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 ft in length with a beam of 27 ft and a mean draft of 11 ft A single triple expansion reciprocating engine of 850 ihp gave her a speed of 12 kn. The crew numbered 4 officers and 36 men. Armament comprised a 12pdr AA gun, three 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns, and 30 depth charges.

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 battleships GERMAN BATTLESHIP Scharnhorst and GERMAN BATTLESHIP Gneisenau, heavy cruiser GERMAN 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.

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 HMS Glorious and destroyers HMS Acasta (H09) and HMS Ardent (H41).