HMS_Tancred_(1917)

HMS <i>Tancred</i> (1917)

HMS Tancred (1917)

British R-Class destroyer, WW1

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Tancred.

HMS Tancred was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during the First World War. The R class were an improvement on the previous M class with geared steam turbines to improve efficiency. Launched by Beardmore of Dalmuir on 30 June 1917, Tancred initially joined the Grand Fleet, serving as part of a flotilla that took part in one of the last naval actions of the war, although in this case the British vessels did not engage with the German High Seas Fleet. After the signing of the Armistice that ended the war and the dissolution of the Grand Fleet, the destroyer was initially transferred to the Home Fleet. However, within a year, Tancred had been allocated to the local defence flotilla at Firth of Forth. Despite being at a reduced complement as an economy measure, further reductions in fleet costs meant that the destroyer was retired. On 17 May 1928, Tancred was sold to be broken up.

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Design and development

Main article: R-class destroyer

Tancred was one of twenty-three R-class destroyer delivered to the British Admiralty as part of the Eighth War Construction Programme.[1] The design was generally similar to the preceding M class, but differed in having geared steam turbines, the aft gun mounted on a raised platform and minor changes to improve seakeeping.[2]

The destroyer had an overall length of 273 feet 6 inches (83.36 m), with a beam of 26 feet 9 inches (8.15 m) and a draught of 8 feet 6 inches (2.59 m).[3] Displacement was 975 long tons (991 t) normal and 1,065 long tons (1,082 t) deep load. Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding two Brown-Curtis geared turbines rated at 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) and driving two shafts, to give a design speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph).[1] Three funnels were fitted. A total of 296 long tons (301 t) of fuel oil was carried, giving a design range of 3,450 nautical miles (6,390 km; 3,970 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[4]

Armament consisted of three QF 4in Mk IV guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised platform and one between the second and third funnels. A single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom anti-aircraft gun was carried, while torpedo armament consisted of two twin mounts for 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes.[5] The ship had a complement of 82 officers and ratings.[5]

Construction and career

Ordered in March 1916 at a contract price of £172,316, Tancred was laid down at the William Beardmore and Company shipyard in Dalmuir with the yard number 556 on 6 July 1916.[6] Launched on 30 June the following year and completed on 1 September, the destroyer was the first ship named for the Christian knight in Torquato Tasso's poem Jerusalem Delivered, a fictional character based on Tancred, Prince of Galilee.[3][7] Tancred was deployed as part of the Grand Fleet, joining the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla.[8] The flotilla took part in the Royal Navy's engagement with one of the final sorties of the German High Seas Fleet during the First World War, on 24 April 1918, although the two fleets did not actually meet and the destroyer returned unharmed.[9]

After the Armistice of 11 November 1918 that ended the war and the dissolution of the Grand Fleet, Tancred joined the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet.[10] However, the destroyer did not serve long there for the end of the war meant that the navy needed to move to a peacetime level of mobilisation. Both the number of ships and the amount of staff needed to be reduced to save money.[11] By the middle of 1919, the destroyer had been redeployed to the local defence flotilla at the Firth of Forth, but at a reduced complement.[12] During the following years, further cuts were made to the fleet. In 1923, the Navy decided to scrap many of the older destroyers in preparation for the introduction of newer and larger vessels.[13] It was then decided that Tancred would be one of these to be retired.[14] The destroyer was sold to Cashmore of Newport, Wales, on 17 May 1928 to be broken up at Port Talbot.[15]

Pennant numbers

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References

Citations

  1. [1]
    Friedman 2009, p. 310.
  2. [2]
    Friedman 2009, p. 326.
  3. [3]
    Johnston 1993, p. 155.
  4. [4]
    Parkes & Prendergast 1969, p. 107.
  5. [5]
    Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 81.
  6. [6]
    Johnston 1993, p. 166.
  7. [7]
    Manning & Walker 1959, p. 433.
  8. [8]
    "Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet". Supplement to the Monthly Navy List: 12. October 1917. Retrieved 2 March 2022 – via National Library of Scotland.
  9. [9]
    Newbolt 1931, p. 287.
  10. [10]
    "Home Fleet". The Navy List: 703. October 1919. Retrieved 2 March 2022 – via National Library of Scotland.
  11. [11]
    Moretz 2002, p. 79.
  12. [12]
    "Local Defence and Training Establishments, Patrol Flotillas, etc". The Navy List: 705. October 1919. Retrieved 2 March 2022 – via National Library of Scotland.
  13. [13]
    Friedman 2009, p. 180.
  14. [14]
    "More Destroyers to be Scrapped". The Times. No. 44073. 22 September 1925. p. 7.
  15. [15]
    Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 344.
  16. [16]
    Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 51.
  17. [17]
    Dittmar & Colledge 1972, p. 70.
  18. [18]
    Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 67.
  19. [19]
    Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 46.
  20. [20]
    Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 75.

Bibliography

  • Bush, Steve; Warlow, Ben (2021). Pendant Numbers of the Royal Navy: A Complete History of the Allocation of Pendant Numbers to Royal Navy Warships & Auxiliaries. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-526793-78-2.
  • Colledge, J.J.; Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. London: Chatham Press. ISBN 978-1-93514-907-1.
  • Dittmar, F. J.; Colledge, J. J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-71100-380-4.
  • Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the First World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
  • Johnston, Ian (1993). Beardmore Built: The Rise and Fall of a Clydeside Shipyard. Clydebank: Clydebank District Libraries & Museums Department. ISBN 978-0-90693-805-8.
  • Manning, Thomas Davys; Walker, Charles Frederick (1959). British Warship Names. London: Putnam. OCLC 780274698.
  • Moretz, Joseph (2002). The Royal Navy and the Capital Ship in the Interwar Period. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-71465-196-5.
  • Newbolt, Henry (1931). Naval Operations: Volume V. History of the Great War. London: Longmans, Green and Co. OCLC 220475309.
  • Parkes, Oscar; Prendergast, Maurice (1969). Jane's Fighting Ships 1919. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. OCLC 907574860.
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