Aubretia class sloop
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| Aubretia-class |  |
|---|---|
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1250 tons |
| Length: | 255.25 (p/p), 267.75 (o/a) feet |
| Beam: | 33.5 feet |
| Draught: | 11.5 (mean), 12.5 (max.) feet |
| Propulsion: | Machinery: 4-cylinder triple expansion. Boilers: 2 cylindrical. 1 screw |
| Range: | Coal: 205 tons |
| Speed: | Designed H.P. 2500 = 17.5 kts., but actually can only make 15-16.5 kts. with this power and require 3000 I.H.P. for 17.5 kts. |
| Complement: | 80 men |
| Armament: | Designed to mount 3 x 12 pdr., 2 x 3 pdr. AA., but had 2 x 4 inch, 1 x 3 pdr. AA. and D.C. throwers |
The Aubretia class sloops were a class of sloop built under the Emergency War Programme for the Royal Navy in World War I as part of the larger "Flower class". They were also referred to as the "cabbage class", or "herbaceous borders". The Flowers were the first ships designed as minesweepers.
Like all the Flowers, the Aubretias were originally designed as single-screw Fleet Sweeping Vessels, with triple hulls at the bows and an above-water magazine located aft, to give extra protection against loss from mine damage when working. However, the utility of the design was found to be as a convoy escort, and as such other classes took over the minesweeping role. The Aubretias were re-classified as Convoy Sloops.
The Aubretias were designed to look like small merchantmen, in the hope of deceiving U-boat commanders, a tactic known as the Q-ship. These vessels were built by commercial shipbuilders to Lloyd's Register standards, to make use of vacant capacity, and the individual builders were asked to use their existing designs for merchantmen, based on the standard Flower-type hull.
[edit] Ships
- Aubretia — built by Blyth Shipbuilding Company, Blyth, completed June 1916, sold post-war
- Gaillardia — built by Blyth, wartime loss
- Heather — built by Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Company, Greenock, completed June 1916, sold post-war
- Tamarisk — built by Lobnitz & Company, Renfrew, completed June 1916, sold post-war
- Viola — built by Ropner & Sons, Stockton-on-Tees, completed July 1916, sold post-war
- Salvia — built by Irvine Shipbuilding Company, Irvine, wartime loss
- Tulip — Richardson, Duck & Company, Stockton-on-Tees, wartime loss
[edit] Bibliography
- The Grand Fleet, Warship Design and Development 1906-1922, D. K. Brown, Chatham Publishing, 1999, ISBN 1-86176-099-X
- Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I, Janes Publishing, 1919
| Flower classes of sloop |
|
Anchusa-class | Arabis-class | Azalea-class | Acacia-class | Aubretia-class |
List of corvette and sloop classes of the Royal Navy |
