Former British corvette HMS Clover serving as Communist Chinese warship in the 1950s

Kai Feng©Warshipsresearch.blogspot.com

Flower-clas corvetteWarshipsresearch.blogspot.com

Sketch dated October 1953

Part of Flower-class corvettes succeeded by Castle-class. Ordered on 25 July 1939, laid down by Fleming&Ferguson Ltd., Paisly, Scotland on 29 July 1940, launched on 30 January 1941, commissioned on 13 May 1941, sold to merchant shipping on 17 May 1947, renamed ss Cloverlock, later sold to People’s Republic of China and renamed as frigate Kai Feng. Stricken in 1989?

Senator McCarthy supplies some background informate about her fate after the Second World War: “I do not intend to take the time of the Senate except for another minute or two togive the Senate a picture of the viciousness of these deals. I should like to recite the facts in one instance. There is a British company in Hong Kong called the Wheelock-Marden Co. That company obtained a British corvette. The name of it was the Clover. The Wheelock-MardenCo.removed the guns and transformed the ship into a transport vessel. After the war with Korea started Britain had a rule tot he effect that British firms could not sell any ship to the Communists. They found a good way to get around that, not only in this case but in many others. They chartered the boat to the Communists. They charged them the first year the value of the ship. It still carried the British flag, but was owned by Red China. What happened in th ecase of this corvette? It was chartered to the Communists, and the name was changed to Cloverlock. This has been proved by the Defense Department. The ship was reconverted to a gunboat, so that all during the Communist war and as of today, the Cloverlock, a ship under British registry, is a gunboat, a fighting ship of the Communists, and, being under British registry, it of necessity carries the British flag. I merely mention it to show the viciousness of this dealing in blood money.”

McCarthy referred in his speach to the Defense Department. There is at leat one CIA document which reverred to this ship. On 19 October 1953 were Communist Chinese warships described at Tsingtao. One was one vessel, believed to be the former Cloverlock arrived at Tsingtao and even supplying a sketch of her.

Sources

Congressional Record. Proceedings and debates of the 83rd Congress First Session-volume 99-part 8-Senate 29 July 1953, pages 10323-10324.

Jane’s Fighting ships several editions.

CIA-rdp80-00810a002600100005-7 dated 19 October 1953.