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HMS Shark, lost at the Battle of Jutland
Class overview
Name	Acasta class
Operators	Royal Navy  Brazilian Navy
Preceded by	Acheron class
Succeeded by	L class
Built	1912–1913
In commission	1912–1923
Completed	20
Lost	7
General characteristics
Type	Torpedo boat destroyer
Displacement	934 to 984 tons
Length	267 ft 6 in (81.53 m) to 252 ft (76.8 m)
Beam	26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) to 26 ft 9 in (8.15 m)
Draught	9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) to 9 ft (2.7 m)
Installed power	24,500 hp (18,270 kW)
Propulsion	Standard K class: 2-shaft Parsons steam turbines Yarrow-type oil-fired boilers Acasta, Achates, Ambuscade: 2 shaft Brown-Curtis steam turbines Yarrow-type oil-fired boilers
Speed	29 kn (53.7 km/h) - 32 kn (59.3 km/h)
Complement	75 - 77
Armament	Three QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) L/40 Mark IV guns, mounting P Mk. IX (last 7 ships) else P Mk VII One QF 2-pounder pom-pom Mk. II 2 × single tubes for 21 inch (533 mm) torpedoes

The Acasta class (in September 1913 re-designated the K class) was a class of twenty destroyers built for the Royal Navy under the Naval Programme of 1911 - 1912 that saw service during World War I. They were the last class of Royal Navy destroyers to have mixed names with no systematic theme (see naming conventions for destroyers of the Royal Navy for more information.) When the class was designated as "K", names beginning with that letter were allocated to the ships but never used. The class saw extensive wartime service and seven were lost, including four at the Battle of Jutland.

Design

The Acastas were larger and heavier armed than the preceding H and I classes (Acorn and Acheron, respectively), displacing about 25% more and with the mixed calibre armament replaced with a uniform fit of QF 4-inch guns, which the Acastas introduced. Previous 4-inch (102 mm) weapons had been of the breech-loading (BL) type. The 4-in guns were shipped one on the forecastle and one at the stern, as in the Acheron class, while the third was variously sited on the centreline between the two torpedo tubes or abaft both. All ships had three funnels, the foremost being tall and narrow, the second short and wide and the third level with the second but narrower. The foremost torpedo tube was sited between the second and third funnels, a distinctive feature of this class.

There were twelve 'standard' vessels built to a common Admiralty design, and eight builders' specials that (except for Garland) had a shorter, less beamy hull; five of the latter were from Thornycroft with 22,500 shp (16,800 kW) (one of Thornycroft's ships, Hardy, was planned to diesel cruising motors, but these were not ready in time and Hardy was completed with Thornycroft's standard machinery). One by Parsons (Garland) had semi-geared turbines giving a speed of 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph) on trials, with a seventh from Fairfields had a clipper bow. The eighth 'special' was Ardent by William Denny, Dumbarton, which was built using longitudinal framing rather than conventional transverse framing. While Ardent's novel construction seems to have been a success, no more destroyers were built for the Royal Navy using longitudinal framing until the J-class destroyers in the 1930s.

Service

At the outbreak of World War I until mid-1916, the Acastas were serving in the Grand Fleet as the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, with Swift as leader. By the time of the Battle of Jutland the leader was the Faulknor-class flotilla leader Tipperary, with Ardent, Fortune, Shark and Sparrowhawk lost in the course of the battle and Acasta was so badly damaged that she had to be practically rebuilt. After Jutland the remainder of the flotilla moved to the Humber and then to Portsmouth by the end of 1916, before dispersing, some ships to the 6th Destroyer Flotilla and the Dover Patrol and the remainder to Devonport. All survivors of the war were sold out of service for scrapping by 1921.

Ships

Admiralty K class

K-class Builders' specials

• HMS Acasta
• HMS Ambuscade
• HMS Ardent
• HMS Contest
• HMS Hardy at speed
• HMS Midge
• HMS Spitfire showing damage sustained at Jutland
• HMS Unity
• Victor

Notes

1. No class of ships were designated as J class.

References

1. ^ "K-class destroyers (extract from Jane's Fighting Ships of 1919)". Archived from the original on 7 September 2006. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
2. H.M.S.O. (1916). The Sight Manual. Pub. No. OU 6026. p. 80. ADM 186/216
3. March. British Destroyers, p. 127.
4. Friedman 2009, p. 129.
5. March. British Destroyers, pp. 125, 129, 130.
6. Friedman 2009, pp. 126–129.
7. ^ Friedman 2009, p. 127.
8. Brown 2010, pp. 70–71.
9. ""Arrowsmith" List: Royal Navy WWI Destroyer Pendant Numbers". Retrieved 27 February 2009.
10. ^ Friedman 2009, pp. 306–307.
11. ^ "Destroyers before 1918". Battleships-Cruisers.co.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
12. ^ "British Destroyer losses". Naval history.net. Archived from the original on 6 March 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2009.

Bibliography

• Brown, David K., The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906–1922. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, 2010. ISBN 978-1-84832-085-7.
• Maurice Cocker, Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981, 1983, Ian Allan ISBN 0-7110-1075-7
• Friedman, Norman, British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War, Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.

External links

v t e Acasta-class (or K-class) destroyers
Royal Navy	Admiralty K class Ambuscade / Keith Shark / Kestrel Christopher / Kite Acasta / King Sparrowhawk / Kingsmill Cockatrice / Kingfisher Achates / Knight Spitfire / Keppel Contest / Kittiwake Lynx / Koodoo Owl / Killer Midge / Keitloa Builders' Special K class Paragon / Kelpie Garland / Kenwulf Fortune / Kismet Porpoise / Kennington Ardent / Kenric Unity / Kinsale Hardy / Kelpie Victor / Kingston
Brazilian Navy	Alexandrino de Alencar / Maranhão (ex-Porpoise)
Preceded by: Acheron class Followed by: Laforey class (British); Marcílio Dias class (Brazil)
N Names beginning with "K" were assigned in September 1913, but never used
List of destroyer classes of the Royal Navy

• Acasta-class destroyers
• Destroyer classes
• Ship classes of the Royal Navy
• World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom