Laforey class (1913)
|
|
|---|---|
| Laforey or L class | |
 HMS Leonidas |
|
| Overview | |
| Type | destroyer |
| units | 22nd |
| Shipyard |
|
| Order | 1912/1914 |
| Launch | 1913-1915 |
| period of service |
1914-1921 |
| Whereabouts | three losses demolition 1921 to 1923 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement | |
| length |
overall: 269 ft (82.04 m), |
| width |
26.75 ft (8.08 m) |
| Draft |
9.5 ft (2.9 m) |
| crew |
77 men |
| drive |
|
| speed |
29 kn |
| Armament |
|
The destroyer of Laforey class or from October 1913 L class of the Royal Navy ran in the years 1913-1915 from the stack. Twenty had been appointed under the naval budget of 1912/1913, two in the first war budget. They were the last pre-war destroyers in the British Navy. While it was still being built, they were all given a name starting with L. Three destroyers of the class went during the First World War lost. The remainder were sold for demolition between 1921 and 1923.
Building history
The Laforey- class, officially renamed the L-class in October 1913 , was a class of 20 destroyers ordered in the 1912/1913 budget and launched from 1913 to 1914. It was the first class in which the classification according to letters carried out in 1913 was also adopted in the ship's name, and so on September 30, 1913, all were given a name beginning with the letter L. Only the first seven were still below their originally intended name from the running stack . In the first war budget, two more destroyers were ordered from Beardmore, which were launched in 1915. For these two, as for the other destroyers ordered in the war budget, names beginning with M were provided. Since they were designed as replicas of the L-Class, their names were changed on February 15, 1915.
The class was developed on the basis of the modified HMS Fortune of the Acasta class (from September 1913 K class) with a clipper bow. The torpedo armament was doubled through the use of two twin tubes. 16 boats of the class had three funnels of equal height, the middle one of which was thicker. Only the six boats built by White and Yarrow were two-chimney. The four boats supplied by Yarrow & Company of Scotstoun near Glasgow ( Lark, Linnet, Laverock, Landrail ), the Lawford and Louis built at Fairfield, and the last Beardmore boat, the Lochinvar , were powered by Brown Curtis turbines , while the other Parsons turbines . The Leonidas and Lucifer , ordered from the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company, received fully automatic geared turbines for testing for the first time. The hulls of these two boats were manufactured by the Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company in Jarrow as a supplier.
commitment
The class destroyers, which came into service from March 1914, were assigned to the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla in Harwich , whose master ship was the HMS Amphion .
Sinking of Queen Luise
On the afternoon of August 5, 1914, the Amphion ran under Captain Cecil H. Fox with the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla after a fish steamer had sighted a suspicious ship that was "throwing things overboard". The Amphion led the flotilla to the reported position according to a previously practiced search plan. The mineship Queen Luise , which was heading east, was soon discovered. The former Seebäderschiff Queen Luise , converted into an auxiliary mine-layer, had left Emden on the night of August 4th to lay mines in the Thames estuary . The Queen Louise tried to run away from the flotilla, which hardened the suspicion so that four destroyers, including HMS Lance and HMS Country Rail , began their pursuit. The first shots of the Royal Navy in World War I against an enemy ship were from the Lance around 10:30 am on the Queen Luise given. After other destroyers and the Amphion had scored numerous hits and had no chance of escaping into neutral waters or defending themselves with their two revolver cannons, the German commander sank his ship by opening the sea valves and ordered the survivors into the lifeboats. The Queen Louise decreased at 12:22 PM burning at 51 ° 52 ' N , 2 ° 30' O the first German warship the First World War. Forty-six men were rescued from the British ships; the number of deaths fluctuates in the data between 54 and over 100.
The Amphion ran on 6 August on its march back to Harwich at 06:30 at 20 kn on one of the mines dropped by Queen Luise during her escape. The accompanying destroyers tried to take over the crew with boats. At 7:03 a.m., the Amphion drifted onto a mine again and its magazine exploded. Bullets hit the HMS Lark and killed three shipwrecked people from the Amphion , including one of the German prisoners. The Amphion sank to 52 ° 11 ' N , 2 ° 36' E within 15 minutes. About 150 British sailors and 18 survivors of Queen Luise died in her sinking .
Sea battle near Heligoland
The HMS Arethusa , which arrived in Harwich on August 26, was immediately used in the fleet operation against the German outpost lines, which led to the naval battle at Helgoland on August 28, 1914. The commander of the Harwich Force , Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt , ran with the Arethusa as flagship and flotilla leader and 16 modern L-class destroyers of the 3rd Flotilla on August 27th. At around 8:00 a.m. on the 28th, the flotilla discovered the German torpedo boat SMS G 194 in the expected position of German ships. With visibility less than three nautical miles , the Fearless and the destroyers of the 1st Flotilla were about two nautical miles behind and the six cruisers of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron under William Goodenough about eight more nautical miles. G 194 ran back to Heligoland and informed their superiors by radio. The small cruisers SMS Stettin and SMS Frauenlob standing near Helgoland were ordered to defend the outpost line. Six more cruisers should assist the defenders as soon as possible. Tyrwhitt ordered four destroyers under HMS Laurel to pursue the G 194 . The noise of the battle led more German torpedo boats onto the battlefield, some of which were hit immediately by British fire. Everyone tried to reach Heligoland and to get under the protection of the local batteries, but they did not intervene because they could not distinguish the boats. At 8:58 a.m. the small cruisers Stettin and Frauenlob arrived and the British destroyers withdrew to their cruisers Arethusa and Fearless . From 9:12 a.m. Tyrwhitt ran west and met six other German torpedo boats. SMS V 187 was sunk before the Stettin could intervene. The severely damaged Arethusa met the Fearless at 11:17 a.m. , and both cruisers were stopped for 20 minutes to carry out necessary repairs. Strasbourg , the first of the alerted cruisers to arrive from the jade, discovered the Arethusa and attacked her with artillery and torpedoes. The accompanying destroyers drove Strasbourg away with torpedo attacks, as did the Cöln that arrived afterwards with Rear Admiral Maass on board.
Tyrwhitt asked Admiral Beatty for reinforcements, who caught up with Goodenough and his remaining four cruisers . At 12:30 p.m., Tyrwhitt's unit was attacked by the incoming light cruiser SMS Mainz . Goodenough's cruisers only arrived after 20 minutes of fighting and put the Mainz to flight, which had damaged three destroyers. The Lydiard in turn scored a torpedo hit on the Mainz .
Of the destroyers of the 3rd Flotilla, Laertes, hit four times, was the most seriously damaged. A hit in the boiler room had temporarily completely interrupted the steam supply and made the boat unable to move. The middle funnel was also destroyed and one of the guns was out of action. The lapwing of the 1st Flotilla under Lieutenant Commander Gye tried to tow her in mid-battle. When the tow line broke and the Laertes lay again, the appearance of the battle cruiser HMS Lion saved the destroyer, which was able to make some steam after the battle, but had to be brought in by the Fearless . The Laertes had two dead and eight wounded. The Laurel had the highest personnel losses with eleven dead and 18 wounded. She too was unable to walk back alone and was towed by the amethyst in the evening . On the Liberty , the commander and seven other sailors were killed and ten men were wounded.
Battle of Texel
In the early afternoon of October 17, 1914, the new flotilla leader of the 3rd Flotilla put HMS Undaunted on a routine patrol with the destroyers HMS Lennox , HMS Legion , HMS Loyal and the Lance , which had already been involved in the sinking of SMS Queen Luise , the German 7th torpedo boat semi-flotilla under Korvettenkapitän Georg Thiele with the torpedo boats SMS S 115 , SMS S 117 , SMS S 118 and SMS S 119 as flotilla leader off Texel . The German boats came from Emden and were supposed to lay mines off the south coast of England.
The British ships were far superior to the German artillery. In addition to both 152-mm and six 102-mm guns of the Undaunted , three 102-mm guns were added to each of the four Laforey- class destroyers . The four older German boats of the type "Großes Torpedoboot 1898" only had three 5 cm cannons of short range each. Their most powerful weapon were the three 45 cm torpedo tubes, for which five torpedoes per boat were available. The German boats from 1904 could now only reach a little over 18 knots with their piston engines (instead of 28 knots originally), so that their attempt to escape was futile. Captain Fox had split his formation and attacked with the Legion and the Loyal first on S 118 , which sank at 3:17 p.m., while the other two destroyers hit S 115 so badly that this boat could no longer be steered. The two remaining torpedo boats attempt a torpedo attack on the Undaunted , which was able to avoid the torpedoes and concentrated its fire on the attacking boats. At 3:30 p.m., S 117 , which the Legion had previously shot at the helm , sank . At 3:35 p.m. the guide boat S 119 also sank in the fire of Lance and Loyal after it had carried out a torpedo attack on the Lance . A torpedo hit the destroyer amidships without exploding. The last floating but incapable of maneuvering boat S 115 was boarded by the Lennox , who found only one survivor on board. Then the Undaunted sank this boat at 16:30. 218 sailors died on the German boats. Thirty sailors were captured by the British and two sailors were rescued from a neutral ship the next day. On the British side, three destroyers had received insignificant hits and four British seamen were injured.
With the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla and the Harwich Force, the Laforey- class destroyers were often used against German naval advances, such as the bombardments of Yarmouth on November 3 and December 16 of Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby by the German battlecruisers , and secured British advances, such as the air raid on Cuxhaven . In the battle on Doggerbank on January 24, 1915, the Undaunted was involved with twelve destroyers ( HMS Lookout , Lysander , Landrail , Laurel , Liberty , Laertes , Lucifer , Lawford , Lydiard , Louis , Legion and Lark ) without actively intervening in the battle .
Battle at the Noordhinder Bank
On May 1, 1915, two German seaplanes reported four British outpost boats to the Noordhinder Bank off the Dutch coast. Since one of the aircraft had to make an emergency landing, the head of the Flanders torpedo boat flotilla , Hermann Schoemann , ran out with the boats A 2 and A 6 (110 t, 20 kn, 1 × 5 cm gun, 2 TR) to rescue the aircraft crew and to sink the outpost boats. At around 3:00 p.m., the German boats attacked with four torpedoes, but only hit the armed trawler Columbia , which sank and by whom three sailors were rescued. Another trawler managed to ram the A 6 , so the Germans decided to retreat. The now alerted Harwich Force dispatched the four destroyers Laforey , Lawford , Leonidas and Lark . Around 17:00 British destroyer overtook the two German torpedo boats and submerged for about one hour at 51 ° 42 ' N , 3 ° 0' O . In addition to the flotilla chief, twelve German seamen died and 46 were taken prisoner. 16 British sailors died with the Columbia , including the three initially rescued by the Germans. The destroyers had no losses.
First loss in the Mediterranean
On October 31, 1915, the first boat of the class was lost when Louis , who was delegated to the Dardanelles campaign , ran aground in the Bay of Suvla and was destroyed by Turkish artillery. The Louis had been sent to the Dardanelles together with the sister ship Lydiard .
The attack on Hoyer
On March 24, 1916, the Harwich Force secured another attack on a German airship base, which was erroneously directed against Hoyer , on the coast of Schleswig behind Sylt , where the British suspected the airship hangar that was in Tondern . On March 25, 1916, two Sopwith Baby and three Short 184 from the Vindex flew an attack on the airship port. However, they did not find their destination; only two machines returned to the Vindex . In search of the missing aircraft and German outpost boats, the Laverock rammed the destroyer Medusa near List, which sank in heavy seas after the crew had been removed.
On the march back, the flagship Cleopatra discovered the German torpedo boat SMS G 194 , which had got into the British formation from only three nautical miles in bad weather. The cruiser rammed the German boat, which was cut in two and sank. As a result of this maneuver, the Cleopatra came directly in front of the bow of the Undaunted , which suffered severe damage in the collision. She could only run 6 knots without risking a total collapse of her bulkheads and only reached Seaham Harbor south of Sunderland four days after the collision . The securing of the Undaunted by the British and the attempt by the Germans to destroy them led to naval movements on both sides, which at times opened up the possibility of a battle between the fleets.
Further missions
When the German battle cruisers attacked Yarmouth and Lowestoft again on April 25, 1916, the Harwich Force was temporarily in combat with the German ships. The Laertes received a hit in the boiler room. Five sailors were injured and only the brave intervention of stoker Ernest Clarke saved the boat.
In the Battle of the Skagerrak on May 31 and June 1, 1916, only parts of the now 9th flotilla took part in securing the 2nd battle cruiser squadron with Lydiard (as flotilla leader), Landrail , Laurel and Liberty .
On August 13, 1916, the Lassoo, the second destroyer of the Laforey class, was lost to a mine hit on the Meuse fire ship.
In 1917, the Germans stepped up their attacks on supplies to the Allied troops across the English Channel . On March 17, 1917, eight German torpedo boats attacked the British destroyers HMS Paragon and HMS Llewellyn at the Dover Barrier . The Llewellyn's bow was nearly torn off, and the Paragon sank after being hit by a torpedo. On March 23, 1917, the Laforey and her sister ship Laertes had led several transporters from Folkestone to Boulogne . At around 4:30 p.m., the two destroyers began their march back alone when a huge explosion occurred amidships on the Laforey . It broke in two and the stern sank instantly. The front part swam for a while. Nevertheless, the Laertes was only able to save 18 of the 77 sailors on board.
On December 6, 1917, the repaired Llewellyn was the first ship with depth charges to sink the German submarine UC 19 in the Strait of Dover.
Until the end of the war, the remaining Laforey- class destroyers carried out escort duties. The Legion was converted into a mine- layer and gave the stern gun and the torpedo tubes from board. To protect the mines stored on deck, light protective walls were installed, on which guns and torpedo tubes were painted for camouflage.
Whereabouts of the boats
At the end of the war, eleven boats were stationed with the 4th Destroyer Flotilla ( Laertes, Lance, Laurel, Laverock, Lennox, Leonidas, Liberty, Lochinvar, Loyal, Lysander, Lookout ) in Devonport , six boats formed the " Methil Convoy Flotilla" ( Landrail, Lark , Linnett, Llewellyn, Lydiard, Lysander (?) / Lucifer (?) ) And two ( Lawford, Legion ) were with the 20th Destroyer (Minelayer) Flotilla in Immingham . These 19 remaining boats were then quickly sorted out and sold for demolition.
The boats
- HMS Laforey (ex- Florizel ) - built under construction no. 489 in service at Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company , Govan , launched on March 28, 1913, March 1914 , sunk off Shoreham-by-Sea on March 23, 1917 after a mine hit in the English Channel , 59 dead
- HMS Lawford (ex- Ivanhoe ) - built at Fairfield (BauNr.490), launched on October 30, 1913, 1003 ts, sold for demolition on August 24, 1921 together with Lookout to Hayes, Porthcawl
- HMS Louis (ex- Talisman ) - built at Fairfield (BauNr. 491), launched on December 30, 1913, 1003 ts, run aground in Suvla Bay on October 31, 1915 and destroyed by Turkish coastal artillery
- HMS Lydiard (ex- Waverley ) - built at Fairfield (BauNr.492), launched on February 26, 1914, 1003 ts, sold for demolition on November 5, 1921 to Granton, Edinburgh together with Liberty and Lance
- HMS Laurel (ex- Redgauntlet ) - built by J. Samuel White , Cowes , launched May 6, 1913, 965 ts, sold for demolition November 1, 1921 to Fry, Sunderland
- HMS Liberty (ex- Rosalind ) - built at White, launched September 15, 1913, 975 ts, sold for demolition November 5, 1921 to Granton, Edinburgh
- HMS Lark (ex- Haughty ) - built under construction number 1332 by Yarrow & Company , Scotstoun , launched May 26, 1913, 968 ts, sold for demolition January 20, 1923 to Hayes, Porthcawl
- HMS Linnet (ex- Havock ) - built at Yarrow (BauNr.1333), launched on August 16, 1913, 970 ts, sold for demolition on November 4, 1921 to Rees, Llanelly
- HMS Laverock (ex Hereward ) - built by Yarrow (BauNr.1334), launched on 19 November 1913 994 ts, in October 1914 in service, rams during the first attack on the 25 March 1916 Luftschiffhallen of Tønder close List the destroyer HMS Medusa the Medea class , then the drops; sold for demolition on May 9, 1921 to Ward, Grays
- HMS Landrail (ex- Hotspur ) - built at Yarrow (BauNr.1335), launched on February 7th, 1914, 983 ts, collision with the cruiser Undaunted in April 1915 , sold for demolition on December 1st, 1921 together with Laertes and Lucifer to Stanlee, Dover
- HMS Laertes (ex- Sarpedon ) - built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson , Wallsend , launched June 5, 1913, 982 ts, sold for demolition December 1, 1921 to Stanlee, Dover ; Stranded in tow on the way there, only in Dover on March 8, 1922 and demolished by the end of the year
- HMS Lysander (ex- Ulysses ) - built at Swan Hunter, launched August 18, 1913, 976 ts, sold for demolition June 9, 1922 to Cashmore, Newport
- HMS Llewellyn (ex- Picton ) - built under construction no. 511 from William Beardmore & Company , Dalmuir , launched October 30, 1913, 996 ts, sold for demolition March 10, 1922
- HMS Lennox (ex- Portia ) - built at Beardmore (BauNr.512), launched on March 17th, 1914, sold for demolition on October 26th, 1921
- HMS Lassoo (ex- Magic ) - built at Beardmore (BauNr.526), launched on August 24, 1915, sunk on August 13, 1916 at the Meuse lightship after being hit by a mine, 6 dead
- HMS Lochinvar (ex- Malice ) - built at Beardmore (construction number 527), launched on October 9, 1915, 1010 ts, Brown Curtis turbines, sold for demolition on November 25, 1921 together with Loyal to Hayes, Porthcawl
- HMS Loyal (ex- Orlando ) - built by William Denny & Brothers Limited (BauNr.977), Dumbarton , launched on November 11, 1913, 996 ts, sold for demolition on November 25, 1921 to Hayes, Porthcawl
- HMS Legion (ex- Viola ) - built by Denny (BauNr.978), launched on February 3, 1914, 1072 ts, sold for demolition May 9, 1921 to Ward, New Holland, Lincolnshire
- HMS Leonidas (ex- Rob Roy ) - built by Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Co. , Wallsend (hull near Palmers , Jarrow , BauNr.832), launched on October 30, 1913, 986 ts, sold for demolition 1921
- HMS Lucifer (ex- Rocket ) - built at Parsons (Rumpf bei Palmers, BauNr.833), launched on December 29, 1913, 986 ts, sold for demolition on December 1, 1921 to Stanlee, Dover
- HMS Lance (ex- Daring ) - built by John I. Thornycroft & Company Limited (BauN ° 653), Woolston , launched on 25 February 1914, 997 ts, sold for demolition on 5 November 1921 in Granton, Edinburgh
- HMS Lookout (ex- Dragon ) - built at Thornycroft (BauN ° 654), launched on April 27, 1914, 1002 ts, sold for demolition August 24, 1922 to Hayes, Porthcawl
HMS Louis stranded in Suvla Bay
HMS Laertes
HMS Leonidas
HMS Loyal
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literature
- John Campbell: Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting. Lyons Press, 1998, ISBN 1-55821-759-2 .
- Maurice Cocker: Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981. Ian Allan, 1938, 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 .
- Randal Gray (Ed.): Conway's All The Worlds Fighting Ships 1906-1921. Conway Maritime Press, London 1985, ISBN 0-85177-245-5 .
- Mark D. Karau: Wielding the Dagger. Praeger Publishers, Westport 2003, ISBN 0-313-32475-1
- Robert K. Massie : Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany and the winning of the Great War at sea. Johnathan Cape, 2004, ISBN 0-224-04092-8
- Eric W. Osborne: The Battle of Heligoland Bight. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 2006, ISBN 0-253-34742-4
- Antony Preston: Destroyers. Hamlyn, 1977, ISBN 0-600-32955-0 .
Web links
- extract from Jane's Fighting Ships for 1919 (accessed May 9, 2011)
- Laforey class with lots of pictures (English)
Footnotes
- ↑ The sinking of HMS Amphion ( Memento of the original from April 12, 2013 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.
- ↑ Loyal and Laverock were missing , which was probably not yet finished, and the two buildings from the war program ( Lassoo, Lochinvar ), two L-destroyers are said to have been used in the 1st Flotilla: (Lucifer, Llewellyn)
- ↑ Massie, p. 102f
- ↑ Massie, p. 107
- ↑ Massie, p. 107f
- ↑ Osborne, p. 103
- ^ Campbell, p. 6
- ↑ a b Karau, p. 53
- ↑ a b Colledge, p. 235
- ↑ A former Isle of Man ferry, 2950 ts, 23 kn, front launch deck, November 3, 1915, first land plane take-off from a Royal Navy ship
- ↑ JM BRUCE, The Sopwith Tabloid, Schneider and Baby in FLIGHT magazine, November 22, 1957
- ↑ ship Caroline class, the first group of the cruiser C-class
- ↑ Ernest Clarke Memorial ( Memento of July 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), Clarke later died of the burns he had suffered and was awarded posthumously, London Gazette No. 6213, June 22, 1916. NCO Stephen Pritchard, who directed the fire-fighting work, was also honored.
- ↑ Colledge, p. 260
- ↑ Royal Navy Destroyer Flotillas, November 1918
- ↑ picture of HMS Laforey , Fairfield had also built the model destroyer HMS Fortune under construction number 488
- ^ Image of HMS Lawford
- ^ Image of the HMS Louis
- ^ Image of the HMS Lydiard
- ^ Image of the HMS Lark
- ^ Image of the HMS Linnet
- ↑ picture of the HMS Laverock
- ↑ Information on HMS Llewellyn
- ↑ Information on HMS Lennox
- ↑ Information on HMS Lochinvar
- ↑ Information on HMS Loyal
- ↑ Information on the HMS Legion
- ↑ Leonidas 1914
- ↑ Lucifer 1914
