Anchusa class sloop

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HMS President in the Thames
HMS President in the Thames

The Anchusa class 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".

They were single-screw Fleet Sweeping Vessels (Sloops) with triple hulls at the bows to give extra protection against loss when working.

The Anchusa class of corvettes or convoy sloops were completed in 1917 and 1918. They were a small class of convoy protection ships built to look like merchant ships for use as Q-ships in World War I.

A surviving example is HMS Saxifrage, completed in 1918 and later renamed to HMS President.

[edit] Anchusa type

Flower-class minesweeper
Anchusa type
The White Ensign of the Royal Navy.
General Characteristics
Displacement: 1290 tons
Length: 250 (p.p.), 262.25 (o.a.)
Beam: 35 feet
Draught: 11.5 (mean), 12.5-13.66 (max.) feet
Propulsion: Machinery: 4-cylinder triple expansion. Boilers: 2 cylindrical. 1 screw.
Range: Coal: 260 tons
Speed: Designed H.P. 2500 = 17 kts., but achieved 16 kts. at this power
Complement: 93 men
Armament: Designed to mount 2 x 12 pdr., 1 x 7.5 howitzer or 1 x 200 lb. stick-bomb howitzer, 4 x Depth Charge Throwers, but actually armed with 2 x 4 inch, 1 or 2 x 12 pdr. and D.C. Throwers.

These ships were Q-ships, which were disguised as normal mercantile shipping within convoys.

  • HMS Anchusa, Armstrong Whitworth – lost in WWI
  • HMS Arbutus, Armstrong Whitworth – lost in WWI
  • HMS Auricula Oct 1917, Armstrong, Whitworth
  • HMS Bergamot, Armstrong Whitworth – lost in WWI
  • HMS Bryony Oct 1917, Armstrong, Whitworth
  • HMS Candytuft Armstrong Whitworth – lost in WWI
  • HMS Ceanothus June 1917. Armstrong, Whitworth
  • HMS Chrysanthemum Nov 1917, Armstrong, Whitworth (broken up 1995)
  • HMS Convolvulus May 1917, Barclay. Curle
  • HMS Coreopsis Sept 1917, Barclay. Curle
  • HMS Cowslip Barclay Carle – lost in WWI
  • HMS Dianthus Nov 1917, Barclay. Curle
  • HMS Eglantine June 1917. Barclay. Curle
  • HMS Gardenia Dec 1917, Barclay. Curle
  • HMS Gilia Feb 1918, Barclay. Curle
  • HMS Harebell May 1918, Barclay. Curle
  • HMS Hibiscus Nov 1917, Greenock & Grangemouth Co
  • HMS Ivy Oct 1917, Blyth S.B. Co
  • HMS Lychnis Aug. 1917, Hamilton
  • HMS Marjoram Dec 1917, Greenock & Grangemouth Co
  • HMS Mistletoe Nov 1917, Greenock & Grangemouth Co
  • HMS Montbretia Sept 1917, Irvine S.B. Co
  • HMS Pelargonium March 1918, Hamilton
  • HMS Polyanthus Sept 1917, Lobnitz
  • HMS Rhododendron Irvine S.B. Co. – lost in WWI
  • HMS Saxifrage Jan. 1918, Lobnitz; renamed HMS President (1918)
  • HMS Silene March 1918, Simons
  • HMS Spiraea Nov 1917, Simons
  • HMS Sweetbriar Oct1917, Swan Hunter
  • HMS Syringa Sept 1917, Workman, Clark
  • HMS Tuberose Nov 1917, Swan Hunter
  • HMS Windflower April 1918, Workman, Clark

[edit] See also


Flower classes of sloop

Anchusa-class | Arabis-class | Azalea-class | Acacia-class | Aubretia-class


List of corvette and sloop classes of the Royal Navy