HMS „M 15“ – the British ocean monitor

At the beginning of World War I, due to the relatively large number of "free" large-caliber guns, left over from old battleships and armored cruisers (which, according to the regulations of the British Navy, had to have one set of guns in their arsenals as a reserve, and some of the ships had already been either sunk or written off), the British Admiralty decided the question of their use. The long-planned Dardanelles operation required building as many powerful ships, as possible at the lowest possible cost, and as quickly, as possible. One of those cannon models was the 234mm BL Mark. X cannon on the Mark V mounts, used on “Cressy”-type armored cruisers, and they were to become the main weapon of the new monitors. Additional armament was to consist of a 76 mm cannon and 1 37 mm anti-aircraft cannon. Due to the accumulated cannons of various models, several monitor designs were designed. The monitor "M 15", presented in the publication, belonged to the group of 4 "small" monitors ("M 15" - "M 18"). After the armament was selected, rapid design work began. Wherever possible, weight was saved, even the rotation mechanism of the main tower was lightened, the rear part of the tower remained unarmored - open. Most of the crew quarters were concentrated under the raised part of the bak deck in very spartan conditions. “William Gray” Shipyard in Hartpool won the quick tender. Construction proceeded at an unusually fast pace. The first works began in March 1915, already on April 28 the "M 15" hull was launched into the water. Completion took the next two months. Since the 234 mm cannon for "M 15" was in Malta, the ship was transferred to the military fleet without a fully equipped armament. After a quick trial, the ship was sent to the Mediterranean Sea, Malta, together with the “M 16” sistership, where the armament installation was completed at the end of July. Although the ship was designed to reach a low speed of 12 knots, it failed to achieve that - only 11 knots. After the installation of the armament, "M 15" takes part in a long shelling operation on the coasts of Gallipoli and Bulgaria, which entered the war in that time. The main task of the monitor’s flotilla was the support of the Allied forces in the Aegean Sea, the blockade of the Bulgarian coast, the protection of the Suez Canal and the support of the Greek army. “M 15” was initially based on the island of Idros, then sent to Egypt, where it remained from January 1916 until its sinking in November 1917. At that time, he shelled the Turkish forces near the Oghratin oasis, bombarded the Turkish base in El Arish, and later supported the allied forces in the Gaza Sector. On November 11, 1917 German submarine "UC. 38" managed to get past the limits of the anti-torpedo nets and by torpedo drowned the monitor. The destroyer HMS “Staunch” was also sunk in this same attack by “UC.38”. Due to the simple construction of the ship, the "M 15" sank in 3 minutes, taking with it 26 crew members.

A small, uncomplicated, well-detailed ship model, suitable for intermediate to advanced modelers. Working under the supervision of a more experienced colleague, this model can be glued by a less experienced modeler, but haste and carelessness should be avoided.