HMAS Anzac (1917)
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|---|---|
| Parker- class | |
 The HMAS Anzac |
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| Overview | |
| Type | Flotilla leader |
| units | 6th |
| Shipyard | |
| Keel laying | January 31, 1916 |
| Launch | January 11, 1917 |
| delivery | April 24, 1917 |
| Namesake | The "Australian and New Zealand Army Corps" |
| Whereabouts | 30 July 1931 Reserve, sunk 7 May 1936 as a target ship |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
1660 ts |
| length |
99.85 m (327 ft 6 in) above sea level |
| width |
9.7 m (31 ft 10 in) |
| Draft |
4.2 m (13 ft 10 in) |
| crew |
122 men |
| drive |
4 Yarrow boilers, |
| speed |
34 kn |
| Range |
3360 nm at 11.5 kn / 415 t oil |
| Armament |
4 × 102 mm Mk.IV-SK |
The HMAS Anzac (G90) of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) was one of six Flottillenführern the Parker-class of the Royal Navy . The boat used by the Grand Fleet was given to the RAN in 1919 when the Royal Navy gave a number of surplus boats to Australia for use during the First World War (so-called “gift fleet”). In addition to the Anzac , the RAN received five new S-class destroyers that had not yet been used .
The new units were little used in the post-war period and use was limited to Australian waters. In 1931 the Anzac was decommissioned. From 1935 the boat was partly cannibalized and then sunk as a target ship on May 7, 1936 off Sydney.
As a replacement, the Royal Navy had given the later scrap iron flotilla with the flotilla commander Stuart and the larger destroyers Vampire , Vendetta , Voyager and Waterhen of the Admiralty V and W classes to Australia at the end of 1933 .
Building history
The Parker class flotilla leaders were a further development of the previous Marksman class , the Royal Navy's first own flotilla leader class.
_IWM_SP_003155.jpg)
With the same size of the hull, the new boats showed some improvements: they had a higher freeboard and a bridge that was set back. This led to a higher firepower of the boats. Moving the structure was made possible by reducing the boiler rooms and chimneys. Of the now three chimneys, the foremost one was thicker and taller than the others. The recessed structure allowed the installation of a raised second bow gun with a largely unobstructed fire area. In addition, this setup also gave firepower in heavy seas, a weak point of all previous torpedo boats and destroyers. This change was adopted in the subsequent period and a large number of drafts. In addition, the new boats received a fire control system, which enabled the central launch of volleys. This fire control system was adopted as the standard in the V and W class destroyers . The Anzac differed from the other boats of the class by a 30 cm higher freeboard, which could not be introduced in the boats that were previously under construction at Cammell Laird.
The Anzac was a copy of the other Parker- class boats built by Cammell Laird, with a displacement of 1660 tons, was 327 ft 7 in overall and 314 ft 11.25 in between perpendiculars. The width of the boat was 31 ft 10 in and the draft 13 ft 9.75 in when fully equipped. The machinery consisted of four Yarrow boilers and Brown Curtis geared turbines that could deliver up to 37,060 hp for the three propellers of the boat. However, the Anzac did not achieve the expected 34 knots, but only 32.9 knots on her test runs. The maximum range of the boat was 3,360 nm at a cruising speed of 11.5 kn. The crew of the flotilla leader consisted of eight officers and 114 seamen.
The main armament of the Anzac consisted of four individual 4-inch (102-mm) Mark IV rapid-fire guns . Two 2-pounder "pom-pom" guns were available to ward off air attacks . There was also a single .303-in- Maxim machine gun and four .303-inch Lewis machine guns (two single and one twin mounts) on board. The Anzac had two 21-inch twin torpedo tubes, two depth charges and four depth channels.
The order for the sixth boat in the Parker class went to William Denny and Brothers in December 1915, and the newbuilding N ° 1059 was laid on January 31, 1916 at their shipyard in Dumbarton . In 1907/1908, the shipyard had delivered four cricket- class coastal destroyers to the Royal Navy for the first time and has since manufactured boats for all subsequent destroyer classes. The last peace contract was the Nimrod , a Marksman- class flotilla leader completed in August 1915 . Before the new flotilla leader was built, the shipyard had received orders for seven boats of the "M" and three of the "R" class from the war building program. On January 11, 1917, the new boat was launched as the Anzac in honor of the "Australian and New Zealand Army Corps" deployed on Gallipoli . On April 24, 1917, the Royal Navy put the boat into service.
Mission history
When the Anzac was launched, it was given the G80 identifier . After its commissioning, the boat came as the second flotilla leader and replacement for the HMS Botha to the 14th destroyer flotilla of the Grand Fleet with the leader HMS Ithuriel and 18 boats of the M-class, including the Peyton built by Denny . From October 1917 the Vampire was the lead boat and in February 1918 the flotilla had over 20 M-class destroyers. In November, the strength increased to 34 destroyers, including now three boats of the "V" and "W" class and eight of the "S" class . In March 1919, the flotilla was disbanded and the Anzac intended for delivery to Australia. The boat had the code G50 at the beginning of 1918 and finally G70 from April 1918 .
The Royal Navy put together the so-called "gift fleet" for the Australians in recognition of their achievements in the war. These included three as minesweepers provided sloops of the Flower-class ( Mallow, Marguerite, Geranium ), arrived in Australia in early June 1919 and six submarines of the J-class , accompanied by the cruiser Sydney arrived in August 1919 in their new home. In addition to the Anzac , five S-class destroyers were made available for Australia, which the Navy had taken from the shipyards, but not used.
On January 27, 1920, the Anzac and the five destroyers Stalwart , Success , Swordsman , Tattoo and Tasmania were put into service by the Royal Australian Navy. On February 20th, the HMAS Swordsman, Success, Tasmania and Tattoo began the march to Australia in Plymouth . Six days later, the Anzac followed with the Stalwart , but had to turn around again due to a propeller damage. After repairs, she ran after the destroyers on March 10, to which she caught up in Colombo .
The six boats of the new destroyer flotilla of the Royal Australian Navy ran through the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal to India and visited various ports along the route. Several ports were also called in the Dutch East Indies . It was to be the boats' last trip abroad. The poor economic situation after the World War led to such a tight budget that the boats at most - and even this seldom - ran as far as the former German New Guinea . The Anzac almost always stayed on the east coast of Australia and made only a few visits to the coasts of New Guinea, so in June / July 1924 accompanied by the destroyers Stalwart and Tasmania , in New Britain and the Solomon Islands . From August 1926 to December 1928 she was in the reserve as only three boats were ever in active service.
Final fate
The decommissioning of the new boats began at the end of 1925. The Anzac was sorted out on July 30, 1931 and in 1935 was the first boat to be sold for demolition, but was actually cannibalized and sunk as a target ship on May 7, 1936.
The destroyer was replaced by a flotilla, once again provided by the Royal Navy, with the flotilla leader Stuart and the larger destroyers Vampire , Vendetta , Voyager and Waterhen of the V and W classes, which Goebbels gave them the name "scrap iron flotilla" during the World War . ("Scrap iron flotilla") made a name of honor through their work in the Mediterranean.
The Parker class boats
| Surname | Shipyard | Keel laying | Launch | in service | Final fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parker G75 | Cammell Laird | 06/19/1915 | 04/19/1916 | 11/13/1916 | November 1921 for demolition |
| Grenville G95 | Cammell Laird | 06/19/1915 | 06/16/1916 | 10/11/1916 | December 1931 for demolition |
| Hoste G90 | Cammell Laird | 07/01/1915 | 08/16/1916 | 11.1916 | After collision with HMS 21/12/1916 Negro dropped |
| Seymour D09 | Cammell Laird | 11/23/1915 | 08/31/1916 | 11/30/1916 | Mine-layers, January 1930 for demolition |
| Saumarez G25 | Cammell Laird | 2.03.1916 | 11/14/1916 | December 21, 1916 | January 1931 for demolition |
| Anzac D70 | Denny Brothers | 01/31/1916 | 01/11/1917 | 07/24/1917 | 1920 RAN, deleted in August 1935 |
The Anzac's sister boats also only had short periods of use. All were deployed as flotilla commanders in the destroyer flotillas of the Grand Fleet.
_IWM_SP_809.jpg)
The Hoste was lost in her second month of service with the 13th destroyer flotilla on December 21, 1916 after a collision with the destroyer Negro off the Shetland Islands . On an advance with the Grand Fleet, she had problems with her rowing machine and was discharged to Scapa Flow accompanied by the M-Class Negro . When the repaired rowing machine failed again in heavy seas, the Negro, running close behind the hoste , rammed the stern of the flotilla leader. Two depth charges fell overboard and exploded. They further damaged the stern of the Hoste and crushed floor panels on the Negro , which immediately sank.
The rushing destroyers Marmion and Marvel of the 11th and 12th flotilla were only able to save a few of the crew of the Negro , on which 51 men died. The attempt to tow the host also failed after a short time. But the Marvel managed to hide almost the entire crew of the Hoste in the heavy seas in thirteen attempts , of which only four men died.
The Seymour was converted into a fast mine-layer in the summer of 1918. She gave her rear 102 mm guns and the two torpedo sets ashore and was then able to transport 80 mines on two drainage rails. Parker and Grenville were the guide boats of the 15th destroyer flotilla at the end of the war, the Seymour and Saumarez were one of the guide boats of the 11th and 12th destroyer flotilla respectively. However, all four boats were soon taken out of active service and sold for demolition until 1932.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c The Gift Fleet
- ↑ a b c d Cassells: The Destroyers , p. 5
- ↑ a b c d e f g Cassells, p. 6
- ↑ Cassells, pp. 5f.
- ↑ 14th destroyer flotilla
- ↑ The Scrap Iron Flotilla
- ↑ The sinking of the HMS Negro
- ↑ http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?10809 sinking of the HMS Hoste
literature
- Vic Cassells: The Destroyers: their battles and their badges. Simon & Schuster, East Roseville 2000, ISBN 0-7318-0893-2 .
- Maurice Cocker: Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981. Ian Allen, 1983, ISBN 0-7110-1075-7 .
- 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 .
