HMS M15
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=HMS M15 at Mudros 1916 IWM SP 891.jpg |Ship caption=M15 at Mudros, 1916 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name=M15 |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=William Gray, Hartlepool. |Ship laid down=1 March 1915 |Ship launched=28 April 1915 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship fate=Sunk on 11 November 1917. |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|M15|monitor|0}} monitor |Ship tonnage= |Ship displacement=540 tons |Ship length={{convert|177|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|31|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught={{convert|6|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=*2 shaft
|Ship sail plan= |Ship speed={{convert|11|kn}} |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship troops= |Ship complement=69 |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=
|Ship armour= |Ship notes= }} |
HMS M15 was a First World War Royal Navy {{sclass|M15|monitor|0}} monitor. She was sunk off Gaza by {{SMU|UC-38||2}} on 11 November 1917.
Design
Intended as a shore bombardment vessel, M15{{'}}s primary armament was a single 9.2-inch Mk X gun which had been held as a spare for the {{sclass|Drake|cruiser|5}} and {{sclass|Cressy|cruiser}}s.{{cite book | title = Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 | editor = Randal Gray | year = 1985 | isbn = 0-85177-245-5 | publisher= Conway Maritime Press | page = 48}} In addition to her 9.2-inch gun, she also possessed one 12-pounder and one six-pound anti-aircraft gun. She was equipped with triple expansion steam engines rated to {{convert|800|hp|lk=on}} that allowed a top speed of {{convert|11|kn|lk=in}}. The monitor's crew consisted of sixty-nine officers and ratings.
Construction
M15 was ordered in March 1915, as part of the War Emergency Programme of ship construction. She was laid down at the William Gray shipyard at Hartlepool in March 1915 and launched on 28 April 1915. The vessel was completed in June 1915.
First World War
M15 was towed to Malta in July 1915, where she received her main armament. She then proceeded to Mudros, and later was involved in the defence of the Suez Canal.
After bombarding Gaza as part of the Third Battle of Gaza, on 11 November 1917, M15 and the destroyer {{HMS|Staunch|1910|6}} were torpedoed by the submarine {{SMU|UC-38||2}}. 26 men lost their lives in the sinking of M15, {{convert|1|km|spell=in}} from shore, in {{convert|90|m}} of water.{{cite news |author1=Madjid Zerrouky |title=Comment le Hamas a développé son arsenal militaire à Gaza |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2023/10/10/l-effort-ininterrompu-du-hamas-a-gaza-pour-developper-son-arsenal-militaire_6193501_3210.html |access-date=13 October 2023 |work=Le Monde |date=10 October 2023 |language=fr |quote=33 mètres de profondeur inspecter l’épave du HMS M15, un navire de guerre britannique coulé par un sous-marin allemand en 1917 à un kilomètre de la côte |trans-title=Hamas's relentless efforts to build up its military arsenal in Gaza |trans-quote=a depth of 33 meters to inspect the wreck of HMS M15, a British warship sunk by a German submarine in 1917, one kilometer from the coast}}
Hamas recovery of ammunition
In 2020, Hamas divers recovered ammunition, including large-calibre naval shells, from the wreck of M15 with the intent of using explosives from the shells to make warheads and gunpowder propellant to make rocket fuel. After more than a century at the bottom of the sea, while Israeli sources claim the material was found to be unusable Hamas published a video of their members using it to make rockets .{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-said-to-retrieve-ammunition-from-british-wwi-warship-sunk-off-gaza-coast/|title=Hamas said to retrieve ammunition from British WWI warship sunk off Gaza coast|first=Toi|last=Staff|website=The Times of Israel|date=15 September 2020}}
Citations
{{Reflist}}
References
- {{Cite Colledge2006}}
- Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J., "British Warships 1914-1919", (Ian Allan, London, 1972), {{ISBN|0-7110-0380-7}}
{{M15 class monitors}}
{{November 1917 shipwrecks}}
{{clear}}
{{coord missing|Mediterranean}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:M15}}
Category:World War I monitors of the United Kingdom
Category:Royal Navy ship names
Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I