HMS Meadowsweet - Info

[Muddyf]

I am looking at straying from my usual comfort zone of WW2 era aircraft and potentially straying into the murky waters of maritime.

 

Whilst going down a rabbit one day i came across this great image on the IWM site showing HMS Meadowsweet:

 

Now the main reason i am considering this is largely due to the fact Revell do a decent scaled ship (1/144 Flower Class HMCS Snowberry) and the fact that i tend to concentrate on things that are Bristol built or have a link (i.e. Beaufort's, Beaufighter's etc).

 

As a Bristol born and raised chap, i immediately recognised the area this photo was taken (the 'canopy' covered area behind the stern is the dry-dock in which the SS Great Britain now sits).

 

The ship was constructed in Bristol by Charles Hill & Son, who also built HMS Clematis (of chasing off Admiral Hipper fame).

 

So, to do a 'Bristol Built' i would like to build one of the 8 ships built during the war, with HMS Meadowsweet being the preferred option (as in this photo). Apart from a small wiki article, and this one photo i have not seen any other images of this ship. I therefore have a few questions:

 

a) Do other images exist? (i find at least two or three for her sister ships, but just the one for her)

 

b) Is she the same as all the other Flower's built by Charles Hill & Son (i.e. Clematis, Columbine, Lotus, Mimosa, Rockrose & Saxifrage)

 

c) Is she in the 'standard' colours used in western approaches camouflage?

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

 

  

Edited November 17, 2022 by Muddyf
spolling and grammer....

[robgizlu]

Hi Muddyf,

 

Your post well and truly woke me up ths morning!

In reverse order....

c)  IMHO she is definitely in standard Western Approaches camouflage

b) No - sadly - I'll come back to this

a) There is one other image that I can find on the web - shot with the same background so presumably at the same time as the IWM photo, showing her Stbd broadside.  It's an odd file format that I could not upload.

 

She is a "Modified Flower" - launched in March 1942, some of the shortcomings of the earlier Flowers were addressed.  The hardest thing to correct in modelling terms is the "flared" bow which differs substantially from ealier such as on Clematis.  It made for a dryer vessel.  The 4" gun platform is substantially raised and to compensate so is the bridge which appears in The "E" arrangement.  Her funnel is sloped backwards as per earlier types and she carries a 27ft whlaer on the Stbd side with a 2 pounder aft.  The logical conclusion to all of these modifications was to result iin the redesigned "Castle Class", with it's distinctive bow flare and squared transom.  Meadowsweet has the original "canoe" transom.

I have built the Revell 1/144, and the Mirage 1/350 Corvettes.  To convert either to Meadowseets morphology would be a substantial task and certainly beyond my skill set.  It's not impossible but it will be very involved   There are no commercial offerings that mimic this appearance that I'm aware of.

Other corvettes that roughly match her and are well photographed are HMS Vetch, HMCS Tamarisk, HMCS Charlock, HMS Lotus and HMCS Snowflake to name but a few.

Corvettes differed hugely being built throughout the early war years and at different yards and all of the above have differing bridge arrangements.  I think in part this gives them their individuality whilst making them a nightmare/delight to model

Sorry to be so negative

Regards

Rob

[Muddyf]

Thanks for the prompt reply,

 

The info regarding the fact she is a modified flower will probably mean i will change to one of her earlier sister ships (possibly Clematis or Columbine), as being a newbie to the wonderful world of maritime will put me off any substantial modifications. 

 

Its a pity, as i think she is a lovely looking ship with a fantastic camouflage scheme.

[Niall]

Check out the images section of this forum for inspiration on Flower Class builds -

 

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/theflowerclasscorvetteforums/

 

 

[Muddyf]

Thanks for the link,

 

I have found that wonderful little resource. Some nice photos on there of my target ships (now narrowed down to the 'C's, Clematis - K36, Columbine - K94 and Convolvulus - K45).