HMS Tamarisk (K216)

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

Tombazis (Greek: ΒΠ Τομπάζης) was a Greek corvette of the Flower class, originally the British HMS Tamarisk. It was one of four corvettes of this type transferred to Greece during World War II.

History
United Kingdom
Name	Tamarisk
Ordered	24 October 1940
Builder	Fleming and Ferguson, Northern Ireland
Laid down	10 February 1941
Launched	28 July 1941
Commissioned	26 December 1941
Fate	Transferred to Greece
Greece
Name	Tombazis
Decommissioned	1952
Fate	Returned to UK, scrapped on 20 March 1952
General characteristics
Class and type	Flower-class corvette
Displacement	940 t (930 long tons)
Length	62.48 m (205 ft 0 in)
Beam	10.06 m (33 ft 0 in)
Draught	3.51 m (11 ft 6 in)
Installed power	2,750 hp (2,050 kW)
Propulsion	triple expansion steam engine
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range	3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Endurance	fuel oil — 230 t (230 long tons; 250 short tons)
Complement	85

Name

The ship was named after Iakovos Tombazis (Greek: Ιάκωβος Τομπάζης, 1782–1829), a merchant and shipowner, the first commander of the revolutionary fleet during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829).

Service

In November 1943, the command of the corvette was assumed by commander Georgios Panayotopoulos. Tombazis provided convoy escort in the Atlantic and participated in the Normandy landings alongside the Greek Flower-class corvette Kriezis. During the first 20 days of the landings, Tombazis escorted seven convoys from Portsmouth, England to Normandy.

From 25 June to 7 July 1944, Tombazis escorted seven convoys along the route from Wales to the Cornwall peninsula, and from then until 10 August, she escorted nine more convoys from Portsmouth to Normandy.

Tombazis also participated in landing operations in southern France.

In 1952, the ship was returned to the United Kingdom and scrapped in the same year.