Azalea-class sloop

The Azalea class of twelve minesweeping sloops were built under the Emergency War Programme for the Royal Navy in World War I as part of the larger Flower class, which were also referred to as the Cabbage class, or "Herbaceous Borders". The third batch of twelve ships to be ordered, in May 1915, they differed from the preceding Acacia class only in mounting a heavier armament, with either 4.7-inch (119 mm) or 4-inch (102 mm) guns instead of the 12-pounder guns of the earlier class.

HMS Azalea
Class overview
Name: Azalea class
Operators:  Royal Navy
Built: 1915
In commission: 1915–1935
Completed: 12
Lost: 2
General characteristics
Type: Minesweeper
Displacement: 1,250 tons
Length:
  • 255 ft 3 in (77.80 m) p/p
  • 267 ft 9 in (81.61 m) o/a
Beam: 33 ft 6 in (10.21 m)
Draught: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)
Propulsion:
  • 1 × 4-cylinder triple expansion engine
  • 2 × cylindrical boilers
  • 1 screw
Speed: 17 knots (31 km/h)
Range: 2,000 nmi (3,700 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h) with max. 260 tons of coal
Complement: 79 men
Armament: 2 × 1 – QF 4 inch Mk IV guns, BL 4 inch Mk IX guns or QF 4.7 inch Mk IV guns and 2 × 1 – 3-pounders (47 mm) AA. A few had no 3-pounders.

They were single-screw fleet sweeping vessels (sloops) with triple hulls at the bows to give extra protection against loss when working.

Ships
  • HMS Azalea — built by Barclay Curle & Company, Whiteinch, launched 10 September 1915. Sold for breaking up 1 February 1923.
  • HMS Begonia — built by Barclay Curle, launched 26 August 1915. Became Q-Ship from 9 August 1917 as Q10 (SS Dolcis Jessop), sunk in collision with German submarine U-151 off Casablanca in Atlantic 2 October 1917.
  • HMS Camellia — built by Bow, McLachlan and Company, Paisley, launched 25 September 1915. Sold for breaking up 15 January 1923.
  • HMS Carnation — built by Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Company, Greenock, launched 6 September 1915. Sold for breaking up 14 January 1922.
  • HMS Clematis — built by Greenock & Grangemouth, launched 29 July 1915. Sold for breaking up 5 February 1931.
  • HMS Heliotrope — built by Lobnitz & Company, Renfrew, launched 10 September 1915. Sold for breaking up 7 January 1935.
  • HMS Jessamine — built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend, launched 9 September 1915. Sold for breaking up 21 December 1922.
  • HMS Myrtle — built by Lobnitz and Company, Renfrew, launched 11 October 1915. Mined in Gulf of Finland 16 July 1919.
  • HMS Narcissus — built by Napier & Miller, Old Kilpatrick, launched 22 September 1915. Sold for breaking up 6 September 1922.
  • HMS Peony — built by Archibald McMillan & Son, Dumbarton, launched 27 October 1915. Sold out of service 20 August 1919, becoming mercantile Ardena.
  • HMS Snowdrop — built by McMillan, launched 7 October 1915. Sold for breaking up 15 January 1923.
  • HMS Zinnia — built by Swan Hunter, launched 12 August 1915. Sold to Belgian Navy 19 April 1920, retaining same name.

References
  • Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I, Janes Publishing, 1919
  • The Grand Fleet, Warship Design and Development 1906–1922, D. K. Brown, Chatham Publishing, 1999, ISBN 1-86176-099-X
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