Acasta class

Acasta or K class
HMS Shark , launched as the first in its class
Overview
Type	destroyer
units	20th
Shipyard	3 Swan Hunter 3 Hawthorn Leslie 3 John Brown 3 London & Glasgow Specials : 5 Thornycroft 1 Parsons (hull by Cammell Laird ) 1 Fairfield 1 William Denny
Order	1911/1912
Launch	July 1912 - November 1913
period of service	1913-1922
Whereabouts	seven war losses canceled twelve 1921 to 1923
Technical specifications
displacement	Standard : 934–964  ts
length	overall: 252–267 ft (76.86–81.43 m),
width	26.5–26.75 ft (8.08–8.15 m)
Draft	9–9.5 ft (2.7–2.9 m)
crew	75-77 men
drive	4 Yarrow cauldrons 2 Parsons type steam turbines in 17 boats 22,000 to 24,500 hpw, 2 shafts
speed	29 to 32 kn
Armament	3 × 102 mm L / 40 Mk.IV / VIII guns 2 × torpedo tubes 21 "(533 mm) ${\displaystyle \varnothing }$
from 1917	Conversion of a gun to an anti-aircraft gun on seven boats
additionally on some boats	1 × 2 pounder Mk. II

The destroyers of the Acasta- class or, from autumn 1913, the K-class of the Royal Navy were launched between 1913 and 1915. Twenty had been appointed under the Naval Budget of 1911/1912. They were the last of the British Navy destroyers of various names with no overarching theme. The boats were to be given names starting with K afterwards . But the boats with these new names were not used.

Seven destroyers of the class were lost during the First World War , four of them during the Battle of the Skagerrak . The rest were sold for demolition from 1921 to 1923,
with the exception of the HMS Porpoise , which was sold through Thornycroft to Brazil, where it remained in service as Maranhao (CT12) from 1922 to 1946 .

Building history

The Royal Navy's Acasta- class , officially renamed the K-class in the fall of 1913 , was a class of 20 destroyers ordered in the 1911/1912 budget and launched from 1912 to 1913. The boats of the Acasta class were larger and more armed than the preceding destroyer Acorn - and Acheron class (later H- and I-class) having a larger displacement by a quarter and the transition to a single armed with 102 mm Rapid fire guns. All boats had three funnels, the front one of which was slightly taller and thin. The second was shorter and thick, the third of the same height but thin again. The forward torpedo tube was between the second and third funnels.

Twelve boats were built as 'standard' boats according to the design of the Admiralty by four shipyards in series of three. They had Parsons turbines for propulsion, except for the three boats supplied by John Brown in Clydebank , which were equipped with Brown Curtis turbines . The shipyards that made the Admiralty Draft were Swan Hunter in Wallsend (launched July to December 1912), Hawthorn, Leslie & Company in Hebburn (August 1912 to January 1913), John Brown & Company in Clydebank (September 1912 to January 1913) and finally Harland & Wolff in Govan , whose boats did not come into water until March and July 1913. The Belfast shipyard had bought the shipyard of the London & Glasgow Engineering & Iron Shipbuilding Company in Govan in 1912 and took over their orders. The purchase of three neighboring shipyards in Scotland created a second shipbuilding site for the Belfast major shipyard, which could build more than seven ships at the same time.
The Garland ordered from Parsons Marine Steam Turbines was almost a standard boat , the hull of which had been built by Cammell Laird in Birkenhead as a subcontractor (launched on April 23, 1913) and which was nevertheless a so-called "builder's special" due to its special turbine drive. She ran 31 knots in her tests.

Seven more “builder's specials” were built. These boats were a little shorter and a little narrower. Thornycroft delivered the first of these “special boats” with the HMS Hardy with a turbine system of 21,000 HP, which was to be equipped with a diesel engine for the cruise . It is unclear whether it was ever installed; the boat, which was launched as the fourth boat in the class on October 10, 1912, reached 32 knots in its top speed tests. The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company supplied the HMS Fortune as a "special boat" that had a different bow shape and chimneys of the same height and was a forerunner of the subsequent Laforey class . With the HMS Paragon , the William Denny and Brothers shipyard , Dumbarton also delivered a “special boat”. Finally, Thornycroft delivered four more "special boats", which came to water from February to November 1913, received a 22,500 HP propulsion system, which should enable a speed of 31 knots. The boats did not reach this speed in their tests, but were faster than 30 knots. With its five “specials”, this shipyard was the manufacturer of most of the K- class boats .

One of the 102 mm guns was on the foredeck of all boats, the other two were behind the torpedo tubes on the standard boats. The “special boats” had their rear guns in front of and behind the second torpedo tube.

Mission history

The completed Acasta- class destroyers were assigned to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, which was assigned to support the Grand Fleet . On October 15, 1914, the HMS Swift ran with the destroyers HMS Contest and HMS Christopher to the sinking site of the cruiser HMS Hawke and they were able to recover some survivors from the North Sea. Since the beginning of the war, the flotilla commander Swift was the flotilla's lead ship. Since the Swift proved to be unsuitable in the winter storms, it was replaced by the large destroyer HMS Faulknor originally built for Chile . In mid-1915, its sister boat HMS  Tipperary took over the duties of flotilla leader. The light cruiser HMS Carysfort originally intended for this task came to the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron, which belonged to the Harwich Force and secured the channel.

The first loss

On August 9, 1915, the 4th Flotilla suffered its first loss when the HMS Lynx was hit by a mine 24 nm southeast of Wick in the Moray Firth and sank. The hit hit the boat in front of the first boiler room. and almost severed the forecastle. After a second explosion, presumably from another mine hit, the boat sank at 6:10 a.m. Your captain and 62 crew members lost their lives. 26 survivors were rescued from the Italian steamer Volcano . The sister boat Midge , on patrol with the Lynx , had chosen a more northerly course and passed the minefield, the existence of which was known, but the extent of which was still unclear. The mines were brought out by the German auxiliary cruiser SMS Meteor (ex British steamer Vienna ) , which was caught by British units on the same day and sank itself.

Use in the Battle of the Skagerrak

The 4th Flotilla took part in the Battle of the Skagerrak with 17 of its 19 Acasta- class destroyers , only the Paragon and the Victor were not used. It was divided into two semi-flotillas with four divisions under the HMS Tipperary and HMS Broke serving as leaders , one division of which as "Group 8" with Midge, Hardy and Owl as well as the Mischief of the Admiralty M- class of the 2nd cruiser squadron (flagship : Armored cruiser HMS Minotaur ) and did not actively participate in the battle. Three K-boats and the M-Class Osprey were handed over to the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron as security.

The first shots were fired at 3:32 p.m. on May 31, 1916, when SMS Elbing opened fire on HMS Galatea and hit her for the first time at 3:35 p.m. At 17:03, the first ship, HMS Indefatigable, sank. At about 5:55 p.m., the incoming 3rd battle cruiser squadron under Rear Admiral Horace Hood intervened and attacked the cruisers of the 2nd reconnaissance group. To relieve his small cruisers, Hipper ordered his torpedo boats to attack the new enemy. To disrupt this attack, Hood sent his destroyer companions to meet the torpedo boats. The leading HMS Shark under Commander Loftus Jones was badly hit, lost her nose gun and suffered hits in the bridge and the engine and remained lying. The sister boat HMS Acasta offered assistance, which was turned down by Jones, who wanted Hood to receive at least three destroyers. Acasta therefore followed the orders of HMS Ophelia and the other sister boat HMS Christopher back to the battlecruisers. The rear cannon of the Shark lying in the path of the German torpedo boats also failed, but the sinking destroyer continued to fire at the passing German boats with the remaining central cannon, scoring 48 hits on V , which ultimately led to its loss. Seriously wounded Jones left his sinking boat with about 30 men, which was then sunk by S 54 with two torpedoes. Seven survivors of the Shark were later found by a Danish steamer, one of whom died before reaching the port. After weeks, Jones's body was driven off the Swedish coast and buried there in Fiskebakskil . He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross . The other boats in the group survived the battle. The Acasta later suffered severe hits (6 dead), had to be towed in and its repair was almost a new build.

The HMS Tipperary under Captain CJ Wintour led the main part of the 4th Flotilla at the end of the Grand Fleet in the north and ran the fleet south in the evening. Shortly after midnight , three approaching ships were discovered on the HMS Garland , the fourth of the twelve boats. Captain Wintour could not identify the ships and requested an identification signal. The small cruisers SMS Stuttgart , SMS Hamburg , SMS Rostock and Elbing , which had approached almost 500 m , then opened fire. The ships of the line SMS Westfalen and SMS Nassau also intervened with their medium artillery. The 4th Flotilla had encountered the head of the German deep-sea fleet , which wanted to pass behind the British fleet. The forward boats Tipperary , HMS Spitfire , HMS Sparrowhawk , Garland , HMS Contest and Broke attacked immediately with torpedoes before turning away from fire. With the ships close to each other, the use of the torpedoes was difficult and the boats behind did not use them because of the confusion. There was also uncertainty about who was meeting whom. The Elbing received at this stage probably hit by a torpedo, which reduced their maneuverability, what with the collision with the battleship SMS Posen contributed. Their damage later led to the abandonment of the ship.

Tipperary was hit by the 15 cm guns of the Westphalian medium artillery at around 12:35 a.m. on June 1, caught fire and lay there. It didn't sink until 2:45 a.m. 184 of its 197-strong crew lost their lives. The last remaining crew of the Elbing , which had to be abandoned at 4:40 a.m., saved survivors of the Tipperary who were still floating in the water with their cutter .

The damaged Spitfire

The Spitfire escaped an attempt by the Nassau to ram it. However, it collided with the battleship and tore off part of the side armor (6 m). The Nassau destroyed with the launch of their guns, the constructions of the Spitfire (6 deaths), which in turn before the Bridges of Nassau had met. The Spitfire came free again. She could run back with three usable boilers and a speed of 6 knots. On the evening of June 2, she reached the Tyne Estuary.

The remaining boats of the 4th Flotilla gathered behind the Broke under Commander Walter Allen, who took over command. They encountered the Westphalia again , which fired a detection signal and illuminated the destroyers with their searchlights. Broke attempted a torpedo attack, but the range was too short and she was hit instantly. Forty-seven men were killed, all guns failed, and the helmsman's death made them run in circles so that they rammed the Sparrowhawk . Three Sparrowhawk men were thrown onto the Broke by the force of the impact . Both commanders assumed the loss of their ship and ordered the evacuation to the other ship, so that the two crews mixed. At that moment the contest was running in the stern of the Sparrowhawk . However, the contest had only minor damage and rejoined the fighting boats.
Now led by the HMS Achates under Commander Reginald Hutchinson, the remnants of the flotilla launched another attack on the head of the deep-sea fleet. While the first three destroyers shot almost unhindered, the German battleships then shot themselves in. They also sank the HMS Fortune and the HMS Ardent with their medium artillery, with the top ship Westfalen particularly prominent. Fortune went down on fire. 67 men died, only one crew member survived. From the Ardent two men could be rescued from the water, including the commander Lieutenant-Commander Arthur Marsden, 78 crew members died. The HMS Porpoise was also badly damaged by the German fire (2 dead). The small cruiser Rostock received a torpedo hit during this phase, which ultimately led to its loss. The rest of the 4th Flotilla ran back with Garland , Contest (1st Division), Unity (3rd Division), Achates , Ambuscade (4th Division) to secure the British battle fleet.

The flotilla leader HMS Broke

Broke and Sparrowhawk remained wedged together for almost half an hour before Broke was released again and the Sparrowhawk marched back with an additional 30 men , although her bow was almost severed. On the third day after the battle, she entered the Tyne.
Sparrowhawk had the machine still under steam, but the rudder was jammed in the collisions so it circled near the still-burning Tipperary . Early in the morning she picked up a raft with the dead and survivors of the Tipperary , some of whom died on board. At around 8:00 a.m., British destroyers found the Sparrowhawk and HMS Marksman tried to tow it away. After two tow ropes broke and because of the heavy seas and the danger of submarines, the tow attempts were given up. Marksman took over the survivors and sank the Sparrowhawk with eighteen rounds.

In the Battle of the Skagerrak, the flotilla leader Tipperary of the 4th flotilla and four destroyers of the Acasta class with Ardent , Fortune , Shark and Sparrowhawk were lost. In addition, a number of boats were seriously damaged, such as the Acasta , Spitfire and Porpoise , the repair of which meant almost a new building. The remainder of the 4th Flotilla was transferred to the Humber and to Portsmouth at the end of 1916 . The destroyers then reinforced various units, some came to the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, to the Dover Patrol or to Devonport to secure convoy.

Two more losses

In 1917, the Germans stepped up their attacks on supplies to the Allied troops across the English Channel. On March 17, 1917, German torpedo boats attacked the British destroyers HMS Paragon and HMS Llewellyn near Dover near Goodwin Sands . The bow of the Llewellyn was almost torn off, Paragon sank with 75 men after being hit by a torpedo. On September 18, 1917, the contest was sunk at the western canal exit about 100 nautical miles southwest of Ireland by the German submarine U 106 . 35 crew members go down with the destroyer. About 60 survivors are rescued by the British freighter City of Lincoln , which had previously been damaged by a torpedo hit by the submarine and on whose emergency call the destroyer had gone to the sea area. Since the submarine no longer attacked the freighter engaged in the rescue, the City of Lincoln and its crew as well as the rescued 21 survivors of the contest were later able to reach a British port.

One of the last significant missions of a K-class destroyer in the Royal Navy was the involvement of the rebuilt Spitfire in the rescue of survivors of the hospital ship Rhodesia (previously Galway Castle on the Union Castle Line ), which on September 12, 1918 was 160 miles from Fastnet was torpedoed by the German submarine U 82 . This had set sail on September 10, 1918, with passengers, freight and mail in Plymouth for a crossing to Durban. On board were 204 crew members, 346 passengers and 400 wounded South African soldiers, a total of 950 people. After the torpedo hit, the evacuation of the ship into the lifeboats began. The Spitfire went alongside the damaged vessel and picked up the people who were still on board. 143 people were killed in the attack, some in the engine room and some in the lifeboats in heavy seas.

Whereabouts

At the end of the war there were still eight K-class destroyers ( Achates, Contest, Garland, Hardy, Midge, Owl, Porpoise, Spitfire ) in the 4th Flotilla in Devonport with the flotilla leader Faulknor , Acasta was assigned to the artillery school in Portsmouth , three destroyers to the Class ( Ambuscade , Christopher , Cockatrice ) were with the Northern Patrol in Dundee . Only Victor does not seem to have been on active duty. Twelve of the remaining boats were separated from 1921 to 1923 and sold for demolition.

Service of the Porpoise in Brazil

On February 23, 1920 the Thornycroft shipyard bought the Porpoise and sold it to Brazil, where it was added to the fleet as Alexandrino Deaenca (?) On December 9, 1922 . In 1927 it was renamed Maranhão . In Brazilian service the boat still had three 102 mm L / 40 Armstrong Mk.III cannons plus two 47 mm L / 50 Armstrong Mk.II cannons at bridge height on each side and two 450 mm -Armstrong twin torpedo tubes.
During the Second World War it received a modernized bridge, three 20 mm Oerlikon cannons, rails for depth charges and a sonar device. On July 13, 1943, she rescued the 82 castaways of the American steamer African Star , torpedoed in the South Atlantic the day before by U 172 , which was on its way from Rio de Janeiro (originally from Beira ) to New York with 5500 tons of chrome, asbestos and mimosa extract .

On September 13, 1946, the Maranhão was released from active service in the Brazilian Navy and scrapped. In almost 24 years of service, she covered 89,510 nautical miles.

The boats

K-class destroyer based on the Admiralty Draft

• HMS Shark - built at Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson , Wallsend , BauN ° 903, launched on July 30, 1912, 935 ts, sunk in the Battle of the Skagerrak on May 31, 1916 , 86 dead, 6 survivors
• HMS Sparrowhawk - built at Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, BauN ° 905, launched on October 12, 1912, 935 ts, sunk by HMS Marksman himself after collision with HMS Broke on June 1, 1916 in the Battle of the Skagerrak , 6 dead,
• HMS Spitfire - built at Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, BauN ° 907, launched on December 23, 1912, 935 ts, 6 dead in the Battle of the Skagerrak, sold on May 9, 1921 to Ward for demolition, who was in Hayle from October 1922 took place
• HMS Christopher - built at Hawthorn, Leslie & Company , Hebburn , BauN ° 453, launched on August 29, 1912, 938 ts, sold to Ward on May 9, 1921 for demolition which took place at Kings, Garston from October 1923
• HMS Cockatrice - built at Hawthorn, Leslie, BauN ° 454, launched November 8, 1912, 951 ts, sold to Ward in Hayle for demolition on May 9, 1921
• HMS Contest - built at Hawthorn, Leslie, BauN ° 455, launched on January 17, 1913, 951 ts, sunk on September 18, 1917 at the western canal exit by the German submarine U 106 , 35 dead
• HMS Acasta - built at John Brown & Company , Clydebank , under construction number 412, launched on September 10, 1912, 1072 ts, 6 dead in the Battle of the Skagerrak, sold to Ward for demolition in Hayle on May 9, 1921
• HMS Achates - built by John Brown, under the Baun ° 413, launched on 14 November 1912, 1072 ts on May 9, 1921 Ward for demolition in Rainham sold
• HMS Ambuscade - built at Petersen & Ahlbeck to crash in at John Brown, under the Baun ° 414, launched on 25 January 1913 1072 ts, on September 6, 1921 Copenhagen sold
• HMS Lynx - built at London & Glasgow Shipbuilding. later Harland & Wolff , Govan , under construction number 364, launched on March 20, 1913, 950 tons, sunk on August 9, 1915 in the Moray Firth after being hit by a mine, 63 dead, 26 survivors
• HMS Midge - built near London & Glasgow, under construction number 365, launched on May 22, 1913, 950 ts, sold to Granton Shipbreaking for demolition on November 5, 1921
• HMS Owl - built near London & Glasgow, under construction number 366, launched on July 7, 1913, 950 ts, sold to Granton Shipbreaking for demolition on November 5, 1921

Shipyard designs for the K-Class

• HMS Hardy - built by John I. Thornycroft & Company Limited (BauN ° 621), Woolston , launched October 10, 1912, 898 ts, sold to Ward for demolition at Briton Ferry on May 9, 1921 ,
• HMS Paragon - built by Thornycroft (BauN ° 633), launched on February 21, 1913, 917 ts, sunk on March 18, 1917 in the English Channel off Dover by German torpedo boats, 75 dead
• HMS Porpoise - built by Thornycroft (BauN ° 634), launched on July 7, 1913, 934 ts, sold to Thornycroft on February 23, 1920, resold to Brazil, initially Alexandrino Deaenca , then Maranhao , out of service in 1946
• HMS Unity - built by Thornycroft (BauN ° 635), launched on September 18, 1913, 954 ts, sold to Rees, Llanely on October 25, 1922 , for demolition,
• HMS Victor - built by Thornycroft (BauN ° 636), launched November 28, 1913, 954 ts, sold to King, Graston for demolition on January 20, 1923 ,
• HMS Fortune - built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company , Govan , BauN ° 488, as a model destroyer for the subsequent Laforey class , launched on March 17, 1913, 950 ts, sunk on June 1, 1916 in the Battle of the Skagerrak by SMS Westphalia , 67 dead, 1 survivor
• HMS Garland - Hull from Cammell Laird , Birkenhead , removal by the contractor Parsons Steam Turbines in Wallsend , launched on April 23, 1913, 984 ts, sold to Petersen & Ahlbeck for demolition on September 6, 1921,
• HMS Ardent - built by William Denny & Brothers Limited , Dumbarton , under construction number 972, launched on September 8, 1913, 950 ts, sunk on June 1, 1916 in the Battle of the Skagerrak by SMS Westphalia , 78 dead, 2 survivors

literature

• Geoffrey Bennett: The Skagerrak Battle. Wilhelm Heyne, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-453-00618-6 .
• NJ Campbell: Jutland: An analysis of the fighting. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Md . 1987, ISBN 0-85177-379-6 .
• Maurice Cocker: Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981. Ian Allan 1983, ISBN 0-7110-1075-7 .
• James J. Colledge, Ben Warlow: Ships of the Royal Navy. Chatham, 4th ed. London 2010, ISBN 978-1-935149-07-1 .
• Antony Preston: Destroyers. Hamlyn 1977, ISBN 0-600-32955-0 .
• Nigel Steel, Peter Hart: Jutland 1916: Death in the Gray Wastes. Cassell, London 2004, ISBN 0-304-36648-X .

Web links

Commons : Acasta-class destroyers (1913)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• u. a. Acasta class with many pictures (accessed May 6, 2011)
• Maranhão CT - CT 12 with images (Portuguese, accessed May 7, 2011)
• CASUALTY LISTS of the ROYAL and DOMINION NAVIES (for source of loss figures, accessed May 12, 2011)

Footnotes

1. ^ K-class destroyers (extract from Jane's Fighting Ships of 1919) (May 5, 2011)
2. ↑ Report on the sinking of the Lynx , accessed May 3, 2011 (English)
3. ^ Bennett, p. 117.
4. ↑ L. Jones biography
5. ↑ Campbell, p. 309 f.
6. ↑ Campbell, p. 311 ff.
7. ↑ Bennett, p. 156 f.
8. ↑ Bennett, p. 158 ff.
9. ^ Campbell, p. 320.
10. ^ Bennett, p. 141.
11. ^ Bennett, p. 160.
12. ^ Steel, p. 374.
13. ↑ Arrowsmith List : Royal Navy WWI Destroyer Pendant Numbers (accessed May 6, 2011)
14. ↑ Colledge, p. 260
15. ↑ Royal Navy Destroyer Flotillas, November 1918 (Eng., Accessed May 8, 2011)
16. ↑ The sinking of the African Star (English, accessed May 8, 2011; PDF; 134 kB)
17. ↑ History of operations of the Maranhão (CT 12) ( Memento of the original from December 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Port., accessed May 8, 2011) 
18. ↑ Acasta data (accessed on May 7, 2011)
19. ↑ Data from the Achates (accessed on May 7, 2011)
20. ↑ Ambuscade data (accessed on May 7, 2011)
21. ↑ Lynx data (accessed May 7, 2011)
22. ^ Midge data (accessed May 7, 2011)
23. ^ Owl data (accessed on May 7, 2011)
24. ^ HMS Fortune
25. ↑ Data on the Ardent (English, accessed on August 6, 2020)