HMAS ''Geranium'' (formerly HMS ''Geranium'') was an

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

built in Scotland and launched in 1915. The ship was operated by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

as 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 ...

from 1915 until 1919, when she was transferred to the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

(RAN) for use as a

survey ship A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the purpo ...

between 1919 and 1927. The ship was decommissioned in 1927 and scrapped during 1932, with the remains scuttled in 1935.

Design and construction

''Geranium'' was one of 56 ''Arabis''-class sloops built for the Royal Navy during World War I. The

sloops-of-war In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...

were intended for minesweeping duties in European waters. ''Geranium'' had a displacement of 1,250 tons. She was in

length overall __NOTOC__ 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, an ...

, had a beam of , and a maximum draught of .Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 90 The propulsion system consisted of a four-cylinder

triple expansion engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tr ...

, connected to a single propeller shaft. Maximum speed was , and the ship could achieve a range of at . Up to 250 tons of coal could be carried. ''Geranium'' was laid down for the

by the

Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Company The Greenock Dockyard Company was a Scottish shipbuilding and ship repair firm located at Greenock, on the River Clyde. History The company was established by J E Scott of Greenock, with the yard at Cartsdyke being taken over in 1879 by Russel ...

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

, Scotland, in August 1915 and launched on 8 November 1915.Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 91 She was delivered to the Royal Navy on 18 March 1916.Dorling 1935, p. 366

Operational history

''Geranium'' 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 t ...

after commissioning, being based at

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. After World War I, ''Geranium'' and two sister ships ( and ) were sent to Australia to clear mines deployed by the German auxiliary cruiser .Frame & Baker, ''Mutiny!'', p. 114 Despite hard work in rough seas, the ships only found one mine. ''Geranium'' and the other two ships were transferred to the

on 18 October 1919. The ships' minesweeper design made them suitable for handling survey equipment, and ''Geranium'' entered RAN service as the navy's first

.Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 92 The ship was poorly designed for survey duties in tropical Australian waters: she was designed for the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

climate, and was required to carry a ship's company of 113, 36 more than the intended ship's company of 77. In 1923, the sloop ran aground on an uncharted reef off

Vanderlin Island Vanderlin Island is an island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Territory, Australia. It is the largest island in the Sir Edward Pellew Group. Its area is . The island is part of the traditional lands of the Walu people. The only settlements ...

in the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary is ...

. The ship's company were able to refloat the ship and patch the damage, and after repairs in Sydney, the ship resumed northern survey operations.Frame & Baker, ''Mutiny!'', p. 119 In October, ''Geranium'' rescued the civilian steamship ''Montoro'' after she struck Young Reef. In early 1924, the ship ran aground again in the MacArthur River. The ship was refloated and repaired. Later that year, ''Geranium'' was fitted to carry a

Fairey IIID The Fairey Aviation Company Fairey III was a family of British reconnaissance biplanes that enjoyed a very long production and service history in both landplane and seaplane variants. First flying on 14 September 1917, examples were still in us ...

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

: the first RAN survey vessel to carry an aircraft.Frame & Baker, ''Mutiny!'', p. 120 In May 1927, the survey ship assisted the steamship ''Tasman'', which had hit a reef off Clarke Island.

Decommissioning and fate

''Geranium'' paid off in 1927. The ship was broken up for scrap at

Cockatoo Island Dockyard The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...

during 1932, and the stripped hulk was sunk as a target in the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...

outside

Sydney Heads Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

on 24 April 1935.Gray, Randal, ed., ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985, , p. 95.

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Geranium World War I sloops of the United Kingdom Arabis-class sloops of the Royal Australian Navy Ships built on the River Clyde 1915 ships Maritime incidents in 1935 Ships sunk as targets Shipwrecks in the Tasman Sea Scuttled vessels of New South Wales