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HMS Anne (1915)
Encyclopedia
HMS Anne was a seaplane carrier of 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...
used during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Converted from the captured German freighter Aenne Rickmers, the ship's two aircraft conducted aerial reconnaissance
Aerial reconnaissance
Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance that is conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles or reconnaissance aircraft. Their roles are to collect imagery intelligence, signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence...
, observation and bombing missions in the Eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
during 1915–17 even though the ship was not commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
into the Royal Navy until mid-1915. She was decommissioned
Ship decommissioning
To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....
in late 1917 and became a Merchant Navy
Merchant Navy
The Merchant Navy is the maritime register of the United Kingdom, and describes the seagoing commercial interests of UK-registered ships and their crews. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensign and are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency...
collier for the last year of the war. Anne was sold off in 1922 and had a succession of owners and names until she was scrapped
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
in 1958.
Description
Anne was 367 in 1 in (111.89 m) long, had a beamBeam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 47 in 7 in (14.5 m), and a draught
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
of 27 in 3 in (8.31 m). She was rated at . The ship had one propeller shaft powered by one triple-expansion steam engine that used steam generated by an unknown number of coal-fired boiler
Boiler (steam generator)
A boiler or steam generator is a device used to create steam by applying heat energy to water. Although the definitions are somewhat flexible, it can be said that older steam generators were commonly termed boilers and worked at low to medium pressure but, at pressures above this, it is more...
s. Anne had a maximum speed of 11 knots (6 m/s).
Career
The merchant ship SS Aenne Rickmers was built by Rickmers of BremerhavenBremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
in 1911. On the outbreak of war in August 1914, she was seized whilst in Port Said
Port Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and was requisitioned for service under the Red Ensign
Red Ensign
The Red Ensign or "Red Duster" is a flag that originated in the early 17th century as a British ensign flown by the Royal Navy and later specifically by British merchantmen. The precise date of its first appearance is not known, but surviving receipts indicate that the Navy was paying to have such...
of the British Merchant Marine in January 1915 to operate seaplanes. No special modifications were made to the ship; the aircraft were stowed on the aft hatch covers and handled with her cargo booms. Aenne Rickmers operated two French Nieuport
Nieuport
Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars.-Beginnings:...
floatplane
Floatplane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane, with slender pontoons mounted under the fuselage; only the floats of a floatplane normally come into contact with water, with the fuselage remaining above water...
s that had been off-loaded by the ; they were flown by French pilots with British observers.
For the first two months of 1915, the ship and her aircraft supported Allied operations in Syria, Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula
Sinai and Palestine Campaign
The Sinai and Palestine Campaigns took place in the Middle Eastern Theatre of World War I. A series of battles were fought between British Empire, German Empire and Ottoman Empire forces from 26 January 1915 to 31 October 1918, when the Armistice of Mudros was signed between the Ottoman Empire and...
. Aside from reconnaissance duties, they delivered and recovered Allied agents as well as observed for ships performing coastal bombardments. On 4 March, Aenne Rickmers was ordered to join several Allied ships that were going to bombard Smyrna
Smyrna
Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
, Turkey. A week later, she was torpedoed by the Turkish torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
Demir Hisar. The ship was hit by one torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
in the Number 1 cargo hold; this was full of timber which limited water ingress and saved her from sinking. Aenne Rickmers arrived at Mudros
Moudros
Moudros is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lemnos, of which it is a municipal unit. It covers the entire eastern peninsula of the island, with a land area of 185.127 km²,...
the following day to begin repairs, but the repair crew was withdrawn a week later to work on the damaged battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
. The seaplane carrier (another merchant conversion) arrived on 20 March to load her aircraft and crew, leaving only a five-person skeleton crew behind. During a storm on 6 April, the ship dragged her anchors and ran aground on a sandy beach. She was temporarily repaired there and refloated on 12 May, sailing to Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Egypt two days later for permanent repairs and to off-load her cargo. This was completed by 18 June, but the ship lay idle until the end of the month when she was provided with an Arab crew and sailed to Port Said
Port Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...
.
Aenne Rickmers rendezvoused with the French armoured cruiser on 18 July at Scarpanto and the carrier searched the Turkish coast for U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
bases and observed while the French ship bombarded coastal installations. The ship then returned to Port Said where she was fitted with a 12-pounder gun
12-pounder gun
12-pounder gun or 12-pdr, usually denotes a gun which fired a projectile of approximately 12 pounds.Guns of this type include:* A cannon sized for a 12 pound ball, see Naval artillery in the Age of Sail*Canon de 12 de Vallière French canon of 1732...
. Aenne Rickmers was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 5 August 1915 and renamed HMS Anne the same day. She rendezvoused with Jeanne d'Arc and the French pre-dreadnought battleship around 13 August and observed while they bombarded Turkish installations in Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
. On 17 August, aircraft from both Anne and Raven II spotted for Jeanne d'Arc as she bombarded Tarsus
Tarsus, Mersin
Tarsus is a historic city in south-central Turkey, 20 km inland from the Mediterranean Sea. It is part of the Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Turkey with a population of 2.75 million...
and then assisted Jeanne d'Arc and Jaureguiberry on 30 August as they captured Ruad Island.
In early September, the ship assisted the French as they evacuated Armenian
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
troops and civilians from Alexandretta and the surrounding area and then resumed her earlier work of reconnaissance and espionage. Anne lost her first aircraft when it suffered an engine failure whilst on a reconnaissance mission over Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
on 9 October. The ship had her bottom cleaned in Alexandria during November and lost another aircraft, again over Beersheba, on 22 December. In January 1916, she was assigned to the East Indies and Egypt Seaplane Squadron together with the carriers , and Raven II. The squadron was under the command of the General Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding is the usual title given in the armies of Commonwealth nations to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC II Corps or GOC 7th Armoured Division...
, Egypt and its primary duty was to watch Turkish positions and movements in southern Palestine and the Sinai in early 1916. Around 17 April, Anne was attacked by two German aircraft, but was not damaged. A few days later, she discovered a U-boat base at Makry, whilst operating near Kastellorizo. The ship loaded aboard the French seaplane contingent in Egypt at the end of the month, and delivered it to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
on 9 May for transfer, including her own Nieuports, to the . Her aircraft had made a total of 118 flights since she began operating them in January 1915 and only two had been lost.
Later that month, Anne exchanged her existing 12-pounder for an anti-aircraft gun of the same calibre and was back at Port Said by 21 May. She lay idle there until mid-June when she began transporting military supplies between Port Said and several ports in the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
. This lasted until 2 August when she embarked British seaplanes, including Short Type 184
Short Type 184
|-Manufacturers:Source: Barnes and James#Brush Electrical Engineering Co. Ltd. #Frederick Sage & Co. Ltd. #J. Samuel White #Mann, Egerton & Co. Ltd. #Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company #Robey & Co. Ltd. #S E Saunders Limited...
, Sopwith Schneider and Baby
Sopwith Baby
-See also:...
floatplanes, and she observed for the on 10 August as the latter ship bombarded Mersina. The East Indies and Egypt Squadron reassembled in late August with Raven II, Anne and Ben-my-Chree and the aircraft from the three carriers attacked the Turkish supply dump at El Afule for thirty minutes. The squadron then steamed south along the Palestinian coast where they encountered two Turkish supply dhow
Dhow
Dhow is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with lateen sails used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Some historians believe the dhow was invented by Arabs but this is disputed by some others. Dhows typically weigh 300 to 500 tons, and have a...
s. One was sunk by the escorting while the other was captured. The squadron flew off seven aircraft that attacked an encampment at Bureir and a nearby railroad viaduct
Viaduct
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...
. One of Annes seaplanes was lost during this mission and the pilot was captured. Despite the loss, her aircraft bombed Turkish installations at Tull Keram, Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
, Ludd
Lod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
and Ramleh before returning to Port Said on 27 August.
A few days later, Anne replaced Raven II, after that ship had been damaged by an air attack on 1 September, on an expedition into the Red Sea to support the Arab Revolt
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :...
against the Turks. She rendezvoused with the elderly cruiser and Dufferin of the Royal Indian Marine (RIM) and they arrived at Rabigh
Rabigh
Rabigh is an ancient town on the western coast of Saudi Arabia . It is in Makkah Province. It used to be named "Al-Johfa" until the early years of the 17th century. In some ancient stories the town had been completely destroyed through a sea water...
on 9 September. The ship briefly ran aground off Yenbo, but got off and was able to observe for Fox and Hardinge of the RIM as they shelled Turkish positions near Wejh on 13 September. Aside one brief visit to Suez
Suez
Suez is a seaport city in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez , near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boundaries as Suez governorate. It has three harbors, Adabya, Ain Sokhna and Port Tawfiq, and extensive port facilities...
to recoal, Anne remained in the area while her aircraft flew bombing and reconnaissance missions until she was relieved by Raven II on 26 October. The ship was idle at Port Said for the rest of the year other than one trip to Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
transporting coal. In January 1917, Anne returned to the Red Sea and joined Hardinge and the Armed boarding steamer
Armed boarding steamer
An armed boarding steamer was a type of warship used by the United Kingdom during World War I. Usually converted merchantmen, AB steamers or AB vessels were specifically designed for boarding an enemy vessel.-Vessels:*HMS Perth*HMS Suva...
Suva. Together with some 500 Arabs, the crews of the three ships made an amphibious landing and captured Wejh. The ship returned to Suez on 27 January and seems to have been used only as a collier until she was paid off on 8 August.