HMS M31

{{Short description|M29-class monitor}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}} {{Use British English|date=December 2016}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image='M.31' in the Mediterranean RMG PU6337.jpg |image_caption=Painting of ''M31'' in 1916 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=United Kingdom |flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |name=HMS ''M31'' |namesake= |ordered=15 March 1915 |builder=Harland & Wolff, Belfast |yard_number=487 |laid_down=March 1915 |launched=24 June 1915 |completed=9 July 1915 |acquired= |commissioned= |decommissioned= |in_service= |out_of_service= |struck= |reinstated= |honours= |fate=Sold 1948 and broken up at Llanelly |notes= }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class=''M29''-class monitor |displacement=580 tons deep load |length={{convert|177|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}} |beam={{convert|31|ft|m|abbr=on}} |draught={{convert|5|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}} |draft= |propulsion=Triple expansion. Twin screws. Yarrow oil fuel 45 tons boilers. 400 hp (300 kW) |speed=10 knots (19 km/h) |range= |complement=72 |sensors= |EW= |armament=*2 × BL 6 in (152 mm) Mk XII guns *1 × 6-pounder AA |armour=6 inches on gun shield |armor= |aircraft= |notes= }} }}

'''HMS ''M31''''' was an ''M29''-class monitor of the Royal Navy.

The availability of ten 6 inch Mk XII guns from the ''Queen Elizabeth''-class battleships in 1915 prompted the Admiralty to order five scaled down versions of the ''M15''-class monitors, which had been designed to utilise 9.2 inch guns. HMS ''M31'' and her sisters were ordered from Harland & Wolff, Belfast in March 1915. Launched on 24 June 1915, she was completed in July 1915. Upon completion, HMS ''M31'' was sent to the Mediterranean, and remained there until March, 1919.

In 1916, she defended the port city of Yanbo, in Saudi Arabia, against the Turkish army by providing artillery cover for the Arab rebels.<ref name="TE">{{cite book |last1=Lawrence |first1=T.E. |title=Seven Pillars of Wisdom |url=https://archive.org/details/sevenpillarsofwi00lawr |url-access=registration |date=1935 |publisher=Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. |location=Garden City |pages=[https://archive.org/details/sevenpillarsofwi00lawr/page/129 129-130]}}</ref> She served from May to September 1919 in support of British and White Russian forces in the White Sea, before returning to England.

In September 1923, HMS ''M31'' was taken in hand for conversion to a minelayer. Equipped to carry 52 mines, she was renamed HMS ''Melpomene'' in December 1925. She was assigned to HMS ''Defiance'' the Torpedo School at Devonport. In September, 1939 she was converted to a torpedo training vessel, fitted with one 21 inch torpedo tube on the forecastle.

She was renamed HMS ''Menelaus'' in 1941, and was finally sold in 1948 and broken up at Llanelly.

== Citations == {{Reflist}}

==References== * {{Colledge: Ships RN|year=2006}} * Young, John. A Dictionary of Ships of the Royal Navy of the Second World War. Patrick Stephens Ltd, Cambridge, 1975. {{ISBN|0-85059-332-8}} * Lenton, H.T. & Colledge, J. J. Warships of World War II, Ian Allan, London, 1973. {{ISBN|0-7110-0403-X}} * Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J., "British Warships 1914-1919", (Ian Allan, London, 1972), {{ISBN|0-7110-0380-7}} * Gray, Randal (ed), "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921", (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1985), {{ISBN|0-85177-245-5}} * Lawrence, T. E., Revolt in the Desert, George H. Doran Company, 1927.

{{DEFAULTSORT:M31}} Category:M29-class monitors Category:Ships built in Belfast Category:1915 ships Category:World War I monitors of the United Kingdom Category:Royal Navy ship names Category:Ships built by Harland & Wolff