SS ''Ardena'' was a

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

and escort vessel built as an sloop

for the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

with the name HMS ''Peony'' in 1915.

Design and construction

The ''Azalea''-class was based on the previous , but with a heavier gun armament. They were designed at the start of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as relatively fast minesweepers that could also carry out various miscellaneous duties in support of the fleet such as acting as

dispatch vessel Dispatch boats were small boats, and sometimes large ships, tasked to carry military dispatches from ship to ship or from ship to shore or, in some cases from shore to shore. Dispatch boats were employed when other means of transmitting a message w ...

s or carrying out towing operations, but as the war continued and the threat from German submarines grew, became increasingly involved in anti-submarine duties. ''Peony'' was

long overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also u ...

and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and a draught of .

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was normal. Two cylindrical boilers fed steam to a

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) cylinder, then having given up heat ...

rated at , giving a speed of . The ''Azelea''s 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. ''Peony'' had a crew of 90 officers and other ranks. ''Peony'' was ordered on 4 May 1915 from the Scottish shipbuilder Archibald McMillan & Son, and was built at their

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

shipyard as

Yard number The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.9 ...

462. She was launched on 25 August 1915, and was completed on 27 October 1915.

Service

''Peony'' joined the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...

after commissioning. In December 1915, the Royal Navy prepared to evacuate troops from the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

, with ''Peony'' serving as headquarters ship for General

Julian Byng Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, (11 September 1862 – 6 June 1935), was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the 12th since the Canadian Confederation. Known to friends as "Bu ...

during the evacuation from

Suvla Bay View of Suvla from Battleship Hill Suvla () is a bay on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in European Turkey, south of the Gulf of Saros. On 6 August 1915, it was the site for the Landing at Suvla Bay by the British IX Corps as ...

on the night of 18/19 December that year. In June 1916, ''Peony'' took part in a demonstration in Milo Bay to force the Greek Army to demobilise after Greece had allowed German forces to capture

Fort Roupel Fort Roupel () is a fortress at the north border of Central Macedonia, Greece, built-in 1914. It became part of the fortifications of the Metaxas Line in the 1930s and became famous for its defence during the German invasion of Greece in April 1 ...

and occupy much of eastern

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

without a fight. By May 1917, ''Peony'' formed part of the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron, which by September, had become the Aegean Squadron. In May 1917, owing to a shortage of

seaplane carrier A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

s to support anti-submarine operations in the southern Aegean, ''Peony'' was fitted to support the operation of three seaplanes. From mid-May to the end of June that year, she was based at

Leros Leros (), also called Lero (from the Italian language), is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by a nine-hour ferry ride or by a 45-min ...

, using her seaplanes to search for hidden U-boat bases around the islands of the Aegean. ''Peony'' remained in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

into 1918, operating in the

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

area, and was undergoing boiler cleaning on 20 January 1918. In April 1918, she was based at

Mudros Moudros () is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lemnos, of which it is a municipal unit. It covers the entire eastern peninsula o ...

, together with the seaplane carrier , with their seaplanes being mainly employed on anti-submarine duties. ''Peony'' was still based in the Aegean, supporting aircraft operations at the end of the war. In January 1919, she was listed as part of the 12th Sloop Flotilla, based at

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

Civil use

''Peony'' was sold to T. R. Sales on 20 August 1919, and was resold to the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exete ...

. In 1920, she was reconstructed as a passenger ferry by the

Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company The Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Limited was a major Scottish shipbuilding company based in Dundee, Scotland that traded for more than a century and built more than 500 ships. History W.B. Thompson CBE (1837 - 1923) founded the ...

at their

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

yard, and was renamed ''Ardena'', making her maiden civil voyage on 6 December 1920. ''Ardena'' was placed on the routes to

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

and

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

which re-opened in July 1921. She was taken over by the Southern Railway in 1923 and remained until sold in July 1934. She went to Navigation Constantine Toyias, Piraeus. On 18 April 1941, during a convoy escort, she collided with the followed by the explosion of two

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

s. As a result, the stern section of ''Leon'' was cut off and two officers were killed. ''Ardena'' was sunk by the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

in April 1941 and later raised by the Germans. On 28 September 1943 she was sailing from Cephalonia to Greece with 840 Italian prisoners of war when she hit a

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

off

Argostoli Argostoli (, Katharevousa: ) is a town and a municipality on the island of Kefalonia, Ionian Islands (region), Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is one of the three municipalities on the island. It has been the capi ...

and sank. 720 Italian prisoners of war were killed.

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ardena 1915 ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships of the London and South Western Railway Ships of the Southern Railway (UK) Ships built on the River Clyde Maritime incidents in September 1943 Ships sunk by mines World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Azalea-class sloops