Despite being the only allied ship to have survived Gallipoli, HMS M33 sat largely unnoticed off the coast of Britain for more than nine decades.
Undergoing various transformations as a mine-laying training ship, floating office and mobile ship moor, few realised its true identity as a hero of Gallipoli, having endured months of daily bombardment missions and eventually playing a vital role in the evacuation of allied forces from the doomed campaign.
Now, HMS M33 will finally claim its rightful place in history, lying alongside the iconic HMS Victory in Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard.
When British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that HMS M33 would be the focus of one of three centrepiece commemorative events to mark the battle’s centenary, he said “the role of the Royal Navy in the First World War deserves to be much better known.”
“When we mark the centenary of the Gallipoli Campaign, we will recognise the sacrifice made by so many and reaffirm our gratitude for the contribution of Irish and Commonwealth troops, in particular the role of the ANZAC forces whose gallantry there did so much to define Australia and New Zealand as strong, independent nations.”
The ship is undergoing a $4.5 million restoration at Portsmouth’s National Museum of the Royal Navy, with volunteers helping to restore the vessel and being encouraged to help “crowd fund” $45,000, representing around 10 per cent of the repair bill.
“We describe her as a little ship with a big history and the beauty of crowd-funding is that you don’t need to contribute large amounts to ensure she is safe for the future,” says Matthew Sheldon, who is managing the restoration process.
“Those donating have the unique opportunity to contribute to saving a fantastic piece of our naval heritage.
“She is a unique survivor.”
One the day after the Suvla Bay landings at Gallipoli, HMS M33's Leading Signalman Henry Mulligan wrote: "Fired 59 rounds today. Don't think Mr Turk likes the look of us".
A ‘whippet’ that could get in close to shore, rushed into battle
Monitor Boat thirty-three was rushed into battle as part of the Commonwealth’s rapid ship construction campaign, her design drawn up, quite literally, on the back of a napkin.
“She was built in just seven weeks and there were five vessels exactly of her class all built in Belfast in the same yard that built the Titanic”, Sheldon says.
“The reason she could be built so quickly is partly because she is so simple. She is basically a riveted steel box.”
Workmen dubbed the ship a “whippet”, due to the speed at which it was built.
Less than two months after being commissioned by Sir Winston Churchill, HMS M33 arrived in the Dardanelles, one of several gunboats deployed on August 6, 1915, when thousands of British troops ran ashore at Suvla Bay.
“They were landing in support of the ANZAC troops who are trying to break the stalemate in the failing Gallipoli campaign”, says Sheldon.
“She is very shallow drafted and has a very flat bottom, which means she could get extremely close into shore – water as shallow as 6 foot - and put down supporting fire for the Australian and British troops.
“She has two six-inch guns that could fire something like 14,000 yards.
“She would get close in shore and she’d use these guns to hit fortifications, to hit Turkish troops and to support ANZAC and British troops as they tried to advance.
“She didn’t always know how effective her gunfire was, quite often she was firing over gullies and she couldn’t see her targets.
“We know that she fired, on average, 60 rounds of ammunition a day.
The company of HMS M33 pictured setting sail to Gallipoli in June 1915.
“She wasn’t hit in that campaign, but we know that she was often straddled by Turkish artillery fire and because she was so close to shore she had shell splinters falling all around her and on her decks.
“It was a pretty risky business because she was a very slow ship.
“She had a top speed of just under ten knots. She wasn’t built for speed, so she couldn’t run away or manoeuvre.”
After months of these daring daily bombardment missions, HMS M33 played a vital role in the eventual evacuation of allied forces from the doomed campaign.
The gunboat and her crew would remain at sea for three-and-a-half-years, eventually returning home to Chatham in Britain in October 1919.
Backdrop for commemorations
The ship will be the backdrop for commemorations of the Suvla Bay landings, when it opens to the public on August 6 2015 during an event in Portsmouth which organisers say "will have wide appeal and will aim to engage young people".
More than 550,000 Allied troops from Britain, the Indian sub-continent, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, India and France fought at Gallipoli, on land and at sea.
Their casualties, including those killed, sustaining serious injuries, falling sick or missing, numbered more than 200,000.
The campaign saw a higher number of Australian and New Zealand deaths than in any previous conflict.
The crowdfunding appeal is set to run for one month from Monday February 16. Donations can be made at https://www.indiegogo.com/at/m33
Brett Mason, SBS Europe Correspondent, reported this story from Portsmouth, Britain.
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