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HMS Surprise (1916)

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way
Beef Run Sinking of 3 Destroyers December 23 1917.jpg
US media coverage of the Sinking of HMS Surprise, Torrent, Tornado
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Surprise
BuilderYarrow Shipbuilders, Glasgow
Launched25 November 1916
CompletedFebruary 1917
FateMined and sunk 23 December 1917
General characteristics
Class and typeR-class destroyer
Displacement975 long tons (991 t)
Length273 ft (83.2 m)
Beam25 ft 7+1⁄2 in (7.81 m)
Draught9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion
  • 3 boilers
  • 2 direct drive Parsons steam turbines, 27,000 shp (20,000 kW)
Speed36 knots (41.4 mph; 66.7 km/h)
Complement82
Armament
For other ships with the same name, see HMS Surprise.

HMS Surprise was a Royal Navy R-class destroyer constructed and then operational in the First World War. She was sunk, with most of her crew in 1917. On 23 December 1917 HMS Surprise, Torrent, and Tornado sank after entering an Imperial German minefield.

Discover more about HMS Surprise (1916) related topics

Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service.

R-class destroyer (1916)

R-class destroyer (1916)

The first R class were a class of 62 destroyers built between 1916 and 1917 for the Royal Navy. They were an improvement, specifically in the area of fuel economy, of the earlier Admiralty M-class destroyers. The most important difference was that the Admiralty R class had two shafts and geared turbines, compared with the three shafts and direct turbines of the Admiralty M class, but in appearance the R class could be distinguished from its predecessors by having the after 4-inch gun mounted in a bandstand. The Admiralty ordered the first two of this class of ships in May 1915. Another seventeen were ordered in July 1915, a further eight in December 1915, and a final twenty-three in March 1916.

HMS Torrent (1916)

HMS Torrent (1916)

HMS Torrent was a Royal Navy R-class destroyer constructed and then operational in the First World War. She was sunk, with most of her crew in 1917. On 23 December 1917 Surprise, HMS Torrent, and Tornado sank after entering an Imperial German minefield.

HMS Tornado (1917)

HMS Tornado (1917)

HMS Tornado was a Royal Navy R-class destroyer constructed and then operational in the First World War. She was sunk, with most of her crew in 1917. On 23 December 1917 HMS Surprise, HMS Torrent, and HMS Tornado sank after entering an Imperial German minefield.

Construction

Surprise was ordered from Yarrow Shipbuilders of Glasgow by the British Admiralty in July 1915 as part of the Sixth War Construction Programme. Surprise was one of 4 Yarrow R-class destroyers ordered as part of this programme, together with 19 Admiralty R-class destroyers and three Thornycroft R-class destroyers.[1] The ship was launched on 25 November 1916 and completed in January 1917.[2] Surprise was built as a Yarrow "special", to Yarrow's own design rather than to the Admiralty's own design for the R-class destroyer. Yarrow's design used direct-drive steam turbines rather than the geared turbines of the Admiralty design, and had two funnels rather than three. As such, they more closely resembled Yarrow M-class Specials,[3][1]

Surprise's hull was 273 feet 6 inches (83.36 m) long overall, with a beam of 25 feet 7+1⁄2 inches (7.81 m) and a draught of 9 feet (2.74 m). Displacement was 930 long tons (940 t).[1] Three Yarrow boilers fed Parsons turbines, driving two propeller shafts and generating 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW). This gave a speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Armament consisted of three QF Mark IV 4 inch (102 mm) guns, with a single 2-pounder (40-mm) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft gun and four 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. The ship had a crew of 82 officers and men.[1]

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Yarrow Shipbuilders

Yarrow Shipbuilders

Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited (YSL), often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde. It is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships, owned by BAE Systems, which has also operated the nearby Govan shipyard since 1999.

Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 635,640. The city was made a county of itself in 1893, prior to which it had been in the historic county of Lanarkshire. The city now forms the Glasgow City Council area, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and is governed by Glasgow City Council. It is situated on the River Clyde in the country's West Central Lowlands.

Yarrow Later M-class destroyer

Yarrow Later M-class destroyer

The Yarrow Later M class were a class of seven destroyers built for the Royal Navy that saw service during World War I. They were based on the preceding and successful Yarrow M class with minor alterations; notably reduced beam to compensate for increased displacement and a sloping stern. They were sometimes described as the Yarrow R class of destroyers.

Steam turbine

Steam turbine

A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbine involves advanced metalwork to form high-grade steel alloys into precision parts using technologies that first became available in the 20th century; continued advances in durability and efficiency of steam turbines remains central to the energy economics of the 21st century.

Yarrow M-class destroyer

Yarrow M-class destroyer

The Yarrow M class was a class of ten destroyers built for the Royal Navy that saw service during World War I. They were generally similar to the standard Admiralty M-class destroyer, but were instead designed by the builder, Yarrow & Company. Generally, they had two instead of three shafts, as well as two funnels and a straight stern, with the bridge set well back from the forecastle. The first trio were two knots faster than the Admiralty M type, despite less installed power and one less shaft; the installed power was increased for the later vessels. Jane's Fighting Ships describes the class as "very successful boats", and all ten vessels survived throughout the war to be broken up during the 1920s. Moon, Mounsey and Musketeer were each fitted to carry a kite balloon.

Length overall

Length overall

Length overall is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also used for calculating the cost of a marina berth.

Beam (nautical)

Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at its widest point. The maximum beam (BMAX) is the distance between planes passing through the outer extremities of the ship, beam of the hull (BH) only includes permanently fixed parts of the hull, and beam at waterline (BWL) is the maximum width where the hull intersects the surface of the water.

Draft (hull)

Draft (hull)

The draft or draught of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull (keel). The draught of the vessel is the maximum depth of any part of the vessel, including appendages such as rudders, propellers and drop keels if deployed. Draft determines the minimum depth of water a ship or boat can safely navigate. The related term air draft is the maximum height of any part of the vessel above the water.

Displacement (ship)

Displacement (ship)

The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into weight. Traditionally, various measurement rules have been in use, giving various measures in long tons. Today, tonnes are more commonly used.

Long ton

Long ton

The long ton, also known as the imperial ton or displacement ton, is the name for the unit called the "ton" in the avoirdupois system of weights or Imperial system of measurements. It was standardised in the 13th century. It is used in the United Kingdom and several other Commonwealth of Nations countries alongside the mass-based metric tonne defined in 1799, as well as in the United States for bulk commodities.

Yarrow boiler

Yarrow boiler

Yarrow boilers are an important class of high-pressure water-tube boilers. They were developed by Yarrow & Co. (London), Shipbuilders and Engineers and were widely used on ships, particularly warships.

C. A. Parsons and Company

C. A. Parsons and Company

C. A. Parsons and Company was a British engineering firm which was once one of the largest employers on Tyneside. The company became Reyrolle Parsons in 1968, merged with Clarke Chapman to form Northern Engineering Industries in 1977, and became part of Rolls-Royce in 1989. Today the company is part of Siemens Energy.

Service

She saw service in the war, being assigned to Harwich Force. On the night of 23/24 January 1917, the Harwich Force was ordered to intercept a German destroyer flotilla that was being transferred from Germany to Zeebrugge, with Surprise part of a group of four destroyers (Simoom, Surprise, Starfish and Milne) patrolling off the Schouwen Bank. The German destroyers ran into a cruiser division, with the destroyers V69 and G41 heavily damaged, but the Germans managed to escape, and passed Surprise's group of destroyers unobserved before reaching Zeebrugge. One German straggler, S50 encountered Starfish's group. An exchange of fire followed, in which S50 was hit several times by British shells, but S50 managed to torpedo Simoom, which later sank, before escaping and returning to Germany.[4][5] On the night of 4/5 June 1917 the Dover Patrol carried out a bombardment of the German-held port of Ostend using the monitors Erebus and Terror, with the Harwich force sailing to cover the operation. Surprise was one of a group of four light cruisers and nine destroyers patrolling off the Thornton Bank.[6] On 15 July 1917, the Harwich Force sortied to intercept a group of German merchant ships which the Admiralty has learned was due to sail from Rotterdam to Germany. The group of seven merchant ships was intercepted early in the morning of 16 July. Of the seven ships, four were captured by the British, including one, Marie Horn, by Surprise and Teazer, with two more run aground and one towed into IJmuiden.[7]

One of the duties of the Harwich Force destroyers was the so-called "Beef Run", convoys to and from The Netherlands.[8] Surprise was part of the escort of a Netherlands-bound convoy on 22 December, when the destroyer Valkyrie struck a mine and was badly damaged, having to be towed to Harwich by the destroyer Sylph. The remainder of the convoy reached the Hook of Holland safely, and the escort waited near the Maas Light Buoy for the return convoy. At about 02:00 hr on 23 December, Surprise, Torrent, Tornado and Radiant ran into a German minefield, with Torrent striking a German mine. Surprise and Tornado went to rescue Torrent's crew, but Torrent set off a second mine and quickly sank. While she was attempting to rescue survivors and recover her boats, Surprise struck a mine and sank, while Tornado was sunk by two mines while trying to rejoin Radiant. Only Radiant was undamaged and picked up the survivors from the three ships.[9][10] In total, 12 officers and 240 other ranks were killed from the three ships.[11] There were only seven survivors from Surprise's crew, including her Captain Commander W.A Thompson, who had been blown overboard but was picked up by one of Surprise's boats. 48 of Surprise's crew had been killed.[12][10]

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Harwich Force

Harwich Force

The Harwich Force originally called Harwich Striking Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War and based in Harwich. It played a significant role in the war.

HMS Simoom (1916)

HMS Simoom (1916)

HMS Simoom was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during World War I. Launched on 30 October 1916, the vessel operated as part of the Harwich Force until torpedoed by the German destroyer S50 on 23 January 1917. The ship's magazine exploded and 47 people died. The name was reused by the first S-class destroyer, Simoom, launched on 26 January 1918.

HMS Starfish (1916)

HMS Starfish (1916)

HMS Starfish was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. She was launched on 27 September 1916 and sold to be broken up on 21 April 1928. She was built by Hawthorn Leslie of Hebburn Tyne.

HMS Milne (1914)

HMS Milne (1914)

HMS Milne was a Royal Navy Admiralty M-class destroyer. Milne was built by John Brown & Company from 1913 to 1914 and was completed in December that year. She served through the remainder of the First World War, at first with the Harwich Force with which she took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915, and later with the Dover Patrol, sinking the German submarine UC-26 in May 1917. Milne was sold for scrap in 1921.

Geography of the North Sea

Geography of the North Sea

The geography of the North Sea studies coastal and submarine features as well as the people who live on its coasts. It is bounded by the east coasts of England and Scotland to the west and the northern and central European mainland to the east and south, including Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. In the south-west, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively. In the north, it opens in a widening funnel shape to the Norwegian Sea, which lies in the very north-eastern part of the Atlantic.

Dover Patrol

Dover Patrol

The Dover Patrol and later known as the Dover Patrol Force was a Royal Navy command of the First World War, notable for its involvement in the Zeebrugge Raid on 22 April 1918. The Dover Patrol formed a discrete unit of the Royal Navy based at Dover and Dunkirk for the duration of the First World War. Its primary task was to prevent enemy German shipping—chiefly submarines—from entering the English Channel en route to the Atlantic Ocean, thereby obliging the Imperial German Navy to travel via the much longer route around Scotland which was itself covered by the Northern Patrol.

HMS Erebus (I02)

HMS Erebus (I02)

HMS Erebus was a First World War monitor launched on 19 June 1916 and which served in both world wars. She and her sister ship Terror are known as the Erebus class. They were named after the two bomb vessels sent to investigate the Northwest Passage as part of Franklin's lost expedition (1845–1848), in which all 129 members eventually perished.

HMS Terror (I03)

HMS Terror (I03)

HMS Terror was an Erebus-class monitor built for the Royal Navy during the First World War in Belfast. Completed in 1916, she was assigned to the Dover Patrol where her primary duties involved bombarding German targets on the coast of occupied Belgium, particularly at the ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend. In October 1917 Terror was hit by three torpedoes, taking severe damage to the bow and had to be towed into Portsmouth for repair. In April 1918 she participated in the Zeebrugge raid and provided gunnery support for the Fifth Battle of Ypres in September of the same year.

HMS Teazer (1917)

HMS Teazer (1917)

HMS Teazer was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during World War I. The destroyer was launched in April 1917 and, on trial, proved to be one of the fastest afloat, exceeding 40 knots. Attached to the Harwich Force, the ship supported the monitors Erebus, Terror and Marshal Soult in the bombardment of Zeebrugge in May 1918 and one of the final sorties of the war in the October following. The destroyer also took part in operations off the coast of Heligoland with a flying boat on a lighter, although the aircraft failed to take off. After the war, Teazer was kept in reserve until being sold to be broken up in 1931 following the signing of the London Naval Treaty that limited total destroyer tonnage.

HMS Valkyrie (1917)

HMS Valkyrie (1917)

HMS Valkyrie was a First World War V-class flotilla leader of the Royal Navy. She was one of two destroyers ordered in July 1916 from William Denny & Bros. Ltd shipyard under the 9th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Program of 1916–17. She was originally to be called HMS Malcolm but was renamed before being completed. The name Malcolm was later assigned to another destroyer leader.

HMS Sylph (1916)

HMS Sylph (1916)

HMS Sylph was an R-class destroyer that served in 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 Harland & Wolff at Govan on 10 February 1917, Sylph joined the Harwich Force and escorted merchant ships and convoys in the North Sea. The ship encountered both German submarines and torpedo boats but did not record any hits on the enemy. However, during one action in foggy weather, the destroyer struck and sank sister ship Setter. After the Armistice that ended the war, the destroyer was initially placed in the reserve before being transferred to the Torpedo School in 1919. On 16 December 1926, Sylph was sold to be broken up.

Hook of Holland

Hook of Holland

Hook of Holland is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; hoek means "corner" and was the word in use before the word kaap – "cape", from Portuguese cabo – became Dutch. The English translation using Hook is a false cognate of the Dutch Hoek, but has become commonplace. It is located at the mouth of the New Waterway shipping canal into the North Sea. The town is administered by the municipality of Rotterdam as a district of that city. Its district covers an area of 16.7 km2, of which 13.92 km2 is land. On 1 January 1999 it had an estimated population of 9,400.

Source: "HMS Surprise (1916)", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, February 13th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Surprise_(1916).

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Further Reading

HMS Meteor (1914)

HMS Torrent (1916)

HMS Tornado (1917)

HMS Nimrod (1915)

HMS Rob Roy (1916)

HMS Manly (1914)

HMS Landrail (1914)

HMS Sharpshooter (1917)

HMS Matchless (1914)

HMS Simoom (1916)

HMS Lawford (1913)

HMS Morris
References
  1. ^ a b c d Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 81
  2. ^ Friedman 2009, p. 310
  3. ^ Friedman 2009, p. 157
  4. ^ Newbolt 1928, pp. 73–79
  5. ^ Karau 2014, pp. 113–114
  6. ^ Newbolt, Henry (2013) [Originally published by Longmans, Green and Co.: London, 1931]. "Naval Operations, Volume 5, April 1917 to November 1918 (Part 1 of 4)". History of the Great War. Naval-history.net. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  7. ^ Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, pp. 178–179
  8. ^ Dorling 1932, pp. 125–127
  9. ^ Kemp 1999, pp. 60–61
  10. ^ a b Preston 1971, pp. 22–24
  11. ^ Kemp 1999, p. 61
  12. ^ Kindell, Don (22 January 2011). "1st – 31st December 1917 in date, ship/unit & name order". World War 1 - Casualty Lists of the Royal Navy and Dominion Navies. Naval-history.net. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
Bibliography
  • Dorling, Taprell (1932). Endless Story: Being an Account of the Work of the Destroyers, Flotilla-Leaders, Torpedo-Boats and Patrol Boats in the Great War. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
  • Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second 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 0-85177-245-5.
  • Karau, Mark D. (2014). The Naval Flank of the Western Front: The German MarineKorps Flandern 1914–1918. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-231-8.
  • Kemp, Paul (1999). The Admiralty Regrets: British Warship Losses of the 20th Century. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-1567-6.
  • Monograph No. 35: Home Waters—Part IX.: 1st May, 1917 to 31st July, 1917 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XIX. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1939.
  • Newbolt, Henry (1928). History of the Great War: Naval Operations: Volume IV. London: Longmans, Green & Co.
  • Preston, Antony (1971). 'V & W' Class Destroyers 1917–1945. London: Macdonald. OCLC 464542895.
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