HMS M33

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Career
HMS M33
Ordered:	March 15, 1915
Launched:	May 22, 1915
Commissioned:	June 24, 1915
Fate:	Museum ship, Portsmouth
General characteristics
Class and type:	M29-class monitor
Displacement:	580 tons deep load
Length:	177 ft 3 in (54.0 m)
Beam:	31 ft (9.4 m)
Draught:	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
Propulsion:	Twin screw triple expansion, 400 hp (300 kW).
Speed:	9.61 knots (18 km/h)
Range:	1,440 nautical miles (2,670 km) at 8 knots (15 km/h)
Complement:	72
Armament:	2 x 6-in guns 1 x 6-pdr Hotchkiss gun 2 x Maxim guns

HMS M33 is an M29-class monitor of the Royal Navy built in 1915 as part of the rapid ship construction campaign following the outbreak of World War I. Ordered in March of 1915, she was launched in May and commissioned in June; an impressive shipbuilding feat especially considering that numerous other ships of her type were being built in the same period.

Armed with a pair of 6-inch (152 mm) guns and having a shallow draught, the M33 was designed for coastal bombardment. Commanded by Lieutenant Commander Preston-Thomas, her first active operation was the support of the British landings at Suvla during the Battle of Gallipoli in August of 1915. She remained stationed at Gallipoli until the evacuation in January, 1916. For the remainder of the war she served in the Mediterranean and was involved in the seizure of the Greek fleet at Salamis Bay on September 1, 1916.

The M33 next saw service, along with five other monitors (M23, M25, M27, M31 and HMS Humber), which were sent to Murmansk in 1919 to relieve the North Russian Expeditionary Force. In June, the M33 moved to Archangel and her shallow draught enabled her to travel up the Dvina River to cover the withdrawal of British and White Russian forces. At one time the river level was so low the ship's guns had to be removed and transported by cart. The M25 and M27 were not so fortunate and were scuttled on September 16, 1919 after running aground. The M33 safely returned to Chatham in October.

In 1925 the M33 became a mine-laying training ship and was renamed HMS Minerva. She went through a number of roles for the remainder of her career including fuelling hulk and boom defence workshop. In 1946 she became a floating office at the Royal Clarence Victualling Yard at Gosport, and was designated "Hulk C23". Put up for sale in 1984, she eventually passed to Hampshire County Council and is now located at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, close to HMS Victory.

[edit] References

Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J., "British Warships 1914-1919", (Ian Allen, London, 1972), ISBN 0-7110-0380-7
Gray, Randal (ed), "Conway's All The Worlds Fighting Ships, 1906-1921", (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1985), ISBN 0-85177-245-5