HMT Juniper (T123)

HMT "Juniper" (T123) was a Tree-class minesweeping trawler of the Royal Navy. She was built by Ferguson Brothers Ltd. at Glasgow, launched on 15 December 1939, and commissioned on 9 March 1940.

A steel vessel of 545 tons, "Juniper" measured 164 feet in length with a beam of 27 feet 8 inches and a mean draft of 11 feet 1 inch. A single triple expansion reciprocating engine of 850 ihp gave her a speed of 12 knots. The crew numbered 4 officers and 36 men. Armament comprised a 12pdr AA gun, 3 20mm Oerlikon AA guns, and 30 depth charges. [Robert Gardiner (ed. dir.), "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946,", p. 66. London: Conway Maritime Press, 1980]

"Juniper" served in the early months of the Second World War and was sunk on 8 June 1940 in the Norwegian Sea at the close of the Norwegian Campaign. The previous day the German naval squadron under "Vizeadmiral" Wilhelm Marschall received Luftwaffe reports of two groups of ships. Marschall decided on his own initiative to attack the southernmost group, which was escorted by "Juniper". On the morning of 8 June, Marschall (with the battlecruisers "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau", heavy cruiser "Admiral Hipper", and four destroyers) intercepted the British ships, sinking "Juniper", the tanker "Oil Pioneer", and the empty troopship "Orama"; the hospital ship "Atlantis" was spared. "Juniper" was sunk by gunfire from "Admiral Hipper". [Richard Humble, "Hitler's High Seas Fleet", p. 57. New York: Ballantine Books, 1971.]

Marschall then sent "Admiral Hipper" and the destroyers to Trondheim to refuel. Later that same day, "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" encountered and sank the aircraft carrier "Glorious" and destroyers "Acasta" and "Ardent". [Ibid.]

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