HMS Bergamot (1917)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Bergamot.

HMS Bergamot (1917)
Career
Name:	HMS Bergamot
Builder:	Armstrong Whitworth
Laid down:	1 January 1917
Launched:	5 May 1917
Commissioned:	5 June 1917
Fate:	Sunk, 13 August 1917
General characteristics
Class & type:	Anchusa-class sloop
Displacement:	1,290 long tons (1,311 t)
Length:	250 ft (76 m) p/p 262 ft 3 in (79.93 m) o/a
Beam:	35 ft (11 m)
Draught:	11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) mean 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) – 13 ft 8 in (4.17 m) deep
Propulsion:	4-cylinder triple expansion engine 2 boilers 2,500 hp (1,864 kW) 1 screw
Speed:	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range:	260 long tons (260 t) coal
Complement:	93
Armament:	• 2 × 4 in (100 mm) guns • 1 or 2 × 12-pounder guns • Depth charge throwers

HMS Bergamot was an Anchusa-class sloop of the Royal Navy, which had a short career during World War I. Built by Armstrong Whitworth, the ship was laid down on 1 January 1917, launched on 5 May, and commissioned on 5 June.

Two months later, on 13 August 1917, she was sunk in the Atlantic west of the harbour of Killybegs by the German submarine U-84, commanded by Walter Rohr.

His war diary describes how he sighted a lone merchant ship, with no defensive armament (an unusual sight by 1917). Bergamot evidently sighted the U-boat's periscope, as she began to zig-zag at high speed. U-84 fired one torpedo — which hit — and Bergamot sank in 4 minutes. Surfacing, U-84 sighted an unusually large number of crew (70) and pieces of wood floating. The U-boat's log identifies the possibility of Bergamot being a "trap ship".

After a brief search of the area, in which no officers could be identified, the light diminished too much, and U-84 left the area to continue her patrol.

An interesting note is that the week before, Bergamot had experimented with towing a submerged submarine — E48 — thus resurrecting a 1915 method of trapping submarines.