| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | MS Trawler |
| Class | [No specific class] |
| Pennant | T 31 |
| Built by | Cochrane & Sons Shipbuilders Ltd. (Selby, U.K.) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | |
| Launched | 15 Mar 1930 |
| Commissioned | 15 Jun 1939 |
| End service | |
| History | Completed in April 1930. Sold in January 1948. |
Commands listed for HMS Magnolia (T 31)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt.Cdr. (retired) William Henry Harris, RN | 14 Jul 1939 | 7 Dec 1939 |
| 2 | Lt. (retired) William Marks, RN | 7 Dec 1939 | 11 Mar 1940 |
| 3 | Lt. William Henry Calveley, RN | 11 Mar 1940 | 18 Dec 1940 |
| 4 | T/Lt. John Farbridge Foggitt, RNVR | 18 Dec 1940 | 2 Nov 1941 |
| 5 | T/Lt. J Barron, RNVR | 2 Nov 1941 | 8 Nov 1941 |
| 6 | T/Lt. Thomas Arnold Steele Drake, RNVR | 8 Nov 1941 | 14 Mar 1942 |
| 7 | Lt. Francis Reginald Bruce Moss, RANVR | 14 Mar 1942 | 22 Jun 1942 |
| 8 | T/Lt. John Stanley Dawe, RNVR | 22 Jun 1942 | 7 Sep 1942 |
| 9 | T/Lt. Stanley Reginald Brown, RNVR | 7 Sep 1942 | Nov 1944 |
| 10 | T/Lt. Ronald Adamson, RNVR | Nov 1944 | 2 Jun 1945 |
| 11 | T/Lt Herbert Assheton Craven-Smith-Milnes, RANVR | 2 Jun 1945 | late 1945 |
You can help improve our commands section
Click here to Submit events/comments/updates for this vessel.
Please use this if you spot mistakes or want to improve this ships page.
Notable events involving Magnolia include:
17 Apr 1944
HMS Stoic (Lt. P.B. Marriott, DSO, RN) departed Trincomalee for her 3rd war patrol (2nd in the Far East). She was ordered to patrol in the Malacca Straits and to the North of Sumatra. She was also to conduct a special operation. She was escorted out by HMS Magnolia (T/Lt. S.R. Brown, RNVR).
No logs are available for this period so no map can be displayed. (1)
24 Apr 1944
HMS Templar (Lt. T.G. Ridgeway, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Trincomalee, first with
HrMs Tromp (A/Capt. F. Stam, RNN) and then with HMS Magnolia (T/Lt. S.R. Brown, RNVR). (2)
26 Apr 1944
Around 0850FG/26, HMS Templar (Lt. T.G. Ridgeway, RN) departed from Trincomalee for her 9th war patrol (6th in the Far East). She is to patrol off the north-west coast of Sumatra. She is also to undertake two special operations (Operations Residency and Sugar Loaf).
She was escorted out by HMS Magnolia (T/Lt. S.R. Brown, RNVR).
At 1300FG/26, A/S exercises were commenced with HMAS Napier (Lt.Cdr. A.H. Green, DSC, RAN) and HMAS Nizam (Cdr. C.H. Brooks, RAN). These lasted until around 1720FG/26 when HMS Templar set course to proceed on patrol. (3)
28 May 1944
HMS Sea Rover (Lt. J.P. Angell, RN) ended her 4th war patrol (3rd in the Far East) at Trincomalee. She was to be escorted in by HMS Magnolia (T/Lt. S.R. Brown, RNVR) but no contact could be made with this escort. Sea Rover then proceeded to Trincomlaee independently. (4)
3 Mar 1945
HMS Thrasher (Lt.Cdr. M.F.R. Ainslie, DSO, DSC, RN) departed from Trincomalee for her 18th war patrol (2nd in the Far East). She was ordered to carry out a special operation followed by in the Northern end of the Malacca Strait. On departure gunnery exercises were carried out on a target towed by HMS Magnolia (T/Lt. R. Adamson, RNVR). (5)
19 Apr 1945
HMS Strongbow (Lt. J.A.R. Troup, DSC, RN) departed Trincomalee for her 6th war patrol (5th in the Far East). She was ordered to perform a weather reporting patrol in the Bay of Bengal and just South of the Bay of Bengal. Before proceeding on patrol exercises were carried out with HMS Magnolia (T/Lt. R. Adamson, RNVR).
Capt. S.2, of the Submarine Flotilla Strongbow was a member of, considered her fit for operations after her repairs. The Admiralty however decided otherwise. Strongbow was sent on a weather reporting mission before proceeding back to the U.K. for refit. In fact the refit would never materialise and she was sold for scrap after the war. (6)
6 May 1945
HMS Sibyl (Lt. H.R. Murray, RN) conducted exercises off Trincomalee. The included a practice attack on HMS Magnolia (T/Lt. R. Adamson, RNVR). (7)
Sources
- ADM 199/1869
- ADM 173/18985
- ADM 199/1863
- ADM 199/1871
- ADM 199/1867
- ADM 173/19750
- ADM 173/19652
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.