HMS Adamant (1911)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Adamant.

HMS Adamant was a submarine depot ship of the Royal Navy. She was purpose built to support three of the new D-class submarines under the 1910/11 Naval Programme, allowing a small part of a flotilla to be deployed away from the main base.^[1]

Adamant
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Adamant
Ordered	1910
Builder	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
Launched	12 July 1911
Commissioned	27 April 1912
Decommissioned	7 July 1932
Honours and awards	Dardanelles 1915
Fate	Sold 21 September 1932 for breaking by Rees, Llanelli
General characteristics
Type	Submarine depot ship
Displacement	935 long tons (950 t) (normal load)
Length	212 ft (65 m)
Beam	32 ft 6 in (9.91 m)
Draught	12 ft 4 in (3.76 m) (deep load)
Installed power	1,400 shp (1,000 kW) Yarrow boilers
Propulsion	1 x triple-expansion steam engine 1 x shaft
Speed	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Range	2,500 nmi (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried	one 35 ft (11 m) motor boat one 30 ft (9.1 m) cutter one 27 ft (8.2 m) whaler two 16 ft (4.9 m) skiffs
Complement	63
Armament	None as completed
Notes	180 long tons (180 t) of coal at deep load

Service history

Pre-war

Adamant commissioned at Portsmouth on 27 April 1912, as an additional depot ship. Soon incorporated in the newly established 8th Submarine Flotilla. This was the offensive submarine force based in UK waters.^[2]

First World War

Adamant went with 8th Submarine Flotilla to its war station at Harwich in the 1914 mobilisation.^[3] On 3 November 1914 Adamant was sent to Yarmouth to act as depot for a detachment of the Flotilla, which was based there from this date. Her crew also established a permanent submarine base. The detachment left on 21 December 1914 and Adamant returned to Harwich.^[4]

Adamant was transferred for service as depot ship for the E-class submarines being sent to the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron for service at the Dardanelles, leaving Harwich on 27 March 1915 for the base at Mudros.^[5] In January 1916 Adamant moved to Brindisi as depot ship for the submarines of the Adriatic Squadron. She returned as depot for the submarines of the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron at Mudros in November 1916. In October 1917 she returned to the Adriatic Force as depot for submarines based at Govino (now Gouvia) on Corfu, moving back to Brindisi on 28 March 1918. She went through the Dardanelles as part of the Aegean Force on 11 November 1918 following the Turkish Armistice.^[6]

Fate

Adamant decommissioned from service on 7 July 1932.^[7] She was sold on 21 September 1932.^[8]

Pennant numbers

Pennant Number[8]	From	To
P37	6 December 1914	1 January 1918
P00	1 January 1918	Early 1919

References

1. Keyes, Roger (1934). The Naval Memoirs of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes - The Narrow Seas to the Dardanelles 1910-1915. London: Thornton Butterworth Ltd. p. 44.
2. The Navy List, June 1913. London: HMSO. 1913.
3. Position and Movements, H.M. Ships, War Vessels and Aircraft, British and Foreign, Parts I. and II., August 1914. London: Admiralty Records. 1914.
4. Harris, Mark (2021). Harwich Submarines in the Great War: The first submarine campaign of the Royal Navy in 1914. Warwick: Helion & Company. pp. 234–5, 283–4. ISBN 978-1-914059-97-1.
5. Peter Shankland & Anthony Hunter (1964). Dardanelles Patrol. London: Collins. pp. 11–12.
6. Michael Wilson & Paul Kemp (1997). Mediterranean Submarines. Wilmslow: Crecy. p. 109,112, 121,155, 157, 188. ISBN 0947554572.
7. ADM 53/70057
8. Dittmar & Colledge, p.295

Sources

• Dittmar, F.J. & Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
• The National Archives: ADM 186/15: War Vessels and Aircraft (British and Foreign): Quarterly Return, Oct 1915
• The National Archives: ADM 53/16731, 32787-32822, 70016-70057: Logs of HMS Adamant