H.M.S. Hydra (1912)

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H.M.S. Hydra (1912)
Pendant Number: H.50 (1914)
H.43 (Jan-Apr 1918)[1]
Builder: John Brown & Company[2]
Ordered: 1910-11 Programme[3]
Launched: 19 Feb, 1912[4]
Completed: Jun, 1912[5]
Sold: 9 May, 1921[6]

H.M.S. Hydra was one of 29 destroyers of the Acheron class.

Radio

She was one of 18 Acheron class destroyers fitted with W/T in 1912, becoming one of 123 destroyers so far fitted with Destroyer Sets.[7]

Service

Commissioned along with Goshawk on 8 June, 1912 at Portsmouth, for service with the First Destroyer Flotilla.[8]

In March 1913, Attack collided with Hydra, and Attack's captain bore the brunt of the blame.[9]

In June 1914, planned alterations to Hydra in Portsmouth Royal Dockyard, when the ship was presumably serving with the First Destroyer Flotilla were to be deferred:[10]

  • removal of strips under cocoanut matting
  • addition of loading lights to guns

In July, work to somehow alter the ship's chart table was also deferred.[11] She was then serving in First Destroyer Flotilla, part of First Fleet.[12]

On 21 October 1914, Hydra collided with the oiler Suwanee while coming alongside. Apparently, Hydra's captain had misjudged his ship's speed in the accident.

Hydra fought with the First Destroyer Flotilla at the Battle of Dogger Bank under the command of Robert James Buchanan on 24 January 1915.

Hydra collided with the scout cruiser Fearless on 11 September, 1915. Blame in the incident was directed at the destroyer's commander, Robert J. Buchanan.[13]

In mid-1916, she fought at the Battle of Jutland under Francis George Glossop as part of the First Destroyer Flotilla,[14] which was tasked with screening the Fifth Battle Squadron.

In October, 1916, she and six other Acherons moved to join the Second Destroyer Flotilla, which was under the Commander-in-Charge, Devonport.

In August, 1917, she and three of her sisters transferred to the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla which was part of the Mediterranean Fleet. She operated with them until she was culled on February, 1919.

Hydra was reduced to C. & M. Party at Portsmouth on 17 October, 1919.[15]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 62.
  2. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 62.
  3. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 75.
  4. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 62.
  5. Friedman. British Destroyers. p. 306.
  6. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 62.
  7. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1912. Wireless Appendix, p. 6.
  8. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Monday, 10 June, 1912. Issue 39921, col B, p. 4.
  9. Callaghan Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46/130. f. 130.
  10. Admiralty Weekly Order No. 36 of 19 June, 1914.
  11. Admiralty Weekly Order No. 80 of 3 July 1914.
  12. Admiralty Weekly Order No. 109 of 10 July, 1914.
  13. Buchanan Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46/4. f. 4.
  14. Battle of Jutland Official Despatches. p. 34.
  15. The Navy List. (January, 1921). p. 789.
  16. Buchanan Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46/4. f. 4.
  17. The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 394r.
  18. Buchanan Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46/4. f. 4.
  19. Thomson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/52/76. f. 432.
  20. The Navy List. (December, 1916). p. 395h.
  21. Thomson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/52/76. f. 432.
  22. The Navy List. (August, 1917). p. 394o.
  23. The Navy List. (November, 1917). p. 394o.
  24. The Navy List. (May, 1919). p. 816.

Bibliography


Acheron Class Destroyer
Admiralty Design
Goshawk Hind Hornet Hydra Defender
Druid Sandfly Jackal Tigress Lapwing
  Lizard Phoenix Ferret Forester  
Yarrow Specials
  Archer Attack  
Thornycroft Specials
  Acheron Ariel  
Parsons Specials
  Badger Beaver  
Firedrake/Yarrow Specials
  Firedrake Lurcher Oak  
Australian type
  Parramatta Warrego Yarra  
  Huon Swan Torrens  
<– Acorn Class Destroyers (UK) Acasta Class –>