HMS M22

History
Name:	HMS M22
Builder:	Sir Raylton Dixon & Co.
Laid down:	1 March 1915
Launched:	10 June 1915
Fate:	Sold December 1938 and wrecked 2 January 1939
General characteristics
Class and type:	M15 class monitor
Displacement:	540 tons
Length:	177 ft 3 in (54.03 m)
Beam:	31 ft (9.4 m)
Draught:	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Propulsion:	2 shaft Triple Expansion steam engines 650 ihp
Speed:	11 knots
Complement:	69
Armament:	As built 1 × BL 9.2 inch Mk VI gun 1 × 12pdr (76mm) QF Mk 1 gun 1 × 6 pdr (57mm) QF MK 1 AA gun 1918 1 × BL 9.2 inch Mk VI gun 1 × QF 3-inch (76.20 mm) AA gun 1 × 6 pdr (57mm) QF MK 1 AA gun

HMS M22 was a First World War Royal Navy M15-class monitor. Later converted to a minelayer and renamed HMS Medea , she was wrecked whilst being towed for breaking up on 2 January 1939.

Design

Intended as a shore bombardment vessel, M22's primary armament was a single 9.2 inch Mk VI gun removed from the Edgar-class cruiser HMS Gibraltar.^[1] In addition to her 9.2 inch gun she also possessed one 12 pounder and one six pound anti-aircraft gun. Due to the shortage of Bolinder diesel engines that equipped her sisters, she was fitted with 2 shaft triple expansion steam engines that allowed a top speed of eleven knots. The monitor's crew consisted of sixty nine officers and men.

Construction

HMS M22 ordered in March, 1915, as part of the War Emergency Programme of ship construction. She was laid down at the Sir Raylton Dixon & Co. Ltd shipyard at Govan in March 1915, launched on 10 June 1915, and completed in August 1915.

World War 1

M22 served within the Mediterranean from September 1915 to December 1918.

Interwar Service

After service in the Black Sea from June to September 1919, M22 was towed home and converted to a minelayer in 1920. Renamed HMS Medea on 1 December 1925, she became a training ship in January 1937.

Disposal

HMS Medea was sold December 1938 for breaking up, however she ran aground at Trevose Head, near Padstow in Cornwall on 2 January 1939 and was wrecked. HMS Medea was not wrecked at Trevose Head, she ran aground after breaking her tow at Trebetherick Point, near Rock, Cornwall, on the opposite side of the Camel Estuary to Stepper Point, Padstow, Cornwall.

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475. 
• Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J., "British Warships 1914-1919", (Ian Allan, London, 1972), ISBN 0-7110-0380-7