HMS Scourge (1910)

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HMS Scourge at sea (15832433805).jpg
HMS Scourge at sea 1914
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Scorpion
Builder R. W. Hawthorn Leslie & Company [1]
Launched11 February 1910 [1]
FateSold for scrap, 9 May 1921 [1]
General characteristics
Class and type Beagle-class destroyer
Displacement860–940 long tons (874–955 t)
Length275 ft (84 m)
Beam27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)
Draught8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
Installed power12,500 hp (9,300 kW)
PropulsionCoal-fired boilers, 2 or 3 shaft steam turbines
Speed27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Complement96
Armament

HMS Scourge was a Beagle-class destroyer, launched in 1910 and served in the Royal Navy. In 1913 she was transferred to the Third Destroyer Flotilla. [2] She was used during the Gallipoli campaign to help transfer regiments to the shore at Anzac Cove and Suvla Bay. Subsequently, she assisted in the rescue of survivors from the sinking of HMHS Britannic.

Contents

Construction and result

Scourge was built by the Hawthorn Leslie and Company, and launched on 11 February 1910. She was 84 metres long and 8.4 metres wide. She had three funnels and three propellers, which enabled her to sail at speeds of up to 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph).

Gallipoli landings of WW1

HMS Scourge towing troops to the shore during the landing at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915 HMS Scourge towing boats Anzac landing 1915.jpg
HMS Scourge towing troops to the shore during the landing at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915

At Suvla Bay on 6–7 August 1915 Scourge worked with five other Beagle destroyers as well as a Portuguese destroyer to tow troop landing craft to the shore. [3]

Assistance with HMHS Britannic

The survivors from HMHS Britannic (including medical personnel and crew members) aboard HMS Scourge Britannic's survivors.jpg
The survivors from HMHS Britannic (including medical personnel and crew members) aboard HMS Scourge

HMS Scourge assisted after the sinking of the hospital ship HMHS Britannic while cruising through the Aegean during the Gallipoli operations. She received SOS and CQD from the Kea Channel; steamed towards the location. Scourge picked up 339 survivors and the rest rowed to land on Kea Island or got picked up by other ships afterwards.

Fate

HMS Scourge was sold on 9 May 1921 and scrapped at Briton Ferry. [1]

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HMS <i>Pincher</i> (1910) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

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HMS Beagle was one of sixteen destroyers ordered under the 1908–09 Naval Estimates from John Brown & Company of Clydebank. Named for the English hunting dog, she was the sixth ship to carry this name since it was introduced for a Cruizer Class fir-built, brig-sloop on 8 August 1804 and sold on 21 July 1814. The destroyers of the 1908–09 program would be the last coal-fired destroyers of the Royal Navy. She and her sisters served in the First Destroyer Flotilla then were moved en masse to the Third Destroyer Flotilla and before the start of the Great War to the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla. With the advent of the convoy system they were moved to the Second Destroyer Flotilla. With the Armistice she was laid up then scrapped in 1921.

HMS <i>Foxhound</i> (1909) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

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HMS Grasshopper was a Beagle-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. The Beagles were coal-fuelled ships, designed for a speed of 27 kn, armed with a 4-inch (102 mm gun and two torpedo tubes. Grasshopper was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company at their Govan yard, between 1909 and 1910, being launched on 23 November 1909 and completing in July 1910.

HMS <i>Racoon</i> (1910) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Racoon was a Beagle-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. The Beagles were coal-fuelled ships, designed for a speed of 27 kn and armed with a 4 in (102 mm) gun and two torpedo tubes. Built by Harland & Wolff and launched in 1910, Racoon was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1913. In the run up to the First World War, the destroyer was deployed to Durazzo to observe the situation in Albania, but was swiftly redeployed back to Malta. The vessel was sent to protect shipping in the Suez Canal and Red Sea. In 1915, the destroyer served in the Dardanelles Campaign, escorting pre-dreadnought battleships attacking Ottoman defences and minesweepers that were attempting to clear the Dardanelles straits. During these operations, Racoon was damaged while assisting the stricken battleship Irresistible, which subsequently sank. Racoon also supported the Battle of Gully Ravine and landing at Suvla Bay. In 1917, the destroyer was transferred to Buncrana in the north of Ireland and served as a convoy escort against German submarines. Racoon was wrecked during a snowstorm off the Irish coast in 1918.

HMS <i>Basilisk</i> (1910) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Basilisk was a Beagle-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. The Beagles were coal-fuelled ships, designed for a speed of 27 kn and armed with a 4 in (102 mm) gun and two torpedo tubes. Built by J. Samuel White and launched in 1910, Basilisk was initially commissioned into the First Destroyer Flotilla at Portsmouth. In 1912, the warship joined the Third Destroyer Flotilla before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet as part of the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla in 1913. As the First World War approached, the destroyer was based in Alexandria, Egypt, but was swiftly redeployed to Malta, followed, in 1915, by action in the Dardanelles Campaign. After the Armistice of 1918 that ended the war, Basilisk was initially transferred to the Nore and then sold in 1921 to be broken up.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 73–74. ISBN   0-85177-245-5.
  2. Admiralty (1914) The Navy List, H.M. Stationery Office, page 373.
  3. Smith P. C. (1971) Hard lying: the birth of the destroyer, 1893-1913, page 113, Naval Institute Press. ISBN   9780870218286