HMS M20 was a First World War

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...

 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...

 M15-class

M15 class monitor

The M15-class comprised fourteen monitors of the Royal Navy, all built and launched during 1915.- Design :The ships of this class were ordered in March, 1915, as part of the Emergency War Programme of ship construction...

 monitor.

Design

Intended as a shore bombardment vessel, M20s primary armament was a single 9.2 inch Mk VI gun

BL 9.2 inch gun Mk I - VII

The BL 9.2 inch guns Mk I - Mk VII were a family of early British heavy breechloading naval and coast defence guns in service from 1881 to the end of World War I...

 removed from the HMS Gibraltar

HMS Gibraltar (1892)

HMS Gibraltar, was an Edgar class cruiser launched in 1892 for service in the Royal Navy. She was built and engineered by Messrs Napier of Glasgow. Of 7,700 loaded displacement, she was coal-fired with four double-ended cylindrical boilers driving two shafts. She could make with forced draught...

 . In addition to her 9.2 inch gun she also possessed one 12 pounder

QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun

The QF 12 pounder 12 cwt gun was a common calibre naval gun introduced in 1894 and used until the middle of the 20th century. It was produced by Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick and used on Royal Navy warships, and exported to allied countries...

 and one six pound anti-aircraft gun

QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss

The QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss was a light 57 mm naval gun and coast defence gun of the late 19th century used by many countries, and was adapted for use in the early British tanks in World War I.- Canada History :...

. She was equipped with a four shaft Bolinder two cylinder semi-diesel engine with 640 horse power that allowed a top speed of eleven knots. The monitor's crew consisted of sixty nine officers and men.

Construction

HMS M20 ordered in March, 1915, as part of the Emergency War Programme of ship construction. She was laid down at the Sir Raylton Dixon & Co.

Sir Raylton Dixon

Sir Raylton Dixon , was a shipbuilder at Middlesbrough on the River Tees. He was one of the seven children of Jeremiah Dixon and Mary Frank of Cockfield, County Durham who were married on 21 July 1833 in St. Cuthberts, Darlington...

 Ltd shipyard at Govan

Govan

Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....

 in March 1915, launched on 11 May 1915, and completed in July 1915.

World War 1

M20 served with in the Mediterranean from August 1915 to December 1918. She did not return to Home Waters, paying off at 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...

.

Disposal

M20 was sold on 29 January 1920 for mercantile service as an oil tanker and renamed 'Lima'.