Somme at anchor near Hong Kong, August, 1928 | |
History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Somme |
Ordered | 9 April 1917 |
Builder | Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering, Govan |
Laid down | November 1917 |
Launched | 10 September 1918 |
Commissioned | 4 November 1918 |
Fate | Sold for scrap, August 1932 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | S-class destroyer |
Displacement | 1,000 long tons (1,016 t) (normal) |
Length | 276 ft (84.1 m) o/a |
Beam | 26 ft 8 in (8.1 m) |
Draught | 9 ft 10 in (3 m) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion | 2 Shafts; 1 steam turbine |
Speed | 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) |
Range | 2,100 nmi (3,900 km; 2,400 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Complement | 82 |
Armament |
|
HMS Somme was an Admiralty S-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during World War I. Commissioned seven days before the end of the war, the ship was sold for scrap in 1932.
The Admiralty S class were larger and faster versions of the preceding R class. [1] The ships had an overall length of 276 feet (84.1 m), a beam of 26 feet 8 inches (8.1 m) and a deep draught of 9 feet 10 inches (3 m). They displaced 1,000 long tons (1,016 t ) at normal load. The ships' complement was 82 officers and ratings. [2]
The ships were powered by a single Brown-Curtis geared steam turbine that drove two propeller shafts using steam provided by three Yarrow boilers. The turbines developed a total of 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW ) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Somme reached a speed of 33.7 knots (62.4 km/h; 38.8 mph) during her sea trials. [3] The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). [2]
The Admiralty S-class ships were armed with three single QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mark IV guns. One gun was positioned on the forecastle, the second was on a platform between the funnels and the third at the stern. They were equipped with a single QF 2-pounder (40 mm (1.6 in)) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft gun on a platform forward of the mainmast. They were also fitted with two rotating twin mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes amidships and two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, one on each broadside abaft the forecastle. [4]
Somme, the first ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy, [5] was ordered on 9 April 1917 as part of the Eleventh War Programme from Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company. The ship was laid down at the company's Govan shipyard in November 1917, launched on 10 August 1918 and commissioned on 4 November, [6] joining the 14th Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet. [7] The Royal Navy was reorganised after the end of the First World War, [8] with Somme joining the Seventh Destroyer Flotilla in March 1919. [9] By January 1920, Somme had been transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet, being allocated to a reserve division of the Sixth Destroyer Flotilla. [10]
Somme, along with sister ships Serapis and Steadfast was ordered to join the British forces in the Black Sea on 16 January 1920 and had arrived at Constantinople by the end of the month. [11] She was recommissioned on 15 December 1920. [12] The ship re-commissioned at Portsmouth with 2/5ths crew on 4 December 1923 for service with the Eighth Destroyer Flotilla of the Atlantic Fleet. [13] Somme served on the China Station during 1927–1929 and conducted anti-piracy patrols. [14] The ship was sold for breaking in August 1932. [6]
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 Scythe was an S-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. She was involved in the Irish Civil War in the interwar period before being sold for scrap in 1931.
HMS Tilbury was a S-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that served during the First World War.
HMS Restless was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during World War I. Launched on 12 August 1916, the ship operated as part of the Grand Fleet, operating as part of a destroyer flotilla protecting convoys in the North Sea. After the War, the destroyer served in the Mediterranean Sea and was sold to be broken up on 23 November 1936.
HMS Romola was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during World War I. Launched on 14 May 1916, the ship operated as part of the Grand Fleet, operating as part of a destroyer flotilla. The ship sailed to intercept the German High Seas Fleet in what would be one of the last major expeditions of their Navy in the war but saw no action. After the conflict, the destroyer was held in reserve until being retired and sold to be broken up on 13 March 1930.
HMS Speedy was a Thornycroft S-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during the First World War, Russian Civil War and the Greco-Turkish War. Speedy was one of a pair of destroyers ordered from Thornycroft with more powerful geared turbines and design changes like a raised forecastle that improved seakeeping. Launched on 1 June 1918, the vessel operated as part of the 12th Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet for the last months the War. After the Armistice, the vessel joined the Mediterranean Fleet and took part in actions in the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara. It was during action there that the ship struck a tug on 24 September 1922. The collision sank the destroyer, killing ten sailors.
HMS Tobago was a Thornycroft S-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during the Greco-Turkish War. Launched by Thornycroft on 15 July 1918, the vessel followed a design typical of the yard by being faster than the majority of the class, and also had better seakeeping properties thanks to a raised forecastle. The destroyer operated as part of the Grand Fleet for the last few weeks of the First World War, and, after the Armistice, joined the Mediterranean Fleet based in Malta. While serving in off the coast of Turkey, the ship hit a mine on 15 July 1920, exactly two years after being launched. Despite the relative youth of the vessel, the damage was deemed irrepairable and so Tobago returned to Malta and was sold for scrap on 9 February 1922.
HMS Tourmaline was a Thornycroft S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy during the Greco-Turkish War and the Russian Civil War. Tourmaline was one of three destroyers ordered from Thornycroft in June 1917 with more powerful geared turbines than the majority of the class as well as design changes that improved seakeeping. Launched on 19 April 1919, the vessel operated as part of the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla serving with the Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets. After serving in the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara, during which sister ships Speedy and Tobago were lost, Tourmaline led the Gibraltar Local Defence Flotilla. The London Naval Treaty, signed 1930, required the retirement of some destroyers to meet the Royal Navy's tonnage requirement and Tourmaline was chosen for retirement. The destroyer was decommissioned on 28 November 1931 after 12 years of service and broken up.
HMS Strenuous was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy. Launched 9 November 1918 two days before the Armistice, the ship was too late to see service in the First World War. Instead, the destroyer served for only a few months as part of the Atlantic Fleet before being transferred to Reserve in May 1920, where the ship remained for the next ten years. The London Naval Treaty, signed in 1930, required the retirement of some destroyers to meet the Royal Navy's tonnage requirement and Strenuous was chosen as one of those to leave the service. The destroyer was therefore decommissioned and sold to be broken up on 25 August 1932.
HMS Tactician was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy. Launched on 7 August 1918, the vessel entered service at the closing of the First World War. The ship joined the Fourteenth Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet but was placed in Reserve at Nore in 1919. Tactician deteriorated over the following years and was sold to be broken up on 5 February 1931 following the signing of the London Naval Treaty that limited the amount of destroyer tonnage that the Navy could retain.
HMS Swallow was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy. The S class were a cheaper and faster alternative to the larger V and W class most recently procured by the service. Launched on 1 August 1918, Swallow took part in one of the final acts of the Harwich Force on 1 October as part of a flotilla that unsuccessfully tried to intercept the retreating German troops. After the armistice, Swallow was transferred to the Mediterranean fleet and served in the Black Sea covering the evacuation of demobilised forces from Batumi and Marmara Ereğlisi. Returning to the United Kingdom in 1923, the vessel was placed in reserve until 1936. On 24 September in that year, after just under eighteen years in service, Swallow was one of the destroyers exchanged for RMS Majestic and subsequently broken up at Inverkeithing.
HMS Serapis was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy during the Greco-Turkish and Russian Civil Wars. Launched on 17 September 1918, the vessel was not completed until after the closing of the First World War. The ship joined the Seventh Destroyer Flotilla in the Reserve Fleet at Rosyth. The ship was then commissioned and sent to Constantinople to support refugees escaping from the conflicts in the Black Sea. The destroyer assisted in the evacuation of the Crimea in 1919 and helped rescue about nine hundred people from Smyrna in 1922. In 1929, Serapis was transferred to Hong Kong to serve in China. However, the signing of the London Naval Treaty in 1930 meant that the Royal Navy looked to retire older vessels. Serapis was sold to be broken up on 25 January 1934.
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HMS Trinidad was an S-class destroyer that served with the Royal Navy. The ship was named after the island in the West Indies. Launched on 8 May 1918, the vessel entered service with the Grand Fleet but saw no action during the First World War. After the Armistice, Trinidad joined the Mediterranean Fleet. War had broken out between Greece and Turkey and there was intelligence that the Soviet Union was selling warships to one of the belligerents. Trinidad was part of a small flotilla that was sent to investigate and, ultimately, halt this trade. However, it turned out to be a hoax. The destroyer subsequently returned to Constantinople. In 1930, the signing of the London Naval Treaty required the Royal Navy to retire older destroyers before acquiring new ones. Trinidad was one of those chosen for retirement and, on 16 February 1932, the destroyer was sold to be broken up.
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HMS Steadfast was an Admiralty S-class destroyer that served with the Royal Navy in the Russian Civil War. The S class was a development of the R class created during the First World War as a cheaper alternative to the V and W class. Launched in 1918 just before the Armistice, the ship was commissioned into the Mediterranean Fleet and was soon in action as part of the Royal Navy operation supporting the White Russians in the Black Sea. In 1919, Steadfast accompanied the monitor M29 in bombarding a Russian battery in Ochakiv and, the following year, took part in action north of the Georgian city of Poti alongside the light cruiser Caradoc. Soon afterwards, the destroyer returned to Chatham and was placed in reserve at Nore. Steadfast was retired and sold to be broken up in 1934.