HMS Snowdrop (1915)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Snowdrop.

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Snowdrop
Builder	McMillann
Launched	7 October 1915
Decommissioned	15 January 1923
Fate	Sold for breaking up on 15 January 1923
General characteristics
Class and type	Azalea-class sloop
Displacement	1,250 long tons (1,270 t)
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 × propeller
Speed	17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Range	2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) with maximum load of fuel
Capacity	260 short tons (240 t) of coal (maximum)
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.

HMS Snowdrop was an Azalea-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She served during the First World War. Snowdrop survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1923.

Design and construction

The Azalea class was based on the previous Acacia class, but with a heavier gun armament.[1][a] 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]

Snowdrop 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 indicated horsepower (1,300 kW), giving a speed of 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph).[1][6] The Azeleas had a main armament of two 4.7-inch (120 mm) or 4-inch (102 mm) guns, with two 3-pounder (47 mm) anti-aircraft guns also carried.[5] Snowdrop had a crew of 90 officers and other ranks.[1]

Snowdrop was ordered on 4 May 1915 from the Scottish shipbuilder Archibald McMillan & Son, and was built at their Dumbarton shipyard as Yard number 463. She was launched on 7 October 1915, and was completed on 3 December 1915.[4][7][8]

Career

Snowdrop joined the 1st Sloop Flotilla, operating under the Vice Admiral Commanding, Coast of Ireland, following commissioning.[9] In March 1916, Snowdrop was employed on escort duties.[10] On 29 March, the sloop Begonia was torpedoed by the German submarine U-44, and Snowdrop and sister ship Zinnia were ordered to go to Begonia's assistance. Begonia was towed to Queenstown (now Cobh).[11] Following the outbreak of the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland in April 1916, Snowdrop escorted a transport carrying troops to Galway on 30 April.[12]

On 17 January 1917, Snowdrop and the sloop Myosotis were escorting the merchant ship SS Castalia when the German submarine U-57 fired a torpedo which narrowly missed Myosotis. Myosotis opened fire on U-57' s conning tower and the submarine dived away to safety.[13] On 5 April 1917, the merchant ship SS Canadian, which had been torpedoed by U-60 the previous day, sank 25 nmi (29 mi; 46 km) west of Bantry Bay. Snowdrop rescued all but one of Canadian's crew.[14] On 23 April, the German submarine U-50 attacked the steamer Dykland with a torpedo and gunfire. The British submarine H5 drove off U-50 and later that day, Snowdrop took Dykland under tow at a speed of only 1.5 knots (2.8 km/h; 1.7 mph), attempting to bring the damaged ship back to Bantry Bay. On 26 April, the tow parted, and the sloop Primrose took over the towing duties, but Dykland finally sank later that day, still 30 nmi (35 mi; 56 km) short of safety.[15] On 16 October 1917, Snowdrop took the American destroyer USS Cassin in tow, after the Cassin had been torpedoed by U-61 the previous day.[16]

On 17 July 1918, she rescued the survivors from the liner RMS Carpathia, which had been torpedoed three times and sunk by U-55 (six years earlier Carpathia had rescued the survivors from the ill-fated RMS Titanic).

Snowdrop survived the war and continued in service until being sold for breaking up on 15 January 1923 to the Unity Ship Breaking Company.

Notes

1. Together with the following Arabis class, Aubrietia class and Anchusa class, these classes were collectively known as Flower-class sloops.

Citations

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. Dorling 1935, p. 364
8. "Snowdrop". Scottish Built Ships: The History of Shipbuilding in Scotland. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
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. January 1916. p. 14. Retrieved 15 November 2020 – via National Library of Scotland.
10. Naval Staff Monograph No. 31 1926, p. 99
11. Naval Staff Monograph No. 31 1926, pp. 110, 241
12. Naval Staff Monograph No. 31 1926, p. 128
13. Naval Staff Monograph No. 34 1933, p. 122
14. Naval Staff Monograph No. 34 1933, p. 404
15. Naval Staff Monograph No. 34 1933, pp. 416–417
16. "Cassin I (Destroyer No. 43)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 15 November 2020.

References

• Brown, D. K. (2010). The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906–1922. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-085-7.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• 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; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Monograph No. 31: Home Waters Part VI.: October 1915 to May 1916 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XV. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1926.
• Monograph No. 34: Home Waters Part VIII.: December 1916 to April 1917 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XVIII. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1933.