The Azaleas were a series of twelve minesweeping sloops that were designed to operate as minesweepers with the fleet at the beginning of World War I. A shortage of this type required their quick construction. Their hulls were built to a simplified design in order to speed construction and were built under Lloyd's survey instead of normal naval requirements. The hull of the ships have flare but lack sheer and the forecastle extending to just abaft the foremast. The vessels had a triple hull at the bow to give extra protection against loss when working. Their appearance was marked by widely spread masts, bridge and two funnels. However, they also acted 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.
The Azalea-class ships were nearly identical to the preceding and measured 250feet long between perpendiculars and NaNfeet overall with a beam of 33feet and a draught of NaNfeet. They had a normal displacement of 1200t, and fully loaded. The Azaleas were propelled by a single propeller connected by a single shaft to a 4-cylinder triple expansion engine powered by steam from two cylindrical boilers creating 1800ihp. The ships carried a maximum of of coal as a fuel source and had a maximum speed of 17kn. Their single screw gave them a wide turning circle.
The sloops were designed to be armed with two single-mounted QF 4.7inches low-angle guns as protection against German raids on the minesweeping flotillas. However, late in production, some of the vessels were given QF guns. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, the Azaleas mounted two by single 3-pounder (47 mm) AA guns. The complement of the vessels ranged from 79 to 80 officers and ratings.
| Ship | Builder | Launched | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barclay Curle & Company, Whiteinch | 10 September 1915 | Sold for breaking up on 1 February 1923. | |
| 26 August 1915 | Became Q-ship from 9 August 1917 as Q10 (SS Dolcis Jessop), sunk in collision with German submarine off Casablanca in the Atlantic Ocean on 2 October 1917. | ||
| Bow, McLachlan and Company, Paisley | 25 September 1915 | Sold for breaking up on 15 January 1923. | |
| Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Company, Greenock | 6 September 1915 | Sold for breaking up 14 January 1922. | |
| 29 July 1915 | Sold for breaking up on 5 February 1931. | ||
| Lobnitz & Company, Renfrew | 10 September 1915 | Sold for breaking up on 7 January 1935. | |
| Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend | 9 September 1915 | Sold for breaking up on 21 December 1922 | |
| Lobnitz and Company, Renfrew | 11 October 1915 | Mined in Gulf of Finland on 16 July 1919. | |
| Napier & Miller, Old Kilpatrick | 22 September 1915 | Sold for breaking up on 6 September 1922. | |
| Archibald McMillan & Son, Dumbarton | 27 October 1915 | Sold out of service on 20 August 1919, becoming mercantile Ardena. Sunk by mine on 28 September 1943. | |
| 7 October 1915 | Sold for breaking up on 15 January 1923. | ||
| Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend | 12 August 1915 | Sold to Belgian Navy on 19 April 1920, retaining same name. Scrapped 1952. | |
Officially termed "Fleet Sweeping Vessels (Sloops)" by the Royal Navy, the Azalea-class ships were intended to be built quickly and were designed to merchant vessel construction parameters so they could be constructed in non-naval shipyards. They were primarily intended for minesweeping duties but were adapted to various other duties throughout the war. They had an average construction period of 25 weeks. The Azaleas were ordered in May 1915 as part of the War Emergency Programme and entered service between September and December 1915. One, Begonia was converted to a Q-ship at Haulbowline, Ireland in 1916–1917 to resemble a small coastal trading vessel. Recommissioned on 9 August 1917 as Q10 and using the name Dolcis Jessop, the vessel had a short career as it was sunk in a collision with the German U-boat, off Casablanca on 2 October. Aside from Begonia, the rest of the class survived the war, with the majority sent for scrapping after the war in the early 1920s. Two, Peony and Zinnia continued in service. Another, Myrtle, was mined in 1919 during Royal Navy operations in the Baltic Sea as part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War.
Peony was sold into mercantile service, converted to a passenger ferry and renamed Ardena. The ferry was used on the routes between Cherbourg and Caen.[1] Ardena continued in service into World War II, where the vessel was sunk by the Luftwaffe in 1941 before being raised by the Germans and put back into service.[2] On 28 September 1943 she was sailing from Cephalonia to Greece with 840 Italian prisoners of war when Ardena struck a mine and sank.[2]
Zinnia was transferred to Belgium on 19 April 1920 and used for fishery protection duties by the new Royal Belgian Navy. In 1927, the Belgian Navy was disbanded and Zinnia was crewed by civilians. In 1940, the vessel was captured by the Germans and was rebuilt at Antwerp for service with the Kriegsmarine as the now renamed Barbara. Barbara survived the war and was returned to the Belgians following it. Renamed Breydel, the vessel was scrapped in 1952.