The Town class was a group of twenty-one light cruisers built for the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) of the first half of the 20th Century. These vessels were long-range cruisers, suitable for patrolling the vast expanse covered by the British Empire. These ships, initially rated as second class cruisers, were built to a series of designs, known as the Bristol, Weymouth, Chatham, Birmingham and Birkenhead classes – all having the names of British towns except for the RAN ships, which were named after Australian cities.
HMS Hawke, launched in 1891, was the seventh British warship to be named Hawke. She was an Edgar-class protected cruiser.
A & J Inglis, Ltd, was a shipbuilding firm founded by Anthony Inglis and his brother John, engineers and shipbuilders in Glasgow, Scotland in 1862. The firm built over 500 ships in a period of just over 100 years. Their Pointhouse Shipyard was at the confluence of the rivers Clyde and Kelvin. They constructed a wide range of ships, including Clyde steamers, paddle steamers and small ocean liners. In wartime, they built small warships, and in the period after World War II, they built a number of whalers.
HMS Lance was a Laforey-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Launched a few months before the outbreak of the First World War and attached to the Harwich Force, Lance took part in several engagements during the war, including the sinking of the Königin Luise and the Battle off Texel. She was responsible for firing the first British shot of the war.
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.
Fleming and Ferguson was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding company that traded between 1877 and 1969.
HMS Albury was a Hunt-class minesweeper of the Aberdare sub-class built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was not finished in time to participate in the First World War and survived the Second World War to be sold for scrap in 1947.
HMS Acorn was a destroyer of the British Royal Navy and the lead ship of her class. She was built by John Brown and Company at their Clydebank shipyard, being built and completed in 1910. The ship served throughout the First World War and was sold for scrap in 1921.
HMS Marksman was a Marksman-class flotilla leader of the British Royal Navy. Construction at Hawthorn Leslie's Newcastle upon Tyne shipyard began in 1914, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, and the ship was launched and completed in 1915. She took part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and survived the war. She was sold for scrap in 1921.
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 Partridge was a Royal Navy Admiralty M-class destroyer constructed and then operational in the First World War, later being sunk by enemy action in 1917. The destroyer was the sixth Royal Navy vessel to carry the name HMS Partridge.
HMS Rosalind was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. The ship was launched by Thornycroft on 14 October 1916 as the first of five similar ships ordered from the yard. The design was used as the basis for five subsequent ships of the S-class also built by the company. Rosalind served as part of the Grand Fleet during the First World War, operating as an escort to other warships and in anti-submarine patrols alongside other destroyers. The vessel was sold to be broken up on 13 July 1926.
PS Duchess of Fife was a paddle steamer built in 1903 for the Caledonian Steam Packet Company. She spent most of her career serving passenger routes in the Firth of Clyde and was requisitioned for use as a minesweeper during both World Wars. In 1940 she took part in the Dunkirk evacuation, rescuing a total of 1,633 allied troops.
HMS TB 13 was a Cricket-class coastal destroyer or torpedo-boat of the British Royal Navy. TB 13 was built by the shipbuilder J S White from 1907 to 1908. She was used for local patrol duties in the First World War and was sunk following a collision on 26 January 1916.
HMS Ursula was a Modified Admiralty R-class destroyer that served in the Royal Navy. The Modified R class added attributes of the Yarrow Later M class to improve the capability of the ships to operate in bad weather. The vessel was launched on 21 April 1917 at Greenock in Scotland and served with the Grand Fleet during World War I. After the war, the destroyer was transferred to the Home Fleet, but then moved to the Reserve Fleet before, on 19 November 1929, being sold to be broken up.
HMS Melpomene was a Medea-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. She was one of four destroyers, of similar design to the British M-class ordered by Greece in June 1914, which the British purchased during construction owing to the outbreak of the First World War.
HMS Medway was a Admiralty M-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during the First World War. The M class were an improvement on the previous Laforey-class, capable of higher speed. Originally laid down as HMS Redwing by J. Samuel White at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, the vessel was renamed before being launched on 8 March 1916. The vessel was allocated to the Grand Fleet and served in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in support of the First Light Cruiser Squadron in their action against German light cruisers and minesweepers. During the action, the ship did not record any hits. After the War, the destroyer was placed in reserve and subsequently sold to be broken up on 9 May 1921.
HMS Sylph was an R-class destroyer that served in 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. Launched by Harland & Wolff at Govan on 10 February 1917, Sylph joined the Harwich Force and escorted merchant ships and convoys in the North Sea. The ship encountered both German submarines and torpedo boats but did not record any hits on the enemy. However, during one action in foggy weather, the destroyer struck and sank sister ship Setter. After the Armistice that ended the war, the destroyer was initially placed in the reserve before being transferred to the Torpedo School in 1919. On 16 December 1926, Sylph was sold to be broken up.
HMS Opportune was an Admiralty M-class destroyer which served in the Royal Navy during the First World War. The M class were an improvement on the previous L-class, capable of higher speed. The vessel was launched on 20 November 1915 and joined the Grand Fleet. Opportune spent much of the war involved in anti-submarine warfare. The ship took part in large patrols to seek out submarines which involved entire flotillas and also acted as an escort for convoys. After the Armistice that marked the end of the First World War, the destroyer was transferred to Portsmouth and placed in reserve. After a brief spell as a remote controlled target to test how warships responded to attacks by aircraft, Opportune was decommissioned and, on 7 December 1923, sold to be broken up.
United Kingdom