< Temptress PG-62

Temptress PG-62

 

Temptress

(PG-62: dp. 925; 1. 205'2", b. 33'0" dr. 16'3" (mean)
s. 16.5 k. (tl.); cgl. 87; a. 1 4", 1 3 '; cl. Temptress)

HMS Veronica (K 37)—a "Flower"-class corvette— was laid down early in 1940 at Middlesboro, England, by Smith's Dock Co., Ltd., and launched on 17 October 1940. After serving the Royal Navy in the Atlantic the ship was transferred to the United States on 16 February 1942, renamed Temptress and designated PG-62 the same day; and commissioned in England by the United States Navy on 21 March 1942.

Through the end of March and the first week in April, Temptress completed shakedown training in British waters. Late in April, she put to sea with convoy ON 85 bound for the United States. Upon arrival in the United States, the gunboat reported for duty to the Commander, Eastern Sea Frontier. For the remainder of her career, Temptress cruised along the eastern coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. She escorted convoys between various points along the Atlantic seaboard from New York to Key West, Fla., as well as to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

After a short tour of duty in the 3d Naval District training NROTC midshipmen early in the summer of 1945, Temptress reported to the Commandant, 1st Naval District, on 7 July for final disposition. On 1 August she cleared Boston and, after stopping at Ponta Delgada, Azores, overnight on the 8th and 9th, arrived in Great Britain on 14 August. Temptress was placed out of commission on 20 August 1945 at Chatham, England, and returned to the Royal Navy six days later. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 19 September 1945. The ship was sold in 1946 and entered mercantile service as Verolock. Sunk in January 1947, the ship was subsequently raised and scrapped at Blyth, England, in 1951.