HMS Myrtle (1915)

HMS Myrtle was an Azalea-class sloop that was part of a Royal Navy squadron that was sent to assist the Baltic States and their fight for independence. While clearing naval mines on 16 July 1919[2] both Myrtle and HMS Gentian hit mines and sank killing nine sailors in the two blasts.

History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Myrtle
Operator: Royal Navy
Builder: Lobnitz, Renfrew
Yard number: No 806
Launched: 11 October 1915
Completed: November 1915
Fate: Hit a mine on 16 July 1919
General characteristics
Type: Minesweeper
Displacement: 1,250 tons
Length:
  • 255 ft 3 in (77.80 m) p/p
  • 267 ft 9 in (81.61 m) o/a
Beam: 33 ft 6 in (10.21 m)
Draught: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)
Propulsion:
  • 1 × 4-cylinder triple expansion engine
  • 2 × cylindrical boilers
  • 1 screw
Speed: 17 knots (31 km/h)
Range: 2,000 nmi (3,700 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h) with max. 260 tons of coal[1]
Complement: 79 men
Armament: 2 × 1 – QF 4 inch Mk IV guns, BL 4 inch Mk IX guns or QF 4.7 inch Mk IV guns and 2 × 1 – 3-pounders (47 mm) AA. A few had no 3-pounders.

Background

The British campaign in the Baltic was a part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. The codename of the Royal Navy campaign was "Operation Red Trek".[3] The intervention played a key role in enabling the establishment of the independent states of Estonia and Latvia[4] but failed to secure the control of Petrograd by White Russian forces, which was one of the main goals of the campaign.[5] The taskforce was vital in supplying the Baltic states as well as containing the Soviet navies.

Wreck

In July 2010 an Estonian minesweeper located the remains of the cruiser HMS Cassandra, HMS Myrtle and HMS Gentian.[6][7]

Bibliography

Notes

    1. Gogin 2019
    2. Gibson & Prendergast 2002, p. 336
    3. Langworth 2017
    4. Kinvig 2006
    5. Kinvig 2006, pp. 271–90
    6. Wainwright 2010
    7. Wright 2017, p. 387

    References

    • Gibson, R.H. & Prendergast, Maurice (2002) [1931]. The German Submarine War 1914–1918. Penzance, UK: Periscope Publishing. ISBN 9781904381082.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) - Total pages: 438
    • Gogin, Ivan (2019). ""Flower" Arabis type fleet sweeping sloops". navypedia.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Kinvig, Clifford (2006). Churchill's Crusade: The British Invasion of Russia, 1918–1920. A & C Black. ISBN 9781852854775.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) - Total pages: 373
    • Langworth, Richard (23 April 2017). "Churchill and the Baltic, Part 1". Hillsdale College. Retrieved 16 July 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Wainwright, Martin (23 August 2010). "British warships sunk 90 years ago found off Estonian coast". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Wright, Damien (2017). Churchill's Secret War With Lenin: British and Commonwealth Military Intervention in the Russian Civil War, 1918–20. Helion and Company. ISBN 9781913118112.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) - Total pages: 576
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