me that according to Lenton & Colledge she became mercantile Nordkyn in 1946, Thoris in 1957 (Thor Dahl whale catcher). According to a posting to my Ship Forum she was handed over first to RBN (Belgian Navy) in Febr.-1942, then in Dec-1944 became Nordkyn(?) for the Norwegian Navy and purchased by same in 1946, pendant F 309. Axel Kuehn, the poster of this message adds that the 1946 sale might have been reported erroneously as a civilian sale (which might explain Lenton & Colledge's entries). I've only seen this corvette referred to as Buttercup, not Nordkyn, in Norwegian books. See also my query which has several responses. This one might also be of interest.
Atle Wilmar, Norway has given me the following dates:
Came under Norwegian command in Liverpool on Dec. 20-1944, "ready for war" Febr. 15-1945. After the war was over in Norway, she arrived Oslo on May-15-1945, purchased in 1946, renamed Nordkyn on Aug. 10-1946.
Related external links:
Convoy escort movements - Lists the escort movements of all escorts during the war (including Buttercup).
Back to Buttercup on the "Ships starting with B" page.
The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, and misc. (ref. My sources).
| Aa–Al | An–Ar | As–Av | Ba | Be | Bi–Bl | Bo | Br–Bu | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E | F | G | Ha | He | Hi–Hy | Hø | I | J | K |
| L | M | N | O | PQ | R | Sa–Sc | Se–Sj | Sk–Sn | So |
| Sp–St | Su–Sø | Ta–Te | Th–Ti | To | Tr–Tø | U | V | W | Ø |