HMS Snowdrop (1915)

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]

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]

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.

• 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.