Sixth Destroyer Flotilla (Royal Navy)
The Sixth Destroyer Flotilla was a formation of destroyers of the Royal Navy. The flotilla changed composition often as ships were damaged, retired or transferred.
On 1 November, 1911, the flotilla had eight 30-knotters and four 27-knotters at the Nore, two 30 knotters and four 27-knotters at Portsmouth, and four 27-knotters at Devonport.[1]
Composition
July, 1914
In July 1914, one source claims twelve "Tribal" class destroyers joined twelve 30 knotters at Dover to comprise the flotilla,[2] but a more detailed primary source[3] seems to indicate one fewer destroyer (Nubian is absent) led by three scout cruisers, with Attentive seeming to be the one acting as tender to the T.B.Ds.:
| Scout Cruisers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adventure | Attentive | Foresight | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Tribal" class destroyers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Afridi | Amazon | Cossack | Crusader | Ghurka | Maori | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mohawk | Saracen | Tartar | Viking | Zulu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "30 Knotters" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Syren | Kangaroo | Myrmidon | Leven | Crane | Mermaid | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Racehorse | Falcon | Fawn | Flirt | Gipsy | Greyhound | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Amazon, Crusader, Maori and Viking were undergoing refit in Chatham Royal Dockyard until 8 July, 1914.[4]
War Service
At outbreak of war, the flotilla was deemed a "Patrol Flotilla" out of Portsmouth, with eleven "Tribals" (all but Nubian, acting as a tender at Excellent), three "B"s and nine "C"s under leaders Adventure and Active. Upon taking up war station at Dover, Nubian rejoined the flotilla.[5]
In 1916, it was comprised of a mish-mash of types. Assorted old torpedo boats ran seventeen 18-in cold torpedoes that year that were 94% likely to endanger the enemy, while some P-boats' six 14-in runnings that year resulted in shots that were 83% likely to be dangerous to the enemy. The backbone, however, was comprised of River and Tribal class destroyers, whose ten 18-in Mark VII test-fired torpedoes were 70% likely to be dangerous to the enemy.[6]
Footnotes
- ↑ March. British Destroyers. p. 160.
- ↑ March. British Destroyers. p. 94.
- ↑ Printed page "Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad" in Albert Francis Barclay Bridges papers at The Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum. [BRG 1/1]
- ↑ Admiralty Weekly Order No. 88 of 3 July 1914.
- ↑ March. British Destroyers. p. 164.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916. p. 87.
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).
See Also
| British Destroyer Flotillas | |||
| First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | Sixth | Seventh | Eighth | Ninth | Tenth | |||
| Eleventh | Twelfth | Thirteenth | Fourteenth | Fifteenth | Sixteenth | Seventeenth | Eighteenth | Nineteenth | |||
| Twentieth | Twenty-first | |||
| Local Defence Flotillas | |||
| Clyde | Devonport | Devonport & Falmouth | Falmouth | Firth of Forth | Gibraltar | |||
| Liverpool | Mersey | Newhaven | Nore | North Channel | Milford & Pembroke | Pembroke | |||
| Portland | Portsmouth | Queenstown | |||
