H.M.S. Salmon (1916)

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H.M.S. Salmon (1916)
Pendant Number: G.94 (Jan 1917)
G.93 (Jan 1918)[1]
Builder: Harland & Wolff[2]
Ordered: Jul 1915 (6th Order)[3][4]
Launched: 7 Oct, 1916[5]
Completed: 20 Dec, 1916[6]
Handed over: 28 Jan, 1937[7]

H.M.S. Salmon was one of sixty-two "R" class destroyers completed for the Royal Navy in 1916-17. She was renamed H.M.S. Sable in late 1933.

There was an earlier destroyer launched in the 1890s also named Salmon.

Construction & Acceptance

Salmon was the first destroyer built at Govan and her lively motions proved a challenge for the elderly pilot who attempted to shepherd her to and from her acceptance trials, requiring the prospective commissioning captain Lionel G. Dawson to assume these duties, at the risk of the builders, though he noted that the pilot "pocketed the fee." The trials demonstrated a worrisome vibration in her first funnel, but she was soon accepted, having demonstrated a slightly disappointing 30 knots.[8]

Service

Salmon joined the Grand Fleet's Fifteenth Destroyer Flotilla in December, 1916. [9] On first steaming to join them, her magnetic compass stopped working, requiring her to stop into Oban to have it replaced. On the same journey, she lost her aerials along with the main topmast in a storm, causing some concern at her delayed arrival.[10]

Salmon collided with her squadron-mate Sable some time in 1917, ramming her in the Captain's cabin when the destroyers were proceeding in fog at 20 knots, despite each ship throwing its helm over and backing one engine hard to assist. Sable's commander, Woodward, shouted for Dawson to "keep your stem in the hole," but the ships separated. Dawson deemed it fortunate that his ship struck just aft of Sable's main engine room, whose large volume may have meant her loss. The two returned to Rosyth, Sable with her quarter deck nearly awash, to be docked in the same dock. Their undocking was delayed by a day or two by damage Salmon sustained when a horse and cart fell into the dock, apparently through an error by the carter. The horse was killed by the accident.[11]

After a lazy summer of 1917, much of it berthed in the Firth of Forth and the ship's men accommodated by Malaya for amenities only a large ship can offer, Dawson recalls that the closest he got to the enemy in Salmon was when they fired a few long range shots at a U-Boat they found charging its batteries. It dived and evaded them with seeming ease. Salmon went south for a refit in February of 1918.[12]

Post-War

Salmon reduced to reduced complement on 15 February, 1919.[13]

Paid off into Dockyard Control on 1 September, 1924.[14]

Salmon was reduced to Reserve Complement at Devonport on 29 October, 1925.[15] After just less than a year, she was commissioned on 22 September 1926 for service with the Portland Anti-Submarine Flotilla, where she remained into at least early 1933.[16]

In January 1928 she underwent a refit at Chatham.[17]

Salmon was r-commissioned on 21 July, 1933.[18]

The ship was renamed H.M.S. Sable on 2 December, 1933.

In 1934, her bell, marked Salmon, was offered for sale to naval officers and others who might be interested, at the price of £5 or perhaps £1. Interested parties were to write the Director of Stores and were urged to include any special information which might convey the importance they attach to the bell, in light of the Admiralty's understanding that such items carry great sentimental value.[19]

On 28 January, 1937, she was handed over to Ward in partial payment for Majestic. She was taken away for breaking up in March, 1937.[20]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 70.
  2. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 81.
  3. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 81.
  4. March. British Destroyers. p. 184.
  5. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 81.
  6. Friedman. British Destroyers. p. 310.
  7. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 70.
  8. Dawson. Flotillas. pp. 161-2.
  9. Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (December, 1916). p. 12.
  10. Dawson. Flotillas. pp. 162-4.
  11. Dawson. Flotillas. pp. 199-201.
  12. Dawson. Flotillas. pp. 199-201.
  13. The Navy List. (January, 1921). p. 860.
  14. The Navy List. (April, 1925). p. 267.
  15. The Navy List. (February, 1926). p. 267.
  16. The Navy List. (January, 1933). p. 270.
  17. "Naval and Military." The Times (London, England), Wednesday, Jan 11, 1928; pg. 6; Issue 44787.
  18. The Navy List. (July, 1934). p. 272.
  19. "Ships' Bells for Sale." The Times (London, England), Wednesday, Apr 18, 1934; pg. 4; Issue 46731.
  20. College & Warlow. Ships of the Royal Navy. p. 355.
  21. The Navy List. (November, 1917). p. 397t.
  22. Dawson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50. f. 208.
  23. Mackenzie Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/45/248 f. 252.
  24. Mackenzie Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/45/248 f. 252.
  25. The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 902.
  26. The Navy List. (May, 1919). p. 902.
  27. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  28. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  29. Gardner Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/60. f. 66.
  30. The Navy List. (November, 1919). p. 901.
  31. Gardner Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/60. f. 66.
  32. The Navy List. (October, 1920). p. 860.
  33. The Navy List. (December, 1920). p. 860.
  34. Voysey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/56/177. f. 179.
  35. Voysey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/56/177. f. 179.
  36. Martin Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/154/208. f. 208.
  37. The Navy List. (July, 1927). p. 266.
  38. Martin Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/154/208. f. 208.
  39. Weir Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/123/98. f. 98.
  40. Weir Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/123/98. f. 98.
  41. Brocklebank Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/124/112. f. 112.
  42. The Navy List. (February, 1929). p. 266.
  43. Brocklebank Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/124/112. f. 112.
  44. Frederick Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/124/241. f. ?.
  45. The Navy List. (July, 1931). p. 268.
  46. Frederick Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/124/241. f. ?.
  47. "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), Wednesday, June 8, 1932, Issue 46154, p.4.
  48. "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), Friday, Jun 30, 1933; pg. 8; Issue 46484.
  49. The Navy List. (October, 1935). p. 272.
  50. "Command of the Sable." The Times (London, England), Wednesday, October 9, 1935, Issue 47190, p.4.
  51. "Command of the Sable." The Times (London, England), Wednesday, October 9, 1935, Issue 47190, p.4.

Bibliography


"R" Class Destroyer
Admiralty Design
Radstock Raider Romola Rowena Restless
Rigorous Rocket Rob Roy Redgauntlet Redoubt
Recruit Sturgeon Sceptre Salmon Sylph
Sarpedon Sable Setter Sorceress Satyr
Sharpshooter Simoom Skate Starfish Stork
Skilful Springbok Tancred Tarpon Telemachus
Tempest Tetrarch Tenacious Thisbe Thruster
  Tormentor Tornado Torrent Torrid  
Thornycroft Specials
Rosalind Radiant Retriever Taurus Teazer
Yarrow Specials
Sabrina Strongbow Surprise Sybille Truculent
  Tyrant Ulleswater  
Modified "R" Class
Ulster Undine Tower Trenchant Tristram
  Tirade Ursula Ulysses  
  Umpire Urchin Ursa  
<– Talisman Class Destroyers (UK) "V" Class –>