HMS Marksman (1915)
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| Marksman class | |
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| Overview | |
| Type | Flotilla leader |
| units | 7th |
| Shipyard |
Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. , Hebburn , Building No. 473 |
| Keel laying | July 20, 1914 |
| Launch | May 12, 1915 |
| delivery | November 18, 1915 |
| Namesake | English for Sagittarius |
| Whereabouts | November 1921 sold for demolition |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
1440 ts standard, 1700 ts maximum |
| length |
99.0 m (324 ft 10 in) above sea level |
| width |
9.68 m (31 ft 9 in) |
| Draft |
3.66 m (12 ft) |
| crew |
104 men |
| drive |
4 Yarrow boilers, |
| speed |
34 kn |
| Range |
2500 nm at 15 kn / 515 t oil |
| Armament |
4 × 102 mm Mk.IV-SK |
HMS Marksman was one of the first two flotilla commanders appointed by the Royal Navy in late 1913. The ship ordered from Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. in Hebburn was to become the flotilla commander of the M-class destroyers ordered at the same time . The new building with building no. 473, which was launched on May 12, 1915, was therefore given the name Marksman beginning with M , just as the sister ship being built by White as a flotilla leader for the L-class was named Lightfoot .
The newbuilding was the first ship for the Royal Navy to be named Marksman , originally intended to be an M-class destroyer, which, along with two other planned ships, was canceled prior to the award of the contract in order to free up funds for the construction of the two flotilla leaders. The Marksman was one of seven flotilla leaders of the class named after her or the Lightfoot appointed at the same time .
In 1921 the Marksman was sold for demolition, which finally took place in Germany.
Building history
The reconnaissance cruisers ("scout cruisers") built since 1903 and the single ship Swift were tested as flotilla leaders of the destroyers of the British fleet . All did not live up to expectations. The British Admiralty therefore wanted in 1912 "flotilla leaders" whose services largely corresponded to the respective class of destroyer and offered space for a far-reaching radio system as well as the command staff of a flotilla and refused to develop or convert existing types. The new ships should not be larger than 1800 tn.l. will reach a speed of 33 to 34 knots , be armed with four 102 mm cannons and four light weapons against airships as well as two twin torpedo tubes. Poulsen long-range radio and receiving devices with a range of 150 nm were to be installed. Accommodation and work rooms for part of the flotilla guidance were to be available, of which eleven additional men had to have space on the bridge. The machinery was to be largely similar to that of the M-Class.
With a length of 99 meters and a width of 9.7 meters, the newbuildings were quite a few larger than the M destroyers, which were 83 meters long and a little over eight meters wide, but they only displaced a maximum of 1700 tons. l. The two flotilla leaders commissioned first were to be assigned to the first and third destroyer flotilla with the destroyers of the L and M classes. With the same design with turbine sets on three shafts and four boilers, the flotilla leaders with engine power of 36,000 hp also significantly exceeded that of the destroyers (by 25,000 hp). March turbines were available for the outer shafts. The flotilla commanders had four chimneys, while the new M-destroyers usually only had three chimneys, only the two special designs from Hawthorn and Leslie also had four, the ten special designs from Yarrow only two.
The main armament of the Marksman / Lightfoot class ships consisted of four individual 4-inch (102-mm) Mark IV rapid-fire guns . Two 2-pounder "pom-pom" guns were used to ward off air attacks . For this purpose, two 21-inch twin torpedo tubes were installed one behind the other on the midship line. The Marksman's keel was laid on July 20, 1914, before the outbreak of war . At Hawthorn Leslie, two special versions of the M-Class ( Mentor , Mansfield ) and the cruiser Champion for the Royal Navy were under construction at that time . The Marksman was launched on May 12, 1915 as the second ship of the class after the Nimrod, which only started at Denny in October 1914 . The ship was only delivered as the fourth ship of the class on November 18, 1915.
Mission history
In November 1915, the Marksman came as a flotilla leader to the newly formed "Twelfth Destroyer Flotilla". This fifth destroyer flotilla of the Grand Fleet initially had only three destroyers, Maenad , Mindful and Nessus , which the depot ship Blake shared with the 2nd DF and 11th DF. By May 1916, Marvel , Mischief , Mameluke , Mary Rose , Munster , Napier , Noble , Obedient , Onslaught , Narwhal , Nonsuch , Opal and Menace, thirteen other M-class destroyers joined the flotilla. From January 1916 the flotilla was led by the cruiser Royalist of the Arethusa class , who was replaced in May by the flotilla leader Faulknor of the class of the same name . As early as December 1915, the Diligence (ex Tabaristan ) of the flotilla served as a depot ship .
In the Skagerrak Battle , the "12th Destroyer Flotilla" secured the Grand Fleet in cooperation with the "4th Destroyer Flotilla" . The flotilla was in use with both guide boats and fourteen destroyers, only Mameluke and Napier were not operational due to a docking time in Glasgow. On May 30, the flotilla under Captain Stirling on the Faulknor fell back in the evening due to damage on the Marlborough . At around 1:43 am on the morning of June 1, Obedient sighted ships on an east-south-east course in the slow onset of dusk. The unidentified ships gave false identification signals and the last attack on the German deep sea fleet began in almost ideal conditions. The Faulknor went almost on the opposite course and ran so towards the rear group of the flotilla, which was led by the Marksman . Marksman evaded when visibility was still very poor and lost contact with the flotilla, which the four destroyers that followed her, Opal , Menace , Munster and Mary Rose, however, held. The Marksman only heard of the attack by the flotilla over the radio, the first six destroyers of which fired 17 torpedoes at the German squadrons before their artillery fire drove away the other destroyers. Stirling tried to report on the engagement and made three reports, but none reached the British Commander in Chief Jellicoe . If the reports had reached him, Jellicoe could have turned around and reached the deep-sea fleet before 4:30 a.m. and entered the protection of the German minefields. The attack by the “12th Destroyer Flotilla” achieved at least one hit on the Pomerania , which exploded in one of the 17 cm magazines of the ship of the line and caused a huge explosion. The Pomerania sank with the entire crew of 839 officers and men. It is unclear whether the Faulknor or the Onslaught hit the ship of the line with a torpedo. The British destroyers Nessus (7 dead) and Onslaught (5 dead, including the commander) were damaged .
After half an hour Marksman made contact with some destroyers of the 13th Flotilla , led by the cruiser Champion with the commander of all destroyers of the Grand Fleet. With these she got into a battle with the German torpedo boats that the crew of the incapable of maneuvering battle cruiser Lützow had recovered and then sunk themselves. Champion was able to score a few hits on G 40 . Later the Marksman fished a single shipwrecked man from the water, the commander of the sunken destroyer Ardent of the "4th Flotilla".
At around 6:00 she met the destroyer Sparrowhawk of the “4th Flotilla”, who had been severely damaged after a collision with Flotilla Leader Broke . All attempts by the Marksman to tow the Sparrowhawk failed. So the Marksman finally took over the remaining crew of the destroyer, including survivors of the sunk Tipperary , in order to then sink the Sparrowhawk with her artillery.
In mid-July 1916 the British leadership had indications that the Imperial Navy wanted to send an auxiliary cruiser to the Atlantic for a trade war. To prevent this, the Royal Navy deployed fourteen cruisers, thirteen auxiliary cruisers and eighteen destroyers. As part of this search, Marksman and her sister ship Gabriel guarded the Seerau between Fair Isle and the Orkneys from July 11th to 13th without discovering any German activity. After the Battle of the Skagerrak there were reclassifications and exchanges of ships between the flotillas. The Marksman but remained with the 13th flotilla until August 1917, when she by the new flotilla Valhalla of V-class was replaced. The lead ship of the 13th DF had been the Saumarez of the Parker class since January 1917 . One of the seventeen destroyers in the flotilla since December 1916 was a first R-class destroyer with the Strongbow .
The Marksman was assigned to the "6th Destroyer Flotilla" with the Dover Patrol , which at that time had two command cruisers ( Active and Attentive ), four other flotilla leaders with Swift , Broke , Faulknor and Botha as well as 34 destroyers, the torpedo boat TB 15 and six patrol boats decreed. The destroyers belonged to different classes. In addition to seven destroyers of the Tribal class ( Afridi , Amazon , Saracen , Crusader , Mohawk , Viking and Zubian ), the flotilla had 17 destroyers of the modern M-class as well as eight old C- and two B-class boats .
The large association secured the Dover lock (English Dover Barrage) between Folkestone and Cap Griz Nez , which should prevent enemy forces from entering the canal . The barrier consisted of mine barriers and steel nets and was guarded by many small boats. Although their submarines repeatedly managed to overcome the barrier, the Imperial Navy also attacked the barrier with their large torpedo boats stationed in Flanders in October 1916 and April 1917. The big destroyers and the flotilla leaders, like the Marksman , mostly patrolled two routes to protect the barrier. On the night of February 15, 1918, Marksman and Swift were on the "West Barrage Patrol" and another four destroyers on the "East Barrage Patrol" when seven German deep sea torpedo boats attacked the Dover Barrage. Due to insufficient information, none of these six ships could catch the German attackers, who sank eight guard boats at the barrier and severely damaged another seven. Contradicting and inaccurate reports prevented the destroyers from taking effective action on the British side.
In April the Marksman was transferred to the 11th Destroyer Flotilla with her sister ships Lightfoot and Kempenfelt , where they were used as normal destroyers. This flotilla served to protect the Grand Fleet, was led by the flotilla leaders Seymour and Valorous and had 16 other destroyers of the M- (1), R- (6) as well as the V- and W-class (9). In July 1918 the Marksman was transferred to the Northern Patrol and on July 12, 1918 led the search for the German U 151 between the Shetlands and the Faroe Islands . The submarine cruiser, returning home from a patrol to the US coast, could be located by the British with hydrophones near the island of Suðuroy and the destroyer Beagle carried out two attacks with depth charges. U 151 escaped undamaged and arrived in Kiel on July 20 under its commanders Korvettenkapitän Heinrich von Nostitz and Jänckendorff . Marksman stayed with the Northern Patrol Force based in Dundee until the end of the war.
Final fate
The Marksman was decommissioned on November 25, 1919 in Devonport and sold for demolition on November 8, 1921, which then took place in Germany.
The Lightfoot or Marksman class flotilla leaders
| Surname | Shipyard | Keel laying | Launch | in service | commitment | Final fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightfoot H.76 1.18: H.58 , 4.18: G.22 , 9.18: F.78 | JS White | 6/9/1914 | May 28, 1915 | September 5, 1915 | 2nd Leader 9th DF , 1917 10th DF , 1918 11th DF , Southern Patrol Force , Granton | May 1921 for demolition |
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Marksman H.96 , 17: G.35 , 1.18: F.85 , 4.18: G.23 , 9.18: F.66 |
Hawthorn Leslie | 07/20/1914 | 04/28/1915 | October 24, 1915 | Leader 13th DF , (see above), most recently Northern Patrol Force , Dundee | November 1921 for demolition |
| Nimrod H.5A , 1.18: H.90 | Denny | 10/9/1914 | 04/12/1915 | 5.07.1915 | 2nd Leader 10th DF , 1918 11th DF , Leader 3rd DF | November 1926 for demolition |
| Kempenfelt H.A1 , 17: G.10 , 1.18: F.87 , 4.18: G.12 | Cammell Laird | October 2, 1914 | May 1, 1915 | August 7, 1915 | Leader 11th DF , 1917 6th DF , 1918 11th DF | May 1921 for demolition |
| Abdiel G.07 , 1.17: F.43 , 1.18: F.49 | Cammell Laird | May 6, 1915 | 10/11/1915 | 03/26/1916 | Mine Layers, March 1918 Leader 20th DF , Immingham | July 1936 for demolition |
| Gabriel G.21 , 1.17: F.00 , 9.18: F.91 | Cammell Laird | 01/12/1915 | December 23, 1915 | 05/22/1916 | 2nd Leader 13th DF , 1918 Minelayer / Division Leader 20th DF | May 1921 for demolition |
| Ithuriel G.32 , 1.17: G.50 , 1.18: F.83 | Cammell Laird | 01/14/1915 | March 8, 1916 | July 6, 1916 | 2nd Leader 14th DF , October 1917 XIIIth Submarine Flotilla , Rosyth | November 1921 for demolition |
Most of the Marksman's sister ships only had short periods of use. In addition to the Abdiel , they were used as flotilla leaders in the destroyer flotillas of the Grand Fleet. Marksman , Kempenfelt and Abdiel were participants in the Battle of the Skagerrak. The latter, however, as a fast mine-layer . In order to have space for the mines, she had given up her torpedo armament and the rear gun. She marched in the vanguard of the Grand Fleet with the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron and, according to the prepared plans, after recognizing the situation, on the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, moved a blockade of 80 mines near the Danish Horns Reef lightship in the presumed German return route. To do this, she advanced unaccompanied about 100 nm to the south-southeast at high speed and relocated her mines to a width of about 8 nm and then walked back to South Queensferry alone . The German battleship Ostfriesland was marching back to a mine laid by the Abdiel , but not on this new barrier, but on a mine laid further south-west on May 5th; the battleship was able to continue on its march. In 1918 Abdiel became the leader of the newly formed 20th Destroyer Flotilla with initially seven destroyers of various classes ( Ariel , Ferret , Sandfly , Legion , Tarpon , Telemachus and Venturous ) converted into miners .
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After the end of the war and the reduction of the destroyer flotillas, the Marksman- class ships were mostly decommissioned because more modern flotilla leaders were available. In 1919 Ithuriel remained in service with the 1st submarine flotilla in Rosyth as a support destroyer and in the 20th (mine-laying) destroyer flotilla Abdiel remained in service as leader and Gabriel . In the course of British efforts to support the independence of the Estonian and Latvian people against the armed forces of Soviet Russia , a squadron of the Royal Navy was already in the Baltic Sea at the end of 1918 . To prevent the Red Fleet from intervening, Abdiel and parts of the 20th DF were seconded to the unit now led by Rear Admiral Cowan in the summer of 1919 . The destroyers also towed motor torpedo boats into the Baltic Sea and laid mine barriers in the Gulf of Finland . The Abdiel was released with the parts of the 20th DF at the end of October 1919 after four months of service in the Baltic Sea. and in August 1920 assigned to the reserve in the Nore.
In 1921 five ships of the class were sold for demolition. In 1926 the Nimrod, which was still in the reserve in Portsmouth, was segregated . The only remaining Abdiel was overhauled again in 1926/27 and its boiler tubes were replaced. After the overhaul, she still reached a speed of 31 knots during test drives , but was reassigned to the reserve in the north. The last ship of the Marksman class remained there until July 1936, when it was sold for demolition.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Marksman Type Leader
- ↑ a b c d Dittmar / Colledge: British Warships 1914-1919. P. 65.
- ↑ Bennet: Battle of the Skagerrak. P. 168
- ↑ Bennet: Battle of the Skagerrak. P. 169
- ↑ Bennet: Battle of the Skagerrak. P. 162.
- ↑ Bennet: Battle of the Skagerrak. P. 160.
- ↑ The trawler James Pond (360 ts) and the drifters Christina Craig, Clover Bank , Cosmos , James Pond , Jeannie Murray , Silver Queen and W. Elliott were sunk ; About 100 men died on the sunken and damaged boats
- ↑ MARKSMAN, 11/11/18 - Northern Patrol Force, Dundee, Patrol and Escort Forces (pl)
- ^ Marksman Paid off
- ↑ 10th Destroyer Flotilla ( Memento of the original from December 1, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. u. other flotillas on dreadnoughtproject.org
- ↑ 7 June, Commander Berwick Curtis report
- ^ Bennet, p. 172
Remarks
- ↑ In October 1913, the conversion of tribal destroyers ( Crusader , Maori or Zulu ) and the Swift were discarded after consideration.
- ↑ In the second flotilla with the destroyers of the Acorn class , a "scout cruiser" was to take over and in the fourth destroyer flotilla of the First Fleet, the Swift was to take over the duties of flotilla commander.
- ↑ The originally planned 37 mm 1 pdr guns had been left to the British expeditionary army on the mainland when the war broke out
literature
- Vic Cassells: The Destroyers: their battles and their badges. Simon & Schuster, East Roseville, NSW 2000, ISBN 0-7318-0893-2 .
- Maurice Cocker: Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981. Ian Allen, 1983, ISBN 0-7110-1075-7 .
- Frederik James Dittmar / JJ Colledge: British Warships 1914–1919. Ian Allan, Sheppertone 1972, ISBN 0-7110-0380-7
- Norman Friedman: British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley 2009, ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9 .
- Antony Preston: Destroyers. Hamlyn, ISBN 0-60032955-0 .
- Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Conway Maritime Press, 1985, pp. 72f.
- Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I (Ed. John Moore), Studio (London 1990), ISBN 1-85170-378-0 .
