HMS Tristram was a modified Admiralty R-class destroyer that served in the Royal Navy during the First World War. 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 destroyer was operational for just over four years between being launched on 24 February 1917 and being sold to be broken up on 9 May 1921. In 1917, Tristram provided distant cover at the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight but did not engage with the enemy.
HMS Ulster was a modified Admiralty R-class destroyer that served in the Royal Navy during the First World War. The Modified R class added attributes of the Yarrow Later M class to improve the capability of the ships to operate in bad weather. Launched on 10 October 1917, the vessel served with the Grand Fleet. After the war, the destroyer was placed initially in the Home Fleet, but then moved to the Reserve Fleet before, on 21 April 1928, being sold to be broken up.
HMS Urchin was a Modified Admiralty R-class destroyer which served with 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 destroyer 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. Launched on 7 June 1917, Urchin served with the Grand Fleet during World War I, seeing action in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight. After the war, the destroyer was retired and sold to be broken up on 7 January 1930.
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 Stronghold was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy during the Second World War. The ship was one of the first vehicles to deploy an unmanned aircraft. Launched on 6 May 1919, the destroyer was fitted with a simple catapult in 1924, which used a bag of sand as a weight, and launched the RAE 1921 Target, an early form of unmanned aircraft. A more sophisticated cordite catapult was fitted in 1927 and used to launch the more advanced RAE Larynx. In total, more than twenty test flights were undertaken before the catapult was removed. The destroyer was subsequently fitted out as a minelayer. At the start of the Second World War, the destroyer was based in Singapore. Stronghold helped to rescue the Supermarine Walrus from the battlecruiser Repulse, which had been sunk by the Japanese, in 1941 and, the following year, towed the destroyer Vendetta on the first part of the Royal Australian Navy vessel's journey to Fremantle. On 2 March 1942, the vessel was spotted by a Japanese reconnaissance seaplane and attacked by the heavy cruiser Maya, along with the two escorting destroyers Arashi and Nowaki. Heavily outgunned, the destroyer was sunk with the loss of nine officers and sixty-one ratings.
HMS Sturdy was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy. Launched on 26 June 1919, the destroyer spent most of the next two decades in the Reserve Fleet. However, for the 1935 Naval Review before George V and Queen Mary, Sturdy was divested of armament and equipped with a single davit to rescue ditched aircraft, and acted as plane guard to the aircraft carrier Courageous. Re-armed as a minelayer, the destroyer was recommissioned the following year and reactivated at the start of the Second World War. Sturdy was then employed escorting convoys in the Atlantic Ocean, but soon into the conflict ran aground off the coast off the Inner Hebrides island at Tiree on 30 October 1940. The vessel was split in two by the waves. The crew evacuated, apart from three sailors who died, and the destroyer was lost.
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 Tara 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. Tara deteriorated over the following years and was sold to be broken up on 17 December 1931 after the signing of the London Naval Treaty that limited the amount of destroyer tonnage 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.
HMS Serene was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy. Launched on 30 November 1918 just after the end of the First World War, the ship was commissioned into the Reserve Fleet. Excluding a brief expedition to Latvia near to the end of that nation's War of Independence in 1919, the destroyer remained in reserve at Devonport until 1936. During this period, the condition of the destroyer deteriorated. Then, as part of a deal for the liner Majestic, Serene was sold to be broken up on 14 September.
HMS Tribune was an S-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. Launched on 28 March 1918, the vessel entered service with the Aegean Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet. Tribune saw no action during the during the First World War but was involved in the evacuation of refugees from the Russian Civil War, particularly from the Crimea in 1920 and 1921. In 1923, the destroyer was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet. In 1930, the signing of the London Naval Treaty required the Royal Navy to retire older destroyers before acquiring new ones. Tribune was one of those chosen for retirement and, on 17 December 1931, the destroyer was sold to be broken up.
HMS Trojan was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy. The vessel was the only one named in honour of the citizens of Troy that has been operated by the navy. Launched on 12 July 1918, Trojan was too late to see service in the First World War. Initially allocated to the Grand Fleet and then, when this was dissolved, the Atlantic Fleet, the destroyer was transferred to the Reserve Fleet, like many of the class, within two years of being first commissioned. The vessel remained in reserve until 24 September 1936, although in a deteriorating condition. On that day, Trojan was sold to be broken up as part of a deal for the liner Majestic.
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 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.
HMS Trusty was an S-class destroyer that served with the Royal Navy. The vessel was the third of the name. Launched in November 1918 just before the Armistice that ended the First World War, Trusty joined the Home Fleet the following year. However, the destroyer did remain in service long and was transferred to the Reserve Fleet in 1920. The vessel remained in reserve until 25 September 1936, although in a deteriorating condition. On that day, Trusty was sold to be broken up as part of a deal for the liner Majestic.
HMS Senator was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy during the First World War, Greco-Turkish War and Russian Civil War. The S class were a development of the previous R class, and Senator was the first of six constructed by Denny. Senator was launched on 2 April 1918 and joined the Mediterranean Fleet. After the Armistice that ended the First World War, the destroyer continued to serve in active duty, both in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. For example, in 1919, the ship helped cover the evacuation of Russian troops from Batumi. In 1925, Senator was placed in reserve and, in 1936, was given to Thos. W. Ward of Sheffield in part-exchange for the liner RMS Majestic.
HMS Sesame was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy in the twentieth century. Launched on 30 November 1918 just after the end of the First World War, the ship was commissioned into the Reserve Fleet. A year later, the destroyer was sent to Latvia in support of the country's call for independence, arriving just at the cessation of that county's war of independence. Returning to the United Kingdom, Sesame was later equipped to act as a plane guard within the Home Fleet, with all armament removed and a davit fitted to rescue aircraft. The vessel remained in that configuration for a short time, but the London Naval Treaty sounded the death knell for the ship as it limited the destroyer tonnage that the Royal Navy could operate. As newer and more powerful destroyers entered service, Sesame was one of those retired, being sold to be broken up on 4 May 1934.
HMS Octavia 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 21 June 1916 and joined the Grand Fleet. Octavia joined the Thirteenth Destroyer Flotilla, which, in 1917, participated in a large anti-submarine warfare operation in the North Sea. The sortie led to three German submarines being sunk, although Octavia was not directly involved in these attacks. In 1918, the flotilla was involved in one of the final sorties of the Grand Fleet, but again the destroyer saw no action at the time. After the Armistice that marked the end of the First World War, Octavia was placed in reserve, decommissioned and, on 5 November 1921, sold to be broken up.
HMS Shamrock was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy in the twentieth century. Launched on 26 August 1918 just before the end of the First World War, the ship was commissioned into the Home Fleet. A year later, the destroyer was sent to the Baltic Sea during the Russian Civil War to support Latvia, arriving just at the cessation of that country's war of independence. The vessel was later sent to join the Local Defence Flotilla at Gibraltar, being commissioned in 1934. It was while serving there that the destroyer helped evacuate civilians from Malaga at the start of the Spanish Civil War. Shamrock was retired soon after and sold to be broken up on 23 November 1936.
HMS Obedient 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 preceding L class, capable of higher speed. Launched on 6 November 1916, the destroyer served with the Grand Fleet during the Battle of Jutland in 1916, helping sink the torpedo boat V48 and narrowiy missing the German battleships as they withdrew. Subsequently, Obedient took part in anti-submarine patrols, attacking U-70 in 1917. The conditions of service meant that the destroyer was soon worn out and, after the armistice that ended the war in 1918, Obedient was placed in reserve. Despite a service life of only five years, the vessel was decommissioned and, on 25 November 1921, sold to be broken up.
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