HMS Azalea
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Class overview | |
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Name: | Azalea class |
Operators: | Royal Navy |
Built: | 1915 |
In commission: | 1915–1935 |
Completed: | 12 |
Lost: | 2 |
General characteristics | |
Type: | Minesweeper |
Displacement: | 1,250 tons |
Length: | |
Beam: | 33 ft 6 in (10.21 m) |
Draught: | 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m) |
Propulsion: |
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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 |
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. |
The Azalea class of twelve minesweeping sloops were built under the Emergency War Programme for the Royal Navy in World War I as part of the larger Flower class, which were also referred to as the Cabbage class, or "Herbaceous Borders". The third batch of twelve ships to be ordered, in May 1915, they differed from the preceding Acacia class only in mounting a heavier armament, with either 4.7-inch (119 mm) or 4-inch (102 mm) guns instead of the 12-pounder guns of the earlier class.
They were single-screw fleet sweeping vessels (sloops) with triple hulls at the bows to give extra protection against loss when working.