HMS Ambuscade (D38)
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 The HMS Ambuscade |
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| Overview | |
| Type | destroyer |
| Shipyard | |
| Order | June 12, 1924 |
| Keel laying | December 8, 1924 |
| Launch | January 15, 1926 |
| Commissioning | April 9, 1927 |
| Whereabouts | Sold for demolition in 1946 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
1173 ts |
| length |
98.1 m (322 ft) above sea level |
| width |
9.4 m (31 ft) |
| Draft |
3.4 m (11 ft 4 in) |
| crew |
138 men |
| drive |
3 Yarrow boiler |
| speed |
37 kn |
| Range |
3310 nm at 15 kn |
| Armament |
4 - 120-mm-Mk.IX-SK |
HMS Ambuscade (D38) was one of two destroyer prototypes operated by the British Royal Navy after the First World War . The boat was used in World War II and was awarded the battle honors "Atlantic 1940-44" and "Arctic 1942". After the end of the war, the ship was scrapped.
history
In 1924, the Royal Navy awarded construction contracts for two destroyers after it had previously asked relevant shipyards for designs. After the last previous draft of ships of this class came from 1917, advances in construction technology and machinery made a completely new design necessary. The new boats were to have armament like the last W-Class war drafts (four 4.7-in (120-mm) cannons and six 21-in (533-mm) torpedo tubes), but with a greater range to have. 5000 nautical miles were expected at cruising speed. A top speed of at least 34 knots was required. Against the competitors Denny & Brothers , Hawthorn, Leslie & Company and JS White , the construction contracts went to the long-standing destroyer shipyards Thornycroft and Yarrow . The destroyers were built as prototypes based on the designs submitted by the shipyards .
The Ambuscade was launched on January 15, 1926 as the first destroyer after a long break in the construction of such boats at Yarrow in Glasgow . It was put into service on March 15, 1927. Her half-sister Amazon , created at Thornycroft, followed on May 5, 1927. The Ambuscade was slightly smaller than the Amazon .
After initial tests and modifications, the two boats carried out a test trip “Around South America” from April 10 to August 15, 1928 to test the conditions on the boats in different climatic conditions and the range. Call have been Pernambuco , Rio de Janeiro , Santos , Montevideo , Buenos Aires , Port Stanley and after the passage through the Strait of Magellan Talcahuano , Valparaíso and Coquimbo , where the flagship of the Chilean navy, the battleship Almirante Latorre (ex Canada , met). The Ambuscade ran to Guayaquil via Callao and then went through the Panama Canal to Kingston (Jamaica) . The boats then ran back home via Bermuda and Faial .
The Ambuscade then served in the Mediterranean fleet from late October 1928 to March 1931 . A year of service with the Home Fleet from June 1932 was followed by a period of almost five years at the HMS Vernon torpedo school in Portsmouth , where the Amazon was also used. At the end of February 1937 the boat was taken out of service due to the poor condition of its turbines. It was not until 1939 that thorough repairs began at the Portsmouth naval shipyard so that the boat could be used again.
War effort
At the beginning of the war in 1939, the Ambuscade could not be used because of the repairs that began late and the long stay in the shipyard. After completing the necessary work, the ship was assigned to the 16th Destroyer Flotilla in Harwich on May 27, 1940 . The destroyer then took part in the evacuations of British troops from the ports of northern France from June 8th . On June 10, he was hit by a German artillery battery near St. Valery . The still operational Ambuscade encountered the Boadicea, which was unable to maneuver after being hit by a bomb, and towed her across the canal, where she was taken over by a tug. After securing a few convoys along the British coast, the boat was transferred to the 12th destroyer flotilla in Greenock in September 1940 to take part in the convoy security between Iceland and the Clyde. Drive problems now occurred more frequently.
With increased anti -submarine and anti-aircraft armament, the Ambuscade was deployed to secure convoys in the North Atlantic after the necessary repairs and alterations were completed.
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In 1943, the first was on the ship Squid - water bombers built for experimental purposes. In view of the age of the destroyer, the condition of its machinery and the increasing number of escort vehicles put into service, the ship was no longer used as a guide, but as a target ship for naval aviators from mid-1943 .
After the end of the war, the Ambuscade was used for further tests and was finally scrapped in 1947.
Replicas for export
The Ambuscade was the basis for the destroyers constructed by Yarrow of the Douro , then Vouga class of the Portuguese Navy (Marinha Portuguesa). In 1932 Portugal ordered five boats. Two boats were built by Yarrow in Scotland; the others were made in Lisbon with machines supplied by Yarrow. The destroyers entered service between June 1933 and February 1936. The Vouga , which was first delivered by Yarrow, was the last boat to be canceled until June 1967.
Portugal sold the first two boats to be built in Lisbon through Yarrow before they were completed in 1933 to Colombia , where they remained in service as the Antioquia class from 1934 to 1961. The Portuguese Navy reordered two boats to offset the sales.
literature
- Michael J. Whitley: Destroyers of World War Two. An international encyclopedia. Arms and Armor Press, London et al. 1988, ISBN 0-85368-910-5 .
Web links
- HMS AMBUSCADE (D 38) - Prototype Destroyer
- The South American Cruise
- AMBUSCADE destroyer (1927)
- HMS Ambuscade History
- Chronicle of naval warfare 1939–1945
- DOURO destroyers
- ANTIOQUIA destroyers