USS Surprise (PG-63)

USS Surprise (PG-63)
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Heliotrope
Namesake	Heliotrope (flower)
Builder	John Crown & Sons Ltd, Sunderland
Laid down	23 October 1939
Launched	5 June 1940
Commissioned	12 September 1940
Decommissioned	24 March 1942
Identification	Pennant number: K03
Fate	Transferred to United States Navy
United States
Name	Surprise
Acquired	24 March 1942
Commissioned	24 March 1942
Decommissioned	20 August 1945
Stricken	17 September 1945
Identification	Hull number: PG-63
Fate	Returned to Royal Navy 26 August 1945
United Kingdom
Name	Heliotrope
Acquired	26 August 1945
Fate	Sold into civilian service, 1947
People's Republic of China
Name	Linyi
Namesake	Linyi
Acquired	1949
Commissioned	1949
Decommissioned	1972
Fate	Scrapped after retirement
General characteristics
Type	Patrol gunboat
Displacement	925 long tons (940 t) (normal) 1,375 long tons (1,397 t) (full load)[1]
Length	205 ft 2 in (62.53 m)
Beam	33 ft (10 m)
Draft	14 ft 7 in (4.45 m)
Installed power	2,750 ihp (2,050 kW)[2]
Propulsion	1 × vertical triple expansion steam engine 2 × boilers [3] 1 × screw
Speed	16.5 kn (19.0 mph; 30.6 km/h)
Complement	87 officers and enlisted men
Armament	1 × 4 in (100 mm) gun 1 × 3 in (76 mm) gun 2 × 20 mm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft autocannons 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar 2 × depth charge racks 4 × depth charge projectors[4]

USS Surprise (PG-63), the fourth American naval ship of the name, was a Temptress-class patrol gunboat during World War II. She was built as the British Flower-class corvette HMS Heliotrope, and was in service with the Royal Navy during the first years of the Battle of the Atlantic. She was loaned to and operated by the United States Navy from 1942 to 1945. After World War II, she was sold as a merchant vessel and ended her life in the Chinese navy as Lin I.