RN Sloops: Flower, Anchusa or Acacia Class WWI

[Brian James]

Acacia Class Sloop HMS Veronica pictured anchored in Tauranga Harbour Channel in October 1922..She was built by Dunlop Bremner & Company Shipyard, Port Glasgow. Laid down in January 1915, launched on May 27th 1915, and completed in August 1915. The Acacia Class Fleet Sweeping Sloops were adapted for Escort work, Minesweeping, and use as Q-ships. Veronica was in the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy from September 19th 1920 until February 24th 1934. Veronica assisted survivors in the aftermath of the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake in New Zealand. Having berthed in Port Ahuriri only three hours before the earthquake, she radioed Auckland for help, which was provided by the Light Cruisers Dunedin and Diomede. She was subsequently docked for inspection for possible bottom damage as the seabed had risen up under her. Veronica left Auckland on February 24th 1934 for paying off at Chatham. She was sold on February 22nd 1935 to John Cashmore Ltd, and broken up at Newport, Wales, in 1935.

[Pelican]

Chrysanthenmum

It was a CRIME when WW1 era Flower Class sloop HMS Chrysanthemum was scrapped in 1995... along with her sister ship HMS President she'd served as the RNR's Drill ship for London, moored on the Thames. Her sister ship HMS President is currently in Chatham and expected to return to the Thames.
Image: HM Sloop Chrysanthemum, Dazzle-painted : refitting at Gibraltar, WW1.
Chrysanthemum was one of 20 Anchusa-class convoy sloops ordered on 21 February 1917. The ship was laid down at Armstrong Whitworth's High Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne shipyard as Yard number 929 on 9 July 1917 and was launched on 10 November 1917. Chrysanthemum was completed on 8 February 1918.
The Anchusas were the final group of Flower-class sloops, and were intended primarily for anti-submarine duties. As such they were designed to look like merchant ships so hostile submarines would remain on the surface for long enough for the sloops to engage them. The detailed appearance varied between builders and even between ships build by the same builder, while armament also varied.
Chrysanthemum was 276 ft 6 in (84.28 m) long overall and 255 ft 3 in (77.80 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 35 ft 1 in (10.69 m) and a draught of 11 ft (3.35 m). Displacement was about 1,290 long tons (1,310 t) normal. Two coal-fed boilers fed steam to a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine rated at 2,500–2,700 ihp (1,900–2,000 kW) giving a speed of 17–17.5 kn (19.6–20.1 mph; 31.5–32.4 km/h).[4] The ship had a crew of 82 officers and men.
Chrysanthemum was built with a gun armament of two 4-inch BL guns, a single 12-pounder (3-inch, 76 mm) gun on a tilting mounting, a single 21⁄2-pounder gun and a machine gun. Two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes were fitted, together with an anti-submarine 200-lb stick bomb mortar and four depth-charge throwers.
Sea service:
Chrysanthemum was deployed to Gibraltar after commissioning. By July 1918, the Gibraltar-based sloops, including Chrysanthemum were organised into the 11th Sloop Flotilla. Chrysanthemum remained part of the 11th Sloop Flotilla when the First World War ended on 11 November 1918. After convoy duty in the late stages of World War I, Chrysanthemum joined the Mediterranean Fleet, serving as a target towing ship, based at Malta. On 4 March 1927, Sir Walter Congreve VC, the Governor of Malta, was buried at sea from her in accordance with his last request.
Chrysanthemum was also used at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 to rescue British nationals from Barcelona. The officer recorded commanding Chrysanthemum 1935-1936 was Captain Russell Hamilton McBean, one of the men of the 1919 raid on Kronstadt.

Source Facebook Group - British & Commonwealth Forces

[Brian James]

Acacia Class Sloop HMS Veronica pictured at Lyttleton c1931...Veronica was built by Dunlop Bremner & Company Shipyard at Port Glasgow. She was laid down in January 1915, launched on May 27th 1915, and completed in August 1915. The Acacia Class Fleet Sweeping Sloops were adapted for escort work, Minesweeping, and use as Q-ships. Veronica was in the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy from September 19th 1920 to February 24th 1934.