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 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 ...

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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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. ''Peony'' was

long 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 ...

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 *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

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 he ...

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 (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

shipyard as

Yard number __NOTOC__ M ...

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

Service

''Peony'' joined the Mediterranean Fleet after commissioning. In December 1915, the Royal Navy prepared to evacuate troops from the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...

, 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 "Bun ...

during the evacuation from Suvla Bay 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 ( el, Οχυρό Ρούπελ) 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 in ...

and occupy much of eastern Macedonia without a fight. By May 1917, ''Peony'' formed part of the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron, which by September, had become the Aegean Squadron. On 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 ( el, Λέρος) is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies (171 nautical miles) from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 9-hour ferry ride or by a 45-minute flig ...

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

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

into 1918, operating in the

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

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

Mudros Moudros ( el, Μούδρος) 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 eas ...

, 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 ( 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 ...

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, Exeter ...

. 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 th ...

at their Dundee yard, and was renamed ''Ardena'', making her maiden civil voyage on 6 December 1920. ''Ardena'' was placed on the routes to Cherbourg and Caen 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 charges. 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 branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

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 ...

off

Argostoli Argostoli ( el, Αργοστόλι, Katharevousa: Ἀργοστόλιον) is a town and a municipality on the island of Kefalonia, Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is one of the three municipalities on the islan ...

and sank. 720 Italian prisoners of war were killed.

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