View source for HMS M15

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS M15 at Mudros 1916 IWM SP 891.jpg
|Ship caption=''M15'' at [[Mudros]], 1916
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=''M15''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=William Gray, Hartlepool.
|Ship laid down=1 March 1915
|Ship launched=28 April 1915
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Sunk on 11 November 1917.
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption= 
|Ship class={{sclass|M15|monitor|0}} [[monitor (warship)|monitor]]
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement=540 tons
|Ship length={{convert|177|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|31|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{convert|6|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*2 shaft
*Triple expansion steam engines
* {{Cvt|800|hp}}
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship speed={{convert|11|kn}}
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=69
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=
* As built
* 1 × [[BL 9.2 inch gun Mk IX–X|BL 9.2-inch Mk X gun]]
* 1 × [[QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun|12 pdr (76 mm) QF Mk 1 gun]]
* 1 × [[QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss|6 pdr (57 mm) QF MK 1 AA gun]]
|Ship armour=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''HMS ''M15'' ''' was a [[World War I|First World War]] [[Royal Navy]] {{sclass|M15|monitor|0}} [[Monitor (ship)|monitor]]. She was sunk off [[Gaza City|Gaza]] by {{SMU|UC-38||2}} on 11 November 1917.

==Design==
Intended as a shore bombardment vessel, ''M15''{{'}}s primary armament was a single [[BL 9.2 inch gun Mk IX–X|9.2-inch Mk X gun]] which had been held as a spare for the {{sclass|Drake|cruiser|5}} and {{sclass|Cressy|cruiser}}s.<ref>{{cite book | title = Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 | editor = Randal Gray | year = 1985 | isbn = 0-85177-245-5 | publisher= Conway Maritime Press | page = 48}}</ref> In addition to her 9.2-inch gun, she also possessed one [[QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun|12-pounder]] and one [[QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss|six-pound anti-aircraft gun]]. She was equipped with triple expansion steam engines rated to {{convert|800|hp|lk=on}} that allowed a top speed of {{convert|11|kn|lk=in}}. The monitor's crew consisted of sixty-nine officers and [[Naval rating|ratings]].

==Construction==
''M15'' was ordered in March 1915, as part of the [[War Emergency Programme destroyers|War Emergency Programme]] of ship construction. She was [[Keel laying|laid down]] at the William Gray shipyard at [[Hartlepool]] in March 1915 and [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 28 April 1915. The vessel was completed in June 1915.

==First World War==
''M15'' was towed to [[Malta]] in July 1915, where she received her main armament. She then proceeded to [[Mudros]], and later was involved in the defence of the [[Suez Canal]].

After bombarding [[Gaza City|Gaza]] as part of the [[Third Battle of Gaza]], on 11 November 1917, ''M15'' and the [[destroyer]] {{HMS|Staunch|1910|6}} were torpedoed by the submarine {{SMU|UC-38||2}}. 26 men lost their lives in the sinking of ''M15'', {{convert|1|km|spell=in}} from shore, in {{convert|90|m}} of water.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Madjid Zerrouky |title=Comment le Hamas a développé son arsenal militaire à Gaza |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2023/10/10/l-effort-ininterrompu-du-hamas-a-gaza-pour-developper-son-arsenal-militaire_6193501_3210.html |access-date=13 October 2023 |work=[[Le Monde]] |date=10 October 2023 |language=fr |quote=33 mètres de profondeur inspecter l’épave du HMS M15, un navire de guerre britannique coulé par un sous-marin allemand en 1917 à un kilomètre de la côte |trans-title=Hamas's relentless efforts to build up its military arsenal in Gaza |trans-quote=a depth of 33 meters to inspect the wreck of HMS M15, a British warship sunk by a German submarine in 1917, one kilometer from the coast}}</ref>

==Hamas recovery of ammunition==
In 2020, [[Hamas]] divers recovered ammunition, including large-calibre naval shells, from the wreck of ''M15'' with the intent of using explosives from the shells to make warheads and gunpowder propellant to make rocket fuel. After more than a century at the bottom of the sea,while Israeli sources claim the material was found to be unusable Hamas published a video of their members using it to make rockets .<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-said-to-retrieve-ammunition-from-british-wwi-warship-sunk-off-gaza-coast/|title=Hamas said to retrieve ammunition from British WWI warship sunk off Gaza coast|first=Toi|last=Staff|website=The Times of Israel|date=15 September 2020}}</ref>

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J., "British Warships 1914-1919", (Ian Allan, London, 1972), {{ISBN|0-7110-0380-7}}

{{M15 class monitors}}
{{November 1917 shipwrecks}}
{{clear}}

{{coord missing|Mediterranean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:M15}}
[[Category:M15-class monitors]]
[[Category:1915 ships]]
[[Category:World War I monitors of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Royal Navy ship names]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1917]]
[[Category:World War I shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea]]