HMS Rockrose (K-51)

From uboat.net.

This was the ship that initially rescued Farris Burton after he was torpedoed and sunk on the SS Firethorn.

Commissioned 4 November 1941.  Sent to the South African Navy in 1947 and broken up in 1967.

This ship had quite a busy October 1942.

8 OCTOBER:  Picked up 42 survivors of the SS Chickasaw City, torpedoed and sunk 7 October by U-172 about 85 miles from Cape Town, South Africa.

8 OCTOBER:  Picked up 28 survivors of SS Firethorn, torpedoed and sunk the previous day by U-172 near Cape Town.

10 OCTOBER:  Picked up 5 survivors from Pantellis sunk two days earlier by U-172 by Cape Town.  Wikipedia says there were 28 rescued.

29 OCTOBER:  British merchant ship Ross torpedoed and sunk by U-159 near Cape Agulhas, South Africa.  39 survivors picked up by the HMS Rockrose.

--GreGen