HMS Skate (1917)

Last updated

HMS Skate.jpg
Skate at Liverpool in 1942
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Skate
Ordered8 December 1915
Builder John Brown & Company, Clydebank
Laid down12 January 1916
Launched11 January 1917
Commissioned19 February 1917
FateSold for scrap in 1947
General characteristics
Class and type R-class destroyer
Displacement
  • 900 long tons (910 t) standard
  • 1,220 long tons (1,240 t) full
Length
  • 265 ft (81 m) p/p
  • 276 ft (84 m) o/a
Beam26 ft 9 in (8.15 m)
Draught
  • 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
  • 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m) full load
Propulsion
Speed
  • 36 knots (41 mph; 67 km/h)
  • 32.5 kn (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h) full
Range
  • 3,440 nmi (6,370 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
  • 1,860 nmi (3,440 km) at 20 kn (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Complement90
Armament

HMS Skate was an R-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that was laid down and completed during the First World War. She was built at John Brown Shipyard at Clydebank in Scotland and launched on 11 January 1917. [1]

Contents

Description

Skate was 276 feet (84.12 m) long overall, with a beam of 26 feet 9 inches (8.15 m) and a mean draught of 9 feet (2.74 m). [2] Displacement was 975 long tons (991 t) normal and 1,075 long tons (1,092 t) deep load. Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding two Parsons geared steam turbines rated at 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) and driving two shafts, to give a design speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). [3] Three funnels were fitted. 296 long tons (301 t) of oil were carried, giving a design range of 3,450 nautical miles (6,390 km; 3,970 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). [4] Armament consisted of three QF 4in Mk IV guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised platform and one between the second and third funnels. A single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom anti-aircraft gun was carried, while torpedo armament consisted of two twin mounts for 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes. [2] The ship had a complement of 82 officers and ratings. [3]

Service

Skate was one of ten R-class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in December 1915 as part of the Seventh War Construction Programme. The ship was laid down at the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank during January 1916, launched in January 1917 and completed in February 1917. [4]

On commissioning, Skate joined the 11th Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet, [5] but was transferred to the Harwich Force to be part of the 10th Destroyer Flotilla soon after. [6] During the First World War, Skate was torpedoed and damaged in the North Sea off the Maas Lightship by the Imperial German Navy submarine SM UC-69 with the loss of a crew member on 12 March 1917. [7]

At the end of the war, Skate was transferred to Vernon as a tender to the torpedo school. [8] The vessel was reduced to reserve complement and transferred to the depot ship HMS Dido on 12 March 1920. [9]

Skate was the sole survivor of her class by 1939, and saw extensive service during the Second World War as a convoy escort. This gave her the honour of being the oldest destroyer to see service with the Royal Navy in the latter conflict. [10]

She was converted into a minelayer while undergoing repairs, which is likely why she remained active on the Navy List in 1939. Initially she served as an influence minesweeper to combat the threat of magnetic mines, but such was the need for escorts that she was rearmed in 1941 to take part in the Battle of the Atlantic. She was on North Atlantic duties until 1942 and was part of the escort for the Normandy landings in June 1944. [7]

After the Second World War she was transferred back to the Torpedo school at Vernon in 1945, before being sold in 1947 and broken up in July at Newport in Wales. [1]

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Lance</i> (1914)

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.

HMS Tipperary, launched on 5 March 1915, was Royal Navy Faulknor-class destroyer which was sunk in action on 1 June 1916 by the Imperial German Navy at the Battle of Jutland in World War I.

HMS <i>Seafire</i>

HMS Seafire was an S-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. She saw service during the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. The ship was sold for scrap in 1936.

HMS <i>Verity</i> (D63) Destroyer built for the UKs Royal Navy

HMS Verity was an Admiralty modified W-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy. She was the first ship to carry the name Verity. She was ordered in January 1918 from John Brown & Company of Clydebank with the 13th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Program of 1918–19.

HMS Starfish was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. She was launched on 27 September 1916 and sold to be broken up on 21 April 1928. She was built by Hawthorn Leslie of Hebburn Tyne.

HMS Laverock was a Laforey-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1913 and entered service in October 1914. Laverock served through the First World War, operating with the Harwich Force and in the English Channel. She was sold for scrap in 1921.

HMS <i>Radiant</i> (1916)

HMS Radiant was an R-class destroyer which fought in the First World War as part of the Royal Navy before being transferred to the Royal Thai Navy, in which she served until well after the Second World War.

HMS Surprise was a Royal Navy R-class destroyer constructed and then operational in the First World War. She was sunk, with most of her crew in 1917.

HMS Tornado was a Royal Navy R-class destroyer constructed and then operational in the First World War. She was sunk, with most of her crew in 1917.

HMS <i>Nimrod</i> (1915) WWI British Royal Navy flotilla leader

HMS Nimrod was a Marksman-class flotilla leader of the British Royal Navy. She was built by the Scottish shipbuilder Denny, with construction starting in 1914 and completed in August 1915. She served through the remainder of the First World War. She was sold for scrap in 1921.

HMS Lightfoot was a Marksman-class flotilla leader of the British Royal Navy. Construction by J. Samuel White began in June 1914, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, and the ship was launched and completed in 1915. She survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1921.

HMS <i>Rob Roy</i> (1916)

HMS Rob Roy was a Royal Navy R-class destroyer constructed and then operational in the First World War. The ship served in the Grand Fleet as part of the Fifteenth Destroyer Flotilla.

HMS <i>Satyr</i> (1916)

HMS Satyr was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during the First World War. Launched on 27 December 1916, Satyr joined the Harwich Force under the command of Commander Hubert de Burgh. In 1917, the destroyer formed part of a force protecting the monitors Erebus and Terror in their bombardment of Ostend. As part of this action, Satyr, along with sister ships Taurus, Sharpshooter and Torrent, sank the German destroyer S20. After the war, the ship served with the Torpedo School at the Devonport. In 1923, the Navy decided to retire many of the older destroyers in preparation for the introduction of newer and larger vessels and Satyr was sold to be broken up on 16 December 1926.

HMS <i>Thruster</i> (1917)

HMS Thruster was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. She was launched on 10 January 1917 and scrapped on 16 March 1937.

HMS <i>Urchin</i> (1917)

HMS Urchin was a modified Admiralty R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. It was the third ship in the Navy to be named after the sea urchin and the first in the class to be built by Palmers in Jarrow. It was launched in 1917 and served with the Grand Fleet during World War I, seeing action in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight.

HMS <i>Ursula</i> (1917)

HMS Ursula was a modified Admiralty R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. The vessel was launched in 1917 at Greenock in Scotland and served with the Grand Fleet during World War I.

HMS <i>Tirade</i>

HMS Tirade was a modified Admiralty R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. The vessel was launched in 1917 at Greenock in Scotland and served with the Grand Fleet during World War I, sinking the minelaying submarine UC-55.

HMS <i>Sharpshooter</i> (1917)

HMS Sharpshooter was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during World War I. Launched on 27 February 1917, the ship joined the Harwich Force, undertaking convoy escort duties. The vessel also took part in the Navy’s bombardment of Ostend later that year. On 1 June 1918, the destroyer rescued Captain A. C. Sharwood, one of the first pilots of the Royal Australian Navy, who ditched his Sopwith 2F.1 Camel nearby. After the war, Sharpshooter joined the Navy gunnery training establishment at Plymouth, but did not stay long and was reduced to Reduced Complement on 5 March 1919. The Royal Navy was rationalising its destroyer force and Sharpshooter, deemed superfluous, was sold to be broken up on 29 April 1927.

HMS <i>Simoom</i> (1916)

HMS Simoom was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during World War I. Launched on 30 October 1916, the vessel operated as part of the Harwich Force until torpedoed by the German destroyer S50 on 23 January 1917. The ship's magazine exploded and 47 lives were lost. The name was reused by the first S-class destroyer, Simoom, launched on 26 January 1918.

HMS <i>Liberty</i> (1913) Early 20th-century Royal Navy destroyer

HMS Liberty was a Laforey-class destroyer that served with the Royal Navy during the First World War. Launched on 15 September 1913 as HMS Rosalind, the ship was renamed on 30 September under an Admiralty order to become one of the first alphabetical class destroyers. On commissioning, the vessel joined the Third Destroyer Flotilla and operated as part of the Harwich Force. During Battle of Heligoland Bight, Liberty engaged with the German torpedo boats G194 and G196, and scored two hits on the cruiser Mainz. On 8 February 1917, the destroyer rammed and sank the German submarine UC-46. The vessel also played a minor role in the battles of Dogger Bank, Dover Strait and Jutland, as well as acting as a convoy escort and patrolling the Dover Barrage. With the cessation of hostilities, the ship was placed in reserve and sold to be broken up on 5 November 1921.

References

  1. 1 2 "HMS Skate, Destroyer". Naval History. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  2. 1 2 Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. p. 81. ISBN   0-85177-245-5.
  3. 1 2 Parkes, Oscar; Prendegast, Maurice (1919). Jane’s Fighting Ships. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd. p. 107.
  4. 1 2 Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the First World War. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. p. 310. ISBN   978-1-84832-049-9.
  5. ↑ "Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet". Supplement to the Monthly Navy List: 13. July 1917. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  6. ↑ "III. Harwich Force". Supplement to the Monthly Navy List: 13. April 1918. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  7. 1 2 "HMS Skate of the Royal Navy". U-Boat. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "Skate". Supplement to the Monthly Navy List: 908. October 1919. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  9. ↑ "Skate". Supplement to the Monthly Navy List: 908. January 1921. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "HMS Skate". Imperial War Museum . Retrieved 22 September 2016.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.