HMS Zinnia (1915)

HMS Zinnia was an Azalea-class minesweeping sloop of the Royal Navy, built in 1915 at the Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson yard, at Wallsend in the United Kingdom.It was sold to Belgium on 19 April 1920 to join their new Corps of Destroyers and Sailors.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Zinnia.
History
United Kingdom
Class and type: Azalea-class sloop
Name: HMS Zinnia
Builder: Swan Hunter
Launched: 12 August 1915
Fate: Sold to Belgium 19 April 1920
History
Belgium
Name: Zinnia
Fate: Captured by Germany, 1940
History
Germany
Name: Barbara
Fate: Surrendered to Allies 1945
History
Belgium
Name: Breydel
Fate: Scrapped 1952
General characteristics
Displacement: 1,250 long tons (1,270 t)
Length: 262 ft 6 in (80.01 m) o/a
Beam: 33 ft (10.06 m)
Draught: 11 ft (3.35 m)
Propulsion:
  • 1 × triple expansion engine
  • 2 × cylindrical boilers
  • 1 × propeller
Speed: 17.5 kn (20.1 mph; 32.4 km/h)
Complement: 90
Armament: 2 × QF 4.7 inch Mk IV guns and 2 × 1 - 3-pounders (47 mm) AA.

Design and construction

The Azalea-class was based on the previous Acacia-class, but with a heavier gun armament.[1][lower-alpha 1] They were designed at the start of the First World War as relatively fast minesweepers that could also carry out various miscellaneous duties in support of the fleet such as acting as dispatch vessels or carrying out towing operations, but as the war continued and the threat from German submarines grew, became increasingly involved in anti-submarine duties.[2][3]

Zinnia was 262 ft 6 in (80.01 m) long overall and 250 ft (76.20 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 33 ft (10.06 m) and a draught of 11 ft (3.35 m).[4] Displacement was 1,200 long tons (1,200 t) normal.[5] Two cylindrical boilers fed steam to a triple expansion steam engine rated at 1,800 ihp (1,300 kW), giving a speed of 16.5 kn (19.0 mph; 30.6 km/h).[1][6] Zinnia had a main armament of two 4.7 inch (120 mm) guns, with two 3-pounder (47 mm) anti-aircraft guns also carried.[5][7] She had a crew of 90 officers and other ranks.[1]

Zinnia was ordered on 4 May 1915.[8] She was built by Swan Hunter at their Wallsend shipyard and was launched on 12 August 1915,[4] and was completed on 25 September 1915.[8]

Service

First World War

Following commissioning, Zinnia joined the First Sloop Flotilla, based at Queenstown (now Cobh).[9][10] On 28 March 1916, Zinnia spotted the German submarine U-44 63 nautical miles (72 mi; 117 km) ESE of the Fastnet Rock, shooting twice at the submarine, which dived away unharmed, Zinnia's shells falling short.[11] On 29 March, U-44 torpedoed the sloop Begonia, which did not sink. Zinnia and sister ship Snowdrop were ordered to go to Begonia's aid, and the damaged sloop was towed into Queenstown.[12] On 20 April 1916, Zinnia came across the German submarine U-69, south-west of Ireland, just after U-69 had sunk the steamer Cairngowan, forcing the submarine to dive away, and dropped two depth charges, but U-69 was unharmed.[13] On 23 October 1916, the sloop Genista was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine U-57 120 nmi (140 mi; 220 km) west of Cape Clear Island. Zinnia and Camellia were ordered out from Queenstown to pick up her survivors, but at first failed to find them, and were joined by the cruiser Adventure. Eventually, 12 survivors were picked up.[14]

On 8 March 1917, Zinnia encountered a German submarine, possibly U-53, off Fastnet, and opened fire, claiming an apparent hit on the submarine.[7][lower-alpha 2] On 28 March 1917, Zinnia was escorting the tanker Gasfa 15 nmi (17 mi; 28 km) out of Queenstown when the submarine U-57 torpedoed and sunk Gasfa. Zinnia retaliated with two depth charges, which the submarine's crew considered "uncomfortably close", but the submarine escaped. Seven of Gasfa's crew were killed in the attack, with the remainder rescued by Zinnia.[15] On 3 May 1917, the German submarine U-62 torpedoed the British steamer Frederick Knight West of Ireland. Zinnia came to Frederick Knight's assistance, forcing the submarine to submerge, but could not stop the submarine torpedoing the merchant ship again, sinking Frederick Knight. The next day, U-62 stopped the Danish barque Jörgen Olsen, and attempted to sink the sailing vessel with gunfire. Zinnia again interrupted U-62, opening fire and forcing the submarine to submerge. Jörgen Olsen remained afloat and was towed into Berehaven.[16] On 7 June 1917, the Q-ship Pargust was on patrol off the south coast of Ireland when she was torpedoed by the German submarine UC-29. Part of Pargust's crew abandoned ship as a "panic party", in order to tempt the submarine to surface, which UC-29 did after thirty minutes. Pargust then opened fire, sinking UC-29. Zinnia, the sloop Crocus and the American destroyer USS Cushing came to the assistance of Pargust which was kept afloat by her cargo of timber, with Crocus towing Pargust into Queenstown, with Zinnia and Cushing in escort.[17][18] On 20 August 1917, Zinnia collided with the American destroyer Benham, badly damaging the American ship, which was towed into Queenstown by Zinnia.[19]

Zinnia remained part of the First Sloop Flotilla at the end of the war.[20][21]

Belgium

On 19 April 1920, Belgium bought the Zinnia as a fishery protection vessel,[22] acquiring her without armament,[23] although by 1923 she was listed as carrying one 4.7 inch gun and three 12-pounder (76 mm) guns.[24] Belgium disbanded its Navy as a military force in 1927, but Zinnia remained in use as a civilian-manned fishery protection vessel.[25]

In May 1940, as Belgium fell to advancing German forces, the ship was seized by the German Army at the port of Ostende.[26] She was reconstructed at the Antwerp shipyard of the Belgian shipbuilders Cockerill as an artillery training ship, with the forward well deck of the ship filled in to give a long forecastle that ran most of the length of the ship, an rebuilt superstructure and a new armament, and renamed Barbara.[25] This armament consisted of a single 10.5 cm SK L/45 naval gun forward, and a heavy close-in anti-aircraft armament of one 3.7 cm SK C/30 gun and ten 2 cm guns.[26] Barbara served with the Naval Anti-Aircraft and Coastal Artillery School from January 1942, and from June 1943, served with the Navy anti-aircraft school at the port of Swinemünde, in addition to acting as a support ship for a flotilla of R boats (motor minesweepers).[26]

The ship was recaptured in October 1945 by the British, and was returned to Belgium at the port of Ostend by a crew of the Royal Navy Belgian Section. It was reassigned to the Belgian Navy and the 105mm gun was removed.

In 1946, when the Belgian Navy was reformed, the ship was renamed Breydel and resumed its activity as a fishery protection vessel in 1947. Too dilapidated to carry out the new tasks of the Belgian Navy, it was retired in 1949 and scrapped in 1950.

Notes
  1. Together with the following Arabis-class, Aubrietia-class and Anchusa-class, these classes were collectively known as Flower-class sloops.
  2. U-53, if it was the submarine involved, survived the encounter unharmed and continued her patrol.[7]

References
  1. Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 94
  2. Gardiner & Gray 1985, pp. 3, 94
  3. Brown 2010, pp. 136–137
  4. Dittmar & Colledge 1972, p. 94
  5. Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 95
  6. Brown 2010, p. 137
  7. Naval Staff Monograph No. 34 1933, p. 290
  8. Dorling 1935, p. 364
  9. "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands, &c.: III.—Miscellaneous Ships in Home Waters or on Detached Service". The Navy List. October 1915. p. 14. Retrieved 7 July 2019 – via National Library of Scotland.
  10. "Ships of the Royal Navy - Location/Action Data, 1914–1918: Admiralty "Pink Lists", 1 January 1916". Naval-history.net. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  11. Naval Staff Monograph No. 31 1926, pp. 109, 241
  12. Naval Staff Monograph No. 31 1926, pp. 110, 241
  13. Naval Staff Monograph No. 31 1926, p. 120
  14. Naval Staff Monograph No. 33 1927, pp. 176–177
  15. Naval Staff Monograph No. 34 1933, pp. 307–309
  16. Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, p. 20
  17. Kemp 1997, p. 29
  18. Chatterton 1922, pp. 200–203
  19. Blazich, Frank A. "United States Navy and World War I: 1914–1922". Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  20. "Ships of the Royal Navy - Location/Action Data, 1914–1918: Admiralty "Pink Lists", 11 November 1918". Naval-history.net. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  21. "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands, &c.: IX.—Coast of Ireland Station". The Navy List. December 1918. p. 18. Retrieved 8 July 2020 – via National Library of Scotland.
  22. Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 411
  23. Parkes & Prendergast 1920, p. 454
  24. Richardson & Hurd 1923, p. 354
  25. Gardiner & Chesneau 1980, p. 385
  26. Gröner, Jung & Maass 1988, p. 112
  • Brown, D. K. (2010). The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906–1922. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-085-7.
  • Chatterton, E. Keble (1922). Q-Ships and their Story. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, Ltd.
  • Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
  • Dorling, Taprell (1935). Swept Channels: Being and Account of the Work of the Minesweepers in the Great War. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger, eds. (1980). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  • Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1988). Die deutschen Kriegschiff 1815–1945: Band 5: Hilfschiffe II: Lazarettschiffe, Wohnschiffe, Schulschiffe, Forschungsfahrzeuge, Hafenbetriebsfahrzeuge (I) (in German). Koblenz, Germany: Bernard & Graefe Verlag. ISBN 3-7637-4804-0.
  • Kemp, Paul (1997). U-Boats Destroyed: German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. London. ISBN 1-85409-321-5.
  • Monograph No. 31: Home Waters Part VI.: October 1915 to May 1916 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). XV. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1926.
  • Monograph No. 33: Home Waters Part VII.: June 1916 to November 1916 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). XVII. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1927.
  • Monograph No. 34: Home Waters Part VIII.: December 1916 to April 1917 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). XVIII. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1933.
  • Monograph No. 35: Home Waters Part IX.: 1st May, 1917 to 31st July, 1917 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). XIX. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1939.
  • Parkes, Oscar; Prendergast, Maurice, eds. (1920). Jane's Fighting Ships 1920. Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd. Retrieved 9 July 2020 – via Hathitrust.
  • Richardson, Alexander; Hurd, Archibald, eds. (1923). Brassey's Naval and Shipping Album 1923. London: William Clowes and Sons, Limited.
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