Laburnum served around the British Empire before becoming a Singapore drill ship in 1935 and surviving there until the city's fall in 1942. Her career shows how a simple wartime hull could become a training and station asset long after its original minesweeping role. During the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, Veronica's working radio summoned outside aid. The seabed rose beneath her and badly damaged the hull, yet her crew continued relief work and the ship returned to service for several more years.
Notable Point · 38:30-40:18
Veronica and Laburnum in long service
Two Flower-class careers show how adaptable sloops remained valuable as station, training, communications, and disaster-response ships decades later.