HMS Rhododendron (K78)

HMS Rhododendron was a that served with the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She served as an ocean escort in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Background
The ship was commissioned on 19 September 1939 by Harland and Wolff from Belfast in Northern Ireland. The ship's keel was laid on 22 May 1940, and the ship was launched on 2 September. The ship was commissioned in about one month later, on 18 October.

War Service
On 21 November 1940, Rhododendron attacked the German U-Boat U-103 with depth charges. Although U-103 escaped unscathed, this attack led to the incorrect claim that Rhododendron had sunk U-104. That same day, she picked up 36 survivors from the merchant ship Daydawn, which earlier that day had been sank by U-103. On 17 January 17, 1941, she detonated a mine in Liverpool harbor. This resulted in her being out of service for three months. On 28 July 1941, she picked up 26 survivors from the Lapland, a merchant which was torpedoed by U-203. On 4 July 1943, she picked up more than 300 survivors from several merchant ships which were torpedoed by German submarines U-409 and U-375 off of Algeria.

Fate
She was sold in 1950 to a shipping company, where she was turned into the merchant Maj Finke. She was sold for demolition in South Africa in 1968.