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ROYAL NAVY (UNITED KINGDOM)

TORPEDO SHIPS

repeat "M" class destroyers (1915-1917)

Mandate 1916

Musketeer 1916

  

Displacement normal, t	Admiralty design: 1025 Thornycroft specials: 985 Yarrow specials: 895
Displacement full, t	Admiralty design: 1250 Thornycroft specials: 1130 Yarrow specials: 1008
Length, m	Admiralty design: 83.4 Thornycroft specials: 83.7 Yarrow specials: 82,2
Breadth, m	Admiralty design: 8.20 Thornycroft specials: 8.40 Yarrow specials: 7.90
Draught, m	2.60
No of shafts	Admiralty design, Thornycroft specials: 3 Yarrow specials: 2
Machinery	Admiralty design: 3 Parsons or Brown-Curtis steam turbines, 3 Yarrow boilers Manners, Mandate, Mary Rose, Menace: 3 sets Parsons or Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines, 3 Yarrow boilers Magic, Moresby: 3 sets Parsons geared steam turbines, 3 White-Forster boilers Medina, Medway: 3 Parsons steam turbines, 3 White-Forster boilers Noble, Nizam, Nomad, Nonpareil: 3 Parsons or Brown-Curtis steam turbines, 3 Babcock & Wilcox boilers Thornycroft specials: 3 Parsons steam turbines, 3 Yarrow boilers Yarrow specials: 2 Brown-Curtis steam turbines, 3 Yarrow boilers
Power, h. p.	Admiralty design: 25000 Thornycroft specials: 26500 Yarrow specials: 23000
Max speed, kts	Admiralty design: 34 Thornycroft and Yarrow specials: 35
Fuel, t	Admiralty design: oil 266 Thornycroft specials: oil 254 Yarrow specials: oil 228
Endurance, nm(kts)
Armament	3 x 1 - 102/40 QF Mk IV, (1 - 2) x 1 - 40/39 2pdr QF Mk II, 2 x 2 - 533 TT
Complement	80

Project history: The improved variant of L type destroyers. Destroyers were built by various yards and had differences in appearance. So, Mansfield, Mentor, Mastiff, Meteor, Miranda, Minos, Manly, Moon, Morning Star, Mauncey, Musketeer, Nerissa, Relentless and Rival were equipped with two-shafts machinery and first two were four-funnelled.

    Twenty more 'M' class were ordered in September 1914, 16 of them to the Admiralty standard design but without the cruising turbines (to accelerate delivery - except in Fairfield, Swan Hunter and Fairfield boats). Another improvement was to put No 2 102mm gun on a 'bandstand' as in the 'L' class. The doubling on the stempiece fitted as an emergency measure to the early 'M' class was now made standard to facilitate ramming of U-boats, but in the form of a single casting. The Yarrow 'specials' were similar to the Miranda but were 0.3m longer on the waterline and had raked stems and sloping sterns. The only other variants built thereafter were Thornycroft 'specials', which resembled the Admiralty boats but had flat-sided funnels and higher freeboard. In the later Admiralty-designed boats the stem was raked and the bows were given more flare to improve seakeeping. Machinery was non-standard, with geared-turbines in a few, triple screws in most, and twin screws in some. In July 1916 the Admiralty restored order to a chaotic situation by ordering that all 3-shaft destroyers building were to be listed as Admiralty 'M' class and future 2-shaft boats would be Admiralty 'R's; as a result Redmill and Redwing became Medina and Medora (renamed Medway two weeks later).
    Although there were some complaints about poor finish they proved sturdy craft and gave good value in four hard years of war. Because of hard driving and particularly because their hulls had not been galvanized they were worn out by 1919 and very few survived the wholesale scrappings in 1921. In all 90 were built, 79 Admiralty boats, and 11 'specials'.

Modernizations: Some destroyers after commission: + 2 - 356 TT (beam).

Naval service: Marmion collided with destroyer Tirade off Lerwick 21.10.1917, Mary Rose was sunk by German cruisers Brummer and Bremse off Norwegian coast 17.10.1917, Negro collided with leader Hoste in North sea 21.12.1916, and Nessus with cruiser Amphitrite in North sea 8.9.1918. Nomad and Nestor were lost in action at Jutland 31.5.1916. North Star was sunk by gunfire of German ships at Zeebrugge 23.4.1918. Partridge 12.12.1917 became a victim of German destroyers off Norwegian coast. Pheasant was mined off Orkneys 1.3.1917. Opal and Narbrough wrecked off Scapa Flow 21.1.1918 and 12.1.1918 respectively. Narwhal collided with other ship, stood afloat but never repaired and sold.

Offa

Mouncey

Ready

Pylades

Obdurate

© Ivan Gogin, 2008-14