HMAS Geranium (formerly HMS Geranium) was an built in Scotland and launched in 1915. The ship was operated by the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 as a minesweeper from 1915 until 1919, when she was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 (RAN) for use as a survey ship between 1919 and 1927. The ship was decommissioned in 1927 and scrapped during 1932, with the remains scuttled in 1935.

Design and construction

Geranium was one of 56 Arabis class sloops built for the Royal Navy during World War I. The sloops-of-war were intended for minesweeping duties in European waters.

Geranium had a displacement of 1,250 tons. She was 255 in 3 in (77.8 m) long between perpendiculars, 267 inch in length overall, had a beam of 33 inch, and a draught of 11 inch. The propulsion system consisted of two coal-fired cylindrical boilers supplying steam to a four-cylinder triple expansion engine, connected to a single propeller shaft.. Maximum speed was 15 knots (8.2 m/s), and the ship could a achieve a range of 2000 nautical miles (3,704 km). Up to 250 tons of coal could be carried.

Geranium was laid down for the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 by the Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Company

Greenock Dockyard Company

The Greenock Dockyard Company was a Scottish shipbuilding and ship repair firm located at Greenock, on the River Clyde.-History:The company was established by J E Scott of Greenock, with the yard at Cartsdyke being taken over in 1879 by Russell and Company, of Greenock, which later became Lithgows...

, Greenock

Greenock

Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, in August 1915 and launched on 8 November 1915.

Operational history

After World War I, Geranium and two sister ships ( and ) were sent to Australia to clear mines deployed by the German auxiliary cruiser SMS Wolf

SMS Wolf (auxiliary cruiser)

SMS Wolf was an armed merchant raider or auxiliary cruiser of the German Imperial Navy in World War I...

. Despite hard work in rough seas, the ships only found one mine.

Geranium and the other two ships were transferred to the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 on 18 October 1919. The ships' minesweeper design made them suitable for handling survey equipment, and Geranium was commissioned on 17 January 1920 as the first RAN survey ship. The ship was poorly designed for survey duties in tropical Australian waters: she was designed for the North Sea Climate, and was required to carry a ship's company of 113, 36 more than the intended ship's company of 77. In 1923, the sloop ran aground on an uncharted reef off Vanderlin Island

Vanderlin Island

Vanderlin Island is an island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Territory, Australia. It is the largest island in the Sir Edward Pellew Group. Its area is 264 km².-See also:*List of islands of Australia...

 in the Gulf of Carpenteria. The ship's company were able to refloat the ship and patch the damage, and after repairs in Sydney, the ship resumed northern survey operations. In October, Geranium rescued the civilian steamship Montoro after she struck Young Reef.

In early 1924, the ship ran aground again in the MacArthur River.The ship was refloated and repaired. Later that year, Geranium was fitted to carry a Fairey IIID

Fairey III

The Fairey Aviation Company Fairey III was a family of British reconnaissance biplanes that enjoyed a very long production and service history in both landplane and seaplane variants...

 seaplane

Seaplane

A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...

: the first RAN survey vessel to carry an aircraft. In May 1927, the survey ship assisted the steamship Tasman, which had hit a reef off Clarke Island

Clarke Island

Clarke Island may be a reference to:*Clarke Island , in the Furneaux Group between Victoria and Tasmania, Australia*Clark Island , in Sydney Harbour, Australia...

.

Decommissioning and fate

Geranium paid off on 10 November 1927. The ship was broken up for scrap at Cockatoo Island during 1932, and the stripped hulk was sunk outside Sydney Heads

Sydney Heads

Sydney Heads , is the entrance to Port Jackson in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.North Head and Quarantine Head are to the north, South Head and Dunbar Head are to the south. Middle Head, Georges Head and Chowder Head are to the west and within the bay...

on 24 April 1935.