Fifth Destroyer Flotilla (Royal Navy)

The Fifth Destroyer Flotilla was a formation of destroyers of the Royal Navy. Originally called the Devonport Flotilla and comprised of Nucleus Crew vessels, it was re-designated as the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla in April, 1910.

During the Great War, it primarily served in the Mediterranean.

History

During the Dardanelles campaign, sixteen Beagle class were amongst those comprising the Fifth in the Mediterranean.

In 1916, it was comprised of River, Beagle and Acorn class destroyers, whose torpedo test runnings in the first half of that year resulted in shots that were 79%, 82% and 80% likely to be dangerous to the enemy.

March, 1910

Immediately prior to redesignation as the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, the Devonport Flotilla comprised a mixture of early destroyers (both 27 and 30-knotters) and "Coastals". It was assigned to the Third Division of the Home Fleet.

Several of the flotilla's ships were attached to other commands: Spitfire was attached to the Indus, Salmon to the Defiance, and Snapper to the Forth. Two further ships fell under the orders of the Commander in Chief, Portsmouth and were tenders to Pomone.

Part of the Third Division, Home Fleet
Cruiser
Sapphire
Depot Ships
Leander
Tyne
Scout
Sentinel
Destroyers
Albacore	Avon	Bonetta	Cheerful	Express	Fairy
Falcon	Greyhound	Leopard	Mermaid	Osprey	Ostrich
Roebuck	Salmon	Snapper	Spitfire	Violet	Zebra
Torpedo Boats
T.B. 11	T.B. 17	T.B. 18	T.B. 26	T.B. 27	T.B. 28
T.B. 29	T.B. 30	T.B. 31	T.B. 32	T.B. 33
Under Orders of C. in C. Portsmouth
	Success			T.B. 12

1 November, 1911

The flotilla was comprised of:

• Sapphire (flag)
• Sentinel (scout)
• Leander, Tyne (depot ships)
• Twenty-four "30 knotters"

July, 1914

The flotilla was based in the Mediterranean, and each of the sixteen destroyers were allotted a larger store of rifles and associated landing party supplies, roughly double the previous total, bring the number of rifles to 24.

September, 1914

There are sixteen Beagles with a depot ship, but no Captain (D) is mentioned, and there are no leaders.

This roster and tasking would persist until November or December, 1914.

December, 1914

There are now twelve Beagles. The flotilla is marked as "joining squadrons", which seems odd. Beagle, Bulldog, Pincher and Rattlesnake are gone, and are individually noted as "joining squadrons". They would appear in the local defence flotilla at Portsmouth in February or March, 1915.

January, 1915

The flotilla is reformed in the Mediterranean with seven "River" class destroyers under third class protected cruiser Sapphire. Ribble, Usk, Chelmer, Colne, Jed and Kennet had come from the China Station, and Waveney from the Ninth Destroyer Flotilla.

Supporting the Mediterranean Fleet
Flotilla Cruiser
Sapphire
Depot Ship
Blenheim
Destroyers
Colne	Chelmer	Jed	Kennet	Ribble	Usk	Waveney

March, 1915

Sapphire is no longer directly a part of the flotilla, but is one of the light cruisers attached to the Mediterranean Fleet. Seven Beagles formerly of this flotilla have rejoined. Wear has joined from Gibraltar. Welland, of the China Station as recently as December, has also joined.

April, 1915

The flotilla continues to gain strength, now reaching 24 destroyers. Although they'd been slated to join the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla, Beagle, Bulldog, Foxhound, Harpy, Pincher, Rattlesnake, Savage and Scourge have joined from the Portsmouth Defence Flotilla.

This roster would remain until July, 1915.

July, 1915

The newly-acquired destroyer Arno has joined.

August, 1915

Six torpedo boats that had perviously been loosely affiliated with the Mediterranean Fleet now appear to be attached.

This roster would apply until October, 1915.

October, 1915

Four "L" class destroyers have joined from the Third Destroyer Flotilla and four more torpedo boats have joined, with T.B. 17 and T.B. 18 coming in from the Nore Local Defence Flotilla.

November, 1915

T.B. 97 has left to go to Gibraltar.

December, 1915

Louis has been removed, as she was mined in late October, and Foxhound has gone on to work "in Home Waters or on detached service." Comet, Fury, Redpole and Staunch have joined from a detached status with the Second Destroyer Flotilla.

January, 1916

Grampus, Harpy, Mosquito, Redpole, Renard and Savage have left to work "in Home Waters or on detached service." Acorn, Minstrel, Rifleman and Sheldrake have followed the previous detached group over from the Second Destroyer Flotilla, and now are tender to Egmont. It is possible that these destroyers are based in Malta,^[Inference] as this Egmont group would be explicitly dubbed the "Malta Flotilla" in May, 1917. Torpedo Boats 17, 18, 29 and 30 are now tenders to Aquarius.

February, 1916

Welland has left for work "in Home Waters or on detached service" and T.B. 044 and T.B. 046 have also been removed, though 044 would return in March. 046 had been wrecked in tow and would never return. Foxhound has joined from the Portsmouth Defence Flotilla.

March, 1916

T.B. 044 has returned from her month's absence. Renard, Mosquito, Grampus have joined, recently working "in Home Waters or on detached service" while Laforey has departed to the same vague assignment.

April, 1916

Savage has joined from working "in Home Waters or on detached service".

May, 1916

Basilisk, Lawford and Lydiard have left for work "in Home Waters or on detached service" and Welland and Harpy have joined from the same vague assignment.

June, 1916

Basilisk has returned. Additionally, the four Torpedo Boats formerly tenders to Aquarius are now tenders to St. George.

July, 1916

Redpole has joined from work "in Home Waters or on detached service".

August, 1916

Wolverine has been removed for work "in Home Waters or on detached service" (though she'd return the next month) while Bulldog, Scorpion and Rifleman has been removed for some reason, to return in October.

September, 1916

Wolverine has reappeared.

October, 1916

Rifleman, Bulldog and Scorpion have joined from undiscovered points of origin.

November, 1916

Ribble and Pincher have gone, now "in Home Waters or on Detached Service." They'd remain so until rejoining in January, 1917.

This same roster would apply until January.

January, 1917

Ribble and Pincher have rejoined, bringing the strength back up to 33 destroyers and eight torpedo boats.

This roster would apply until February or March.

March, 1917

Four more Acorns have joined from the Adriatic Squadron, increasing strength to 37 destroyers and eight torpedo boats.

This roster would apply until May.

May, 1917

The roster has not changed, but the eight Acorns under Egmont are now dubbed the "Malta Flotilla", and we will treat them as an autonomous defence flotilla and detach them here. It is not clear whether that flotilla also includes the torpedo boats.

This roster would apply until August.

August, 1917

The six Australian Acherons have all joined, Huon, Swan and Torrens coming from the China Station and the others from Australia.

September, 1917

Four Acherons (Acheron, Archer, Hydra and Phoenix) have joined from the Second Destroyer Flotilla at Devonport. Grasshopper and Scourge have left to join the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla in Devonport. Foxhound has also left, to join the Second Destroyer Flotilla by October, while Mosquito and Racoon would appear there in November.

October, 1917

Beagle, Harpy, and Wolverine have gone to join the Second Destroyer Flotilla. Lizard is coming the other way from that same formation, slated to join the Fifth "shortly".

November, 1917

Lizard has apparently now made her way to the flotilla. Usk has disappeared for an undiscovered reason, but would rejoin the Fifth in March of 1918. Bulldog has left to join the Second Destroyer Flotilla and Jackal, Ruby and Lapwing have just arrived from there.

December, 1917

Basilisk has moved out to join the Malta Flotilla. Alarm has joined, recently of the Second Destroyer Flotilla. Attack and Tigress have joined from the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla at Devonport.

January, 1918

Martin has arrived, recently of the Second Destroyer Flotilla, and Lyra has joined, recently of the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla.

February, 1918

Four destroyers are still assigned to the formation, but are detached to Egypt. Savage, Scorpion and Pincher has been sent to the Second Destroyer Flotilla, as has Grampus, which is expected there "shortly". Rattlesnake has sent to the Malta Flotilla. Staunch and Attack have been dropped, being lost to torpedo on 11 November and to a mine on 30 December, respectively.

March, 1918

The destroyers of the Malta Flotilla are now rolled back into the Fifth, tendered to Egmont, and those ships detached to Egypt are seemingly back. Usk has rejoined from somewhere. The eight torpedo boats have all been sent to join the Aegean Squadron.

Arno would be lost to a collision with flotilla-mate Hope on 23 March.

April, 1918

Basilisk and Arno have been dropped, the former to appear sometime shortly after May in the Second Destroyer Flotilla, and the latter due to her loss on 23 March. Beaver, Druid, Goshawk and Hind have joined from the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla, and Badger from the Second Destroyer Flotilla. Kennet is paid off.

May, 1918

Nymphe has come up from Portsmouth, as has Forester, recently of the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla. Kennet is still paid off. Including the Malta group, the strength is an enormous 46 destroyers plus two Japanese-crewed ships.

June, 1918

Kennet has been dropped and Brisk has joined from the Second Destroyer Flotilla. Strength remains at 48 destroyers.

July, 1918

Kennet has reappeared, with the Malta contingent. Phoenix has been dropped, lost to a torpedo on 14 May. Defender, Shark and Tribune have joined. The main group of destroyers is based in Brindisi, and the smaller one at Malta (this may have long been true, but not before specified). A reorganization has placed the eight Rivers in Malta, and the old Malta destroyers into the Brindisi group. Strength is now 51 destroyers.

August, 1918

Parthian and Northesk have joined from Gibraltar.

Renard has left, to appear with the Second Destroyer Flotilla "shortly". Defender has been sent to Gibraltar.

Strength is now 49 destroyers.

November, 1918

The flotilla is no longer labelled as the Fifth in the Navy List, but appears largely intact although the Brindisi force is now part of the Aegean Squadron. Rattlesnake has moved out to join the Second Destroyer Flotilla. The new destroyers Senator and Sikh have been assigned to this formation, to arrive "shortly", as has Tilbury, which has actually arrived.

December, 1918

The flotilla is no longer labelled as the Fifth in the Navy List, but continues as part of the Aegean Squadron. Senator and Sikh have arrived.

January, 1919

The flotilla is no longer labelled as the Fifth in the Navy List, but continues its work, once again as part of the Mediterranean Fleet. The six Australian Acherons have been ordered home. Defender has joined, coming up from Gibraltar. The Malta contingent has been dissolved. Five of the Malta Rivers (Colne, Jed, Kennet, Wear and Welland) have been ordered home, while Chelmer is in Portsmouth and Ribble and Usk are in Devonport.

February, 1919

Alarm has been sent to Portsmouth, to arrive "shortly".

Archer, Badger, Beaver, Defender, Goshawk, Jackal, Lizard and Tigress have also been ordered home.

March, 1919

A post-war reorganization of the flotillas completely reinvents the Fifth Flotilla as one of seven in the Grand Fleet, with 2 leaders (Parker will be joining "shortly") and 16 very modern destroyers. Blenheim has in this month become the depot ship to the Mediterranean's new Sixth Destroyer Flotilla, retaining the "S" class vessels Senator, Shark, Sikh, Tilbury and Tribune. Acorn, Cameleon, Lapwing, Redpole and Rifleman have been ordered home while the other seventeen destroyers remain listed as part of the Mediterranean Fleet, based at Malta, though Hope is paid off.

Supporting the Grand Fleet
Flag Ship, Captain (D)
Saumarez
Flotilla Leader
Parker*
Depot Ship
Blake
Destroyers
Redgauntlet	Rob Roy	Salmon	Sarpedon
Sceptre	Tancred	Tirade	Tower
Trenchant	Tristram	Ulster	Umpire
Undine	Urchin	Ursa	Ursula

[TO BE CONTINUED - TONE]

Captains (D)

Dates of appointment given:

• Captain Herbert E. Holmes-à-Court, 8 February, 1910
• Captain Noel Grant, 20 December, 1910 – 20 December, 1912
• Captain Edward G. Lowther-Crofton, 1 May, 1912 – 27 January, 1914
• Captain Charles P. R. Coode, 1 February, 1914 – 15 May, 1917
• Captain F. Clifton Brown, 30 May, 1917 – 15 August, 1917
• Captain George K. Chetwode, 15 August, 1917
• Captain Kerrison Kiddle, 1 March, 1919 – 1 October, 1919
• Captain Theodore E. J. Bigg, 25 June, 1921 – 16 August, 1922
• Captain Cyril St. C. Cameron, 16 August, 1922
• Captain Edward O. B. S. Osborne, 28 April, 1924
• Commander Reginald V. Holt, January, 1925 – 8 February, 1925  (temporary)
• Captain Edward O. B. S. Osborne, 10 February, 1925
• Captain James V. Creagh, 11 May, 1925 – 10 October, 1925  (temporary)
• Captain Lewis G. E. Crabbe, 4 July, 1926 – 16 August, 1927
• Captain Frank Elliott, 16 August, 1927 – 16 August, 1929
• Captain Ronald H. C. Hallifax, 16 August, 1929 – 16 August, 1931
• Captain Geoffrey R. S. Watkins, 16 August, 1931 – 24 April, 1933

Bibliography

• Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.
• March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892-1953. London: Seeley Service & Co. Limited. (on Bookfinder.com).