HMS La Malouine (K46) - After PQ-17 To 1945

After PQ-17 To 1945

Following her return from Russia, in September 1942, La Malouine found herself back in the Mediterranean undertaking 4 more convoys before the end of the year.

1943 began with La Malouine escorting convoy KMS.6G during which, on 6 January, east of Algiers, the Benalbanach was lost along with approximately 400 lives. The period from January to June 1943 was spent escorting convoys from Freetown to Liverpool. Whilst escorting convoy OS.45, on 2 April, La Malouine picked up some of the 53 survivors from the torpedoed merchantman Katha, 515 kilometers (320 mi) west of Oporto. From June 1943 La Malouine returned to the Mediterranean where she escorted a further 11 convoys in addition to the six already undertaken in the first half of the year.

During 1944 La Malouine undertook escort duty on 14 convoys, covering both trans-Atlantic and Mediterranean routes. On 16 April whilst en route to Port Said La Malouine assisted in the rescue of 72 crew from the liberty ship Meyer London which had been attacked and sunk with an aerial torpedo.

Records indicate that La Malouine undertook two convoys in 1945 the last of which was from Liverpool to Gibraltar in May of that year.