Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Dance class |
In service | 1917–1920 |
Completed | 14 |
Lost | 2 |
Retired | 12 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Minesweeper |
Displacement | 265–290 long tons (269–295 t) |
Length | 130 ft (40 m) |
Beam | 26–27 ft (7.9–8.2 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 9.25–10 knots (17.13–18.52 km/h; 10.64–11.51 mph) |
Range | 37–41.5 tons oil |
Complement | 22–26 men |
Armament |
|
The Dance-class minesweepers were series of minesweepers of the Royal Navy. They were originally designed as a shallow-draft twin-screw tunnel tugs, and were taken over by the British Admiralty as coastal minesweeping sloops. They were completed between November 1917 and September 1918 under the Emergency War Programme, during World War I. [1] [2]
Fourteen ships were built in the Dance class, and each was named after a type of dance, the ships were: [3]
A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping.
HMS Sceptre was an R-class destroyer of the Royal Navy, built by Alexander Stephen and Sons, at Linthouse and launched on 18 April 1917. In total 51 ships were in this class and saw service in World War I, entering service from 1916 to 1917 and suffering comparatively light losses. Sceptre saw action as part of the Harwich Force, operating mainly in the North Sea. She survived the war and was sold for disposal in 1926.
Dovercourt is a small seaside town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Harwich, in the Tendring district, in the county of Essex, England. It is older than its smaller but better-known neighbour, the port of Harwich, and appears in the Domesday Book of 1086. Today the towns are contiguous. In 1921 the parish had a population of 7695.
The Hunt-class minesweeper was a class of minesweeping sloop built between 1916 and 1919 for the Royal Navy. They were built in two discrete groups, the earlier Belvoir group designed by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company and the subsequent Aberdare group designed by the Admiralty. They were classed as Fleet Minesweeping Sloops, that is ships intended to clear open water. The Belvoir group were named after British fox hunts. Those of the Aberdare group were originally named after coastal towns, watering places and fishing ports, some of which happened to be hunts by coincidence. However, all were soon renamed after inland locations to prevent confusion caused by the misunderstanding of signals and orders.
The A-class torpedo boats were a class of German single-funnelled torpedo boat/light destroyer designed by the Reichsmarineamt for operations off the coast of occupied Flanders in the First World War. The A designation was to avoid confusion with older classes and designs. They were known as "coastal torpedo boats" to differentiate from larger, ocean-going torpedo boats.
The Racecourse-class minesweepers were 32 ships delivered to the Royal Navy during the First World War. They were built to two related designs as paddlewheel coastal minesweeping sloops under the Emergency War Programme. The vessels were reasonable sea-boats, but lost speed badly in a seaway when the paddle boxes tended to become choked with water. The class is also widely referred to as the Ascot class and Improved Ascot class.
The Castle-class minesweeper was a highly seaworthy naval trawler adapted for patrol, anti-submarine warfare and minesweeping duties and built to Admiralty specifications. Altogether 197 were built in the United Kingdom between 1916 and 1919, with others built in Canada, India and later New Zealand. Many saw service in the Second World War.
The Harwich Force originally called Harwich Striking Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War and based in Harwich. It played a significant role in the war.
HMS Murray was a Royal Navy Admiralty M-class destroyer. Ordered before the outbreak of war, she was therefore the first of her class to enter operation during the early months of the First World War. She was also the first vessel of the Royal Navy to carry the name HMS Murray.
HMS Teazer was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during World War I. The destroyer was launched in April 1917 and, on trial, proved to be one of the fastest afloat, exceeding 40 knots. Attached to the Harwich Force, the ship supported the monitors Erebus, Terror and Marshal Soult in the bombardment of Zeebrugge in May 1918 and one of the final sorties of the war in the October following. After the war, Teazer was kept in reserve until being sold to be broken up in 1931 following the signing of the London Naval Treaty that limited total destroyer tonnage.
HMS Thisbe was an R-class destroyer which served in the Royal Navy during World War I. The R class were an improvement on the previous M class with geared steam turbines to improve efficiency. Built by Hawthorn Leslie and launched on 8 March 1917, the destroyer served as part of the Harwich Force. In 1918, the destroyer towed a flying boat on a lighter to take part in operations off the coast of Heligoland, although the aircraft failed to take off. After the war, the destroyer was placed in reserve, and participated in trials with the Compass Department in 1925. The ship was sold to be broken up on 31 August 1936.
HMS Torrid was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during World War I. The ship was launched on 10 February 1917 and served as part of the Harwich Force. Subsequently, Torrid was used in the 1930s as a trials ship for new anti-submarine warfare weapons, particularly playing a role in the development of ASDIC. During this time, the destroyer was commanded by Charles Pizey, later the first Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy. The vessel was wrecked off the Falmouth coast en route to being broken up on 16 March 1937.
HMS Thruster was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during the First World War. The R class were an improvement on the previous M class with geared steam turbines to improve efficiency. Built by Hawthorn Leslie and launched on 10 January 1917, Thruster joined the Harwich Force, serving as part of a flotilla that escorted the monitors Erebus and Terror in their bombardment of Ostend in June that year. During the following month, Thruster, along with sister ship Springbok, captured two German merchant ships SS Brietzig and SS Pellworm. The destroyer was also jointly credited with sinking the submarine UB-54 the following year. After the signing of the Armistice that ended the war, the destroyer was allocated to anti-submarine research and helped in the development of anti-submarine tactics with ASDIC. Thruster was sold to be broken up on 16 March 1937.
HMS Leda was a Alarm-class torpedo gunboat of the British Royal Navy. She was built by Sheerness Dockyard from 1891–1893. She was converted to a minesweeper in 1908–1909 and continued these duties during the First World War. Leda was scrapped in 1922.
HMS Manly was a Yarrow M-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. Built by the Scottish shipbuilder Yarrow between 1913 and 1914, Manly served during the First World War. She formed part of the Harwich Force in the early years of the war, and then later in the English Channel as part of the Dover Patrol taking part in the Zeebrugge Raid in 1918. She survived the war, and was sold for scrap in 1920.
HMS Landrail was a Laforey-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. The Laforey class was the class of destroyers ordered under the Royal Navy's 1912–1913 construction programme, which were armed with three 4-inch (102 mm) guns and four torpedo tubes and were capable of 29 knots. The ship, which was originally to be named Hotspur but was renamed before launch, was built by the Scottish shipbuilder Yarrow between 1912 and 1914,
HMS Matchless was a Royal Navy Admiralty M-class destroyer. Matchless was built by Swan Hunter from 1913 to 1914 and was completed in December that year. She served through the remainder of the First World War, operating in the North Sea as part of the Harwich Force in the early part of the war and later in the English Channel as part of the Dover Patrol, where she took part in both the First and Second Ostend Raids. Despite being badly damaged by a German mine in 1915 and being involved in several collisions, she survived the war, and was sold for scrap in 1921.
HMS Milne was a Royal Navy Admiralty M-class destroyer. Milne was built by John Brown & Company from 1913 to 1914 and was completed in December that year. She served through the remainder of the First World War, at first with the Harwich Force with which she took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915, and later with the Dover Patrol, sinking the German submarine UC-26 in May 1917. Milne was sold for scrap in 1921.
HMS Spenser was a Thornycroft type flotilla leader of the British Royal Navy. She was built by J I Thornycroft from 1916 to 1917 as the lead ship of her class, launching in September 1917 and completing in December that year.