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History
United Kingdom
Name	Savage
Builder	Thornycroft, Woolston
Laid down	2 March 1909
Launched	10 March 1910
Completed	August 1910
Out of service	9 May 1921
Fate	Sold to the broken up
General characteristics
Class and type	Beagle-class destroyer
Displacement	897 long tons (911 t) (normal)
Length	263 ft 1 in (80.2 m)
Beam	28 ft 1 in (8.6 m)
Draught	16 ft 6 in (5 m)
Installed power	5 x coal-fired Yarrow boilers, 12,000 shp (8,900 kW)
Propulsion	3 x Parsons steam turbines driving 3 shafts
Speed	27 kn (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range	2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	96
Armament	1 × 4 in (102 mm) gun 3 × 12 pdr 3 in (76 mm) guns 2 × single 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes

HMS Savage was a Beagle-class (later G-class) destroyer of the British Royal Navy. The Beagles were coal-fuelled ships, designed for a speed of 27 kn (31 mph; 50 km/h) and armed with a 4 in (102 mm) gun and two torpedo tubes. Built by Thornycroft and launched in 1910, Savage was initially commissioned into the First Destroyer Flotilla at Portsmouth. In 1912, the warship joined the Third Destroyer Flotilla before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet as part of the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla in 1913. As the First World War approached, the destroyer was based in Alexandria, Egypt, but was swiftly redeployed to Malta, and was involved in the unsuccessful search for the German warships Goeben and Breslau. After this, Savage was deployed to Port Said to escort troopships to the Suez Canal. The destroyer subsequently returned to the North Sea and was involved in recovering the bodies of the crew from the pre-dreadnought battleship Formidable. After the Armistice of 1918 that ended the war, Savage was initially transferred to the Nore and then sold in 1921 to be broken up.

Design and development

Savage was one of the Beagle-class destroyers ordered by the Admiralty as part of the 1908–1909 shipbuilding programme for the Royal Navy. The bridge was larger and higher than previous designs and the vessels were coal-burning after concerns had been raised about the availability of fuel oil in time of war. This reduced costs, although it also meant that five boilers were needed, the extra machinery meaning that there was less space on the deck for equipment. The Beagle class vessels were not built to a standard design, with detailed design being left to the builders of individual ships in accordance with a loose specification, in this case John I. Thornycroft & Company. In October 1913, as part of a wider renaming of the Royal Navy's warships into classes named alphabetically, the class was renamed as the G-class.

Savage was 263 ft 1 in (80.2 m) long, with a beam of 28 ft 1 in (8.6 m) and a draught of 16 ft 6 in (5 m). Normal displacement was 897 long tons (911 t). Five Yarrow boilers fed direct-drive Parsons steam turbines driving three shafts. Two funnels were fitted. The machinery was rated at 12,000 shaft horsepower (8,900 kW) giving a design speed of 27 kn (31 mph; 50 km/h). During sea trials, the destroyer reached a speed of 27.161 kn (31.256 mph; 50.302 km/h) at a displacement of 950 long tons (970 t). Up to 226 long tons (230 t) of coal was carried, giving a design range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ship had a complement of 96 officers and ratings.

Armament consisted of one 4 in (102 mm) BL Mk VIII gun forward and three 3 in (76 mm) QF 12-pounder 12 cwt guns aft. Torpedo armament consisted of two 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes, one placed forward and the other aft. Two spare torpedoes were carried. On 8 April 1916, the Admiralty approved fitting the destroyer with depth charges. Initially, two depth charge launchers and two charges were carried. The number increased in service and, by 1918, the vessel was typically carrying between 30 and 50 depth charges.

Construction and career

Laid down at Thornycroft's shipyard in Woolston near Southampton on 2 March 1909, Savage was launched on 10 March the following year and completed during August. The ship was the seventh of the name to serve in the Royal Navy. The vessel joined the First Destroyer Flotilla. In 1912, a reorganisation of the Home Fleet resulted in the ships of the Beagle class forming the Third Destroyer Flotilla. The vessel remained part of the Third Flotilla in March 1913. Along with the rest of the class,Savage was transferred to the newly-formed Fifth Destroyer Flotilla as part of the Mediterranean Fleet in November.

In 1914, as the First World War approached, the destroyer was part of the Fourth Division of the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla and based in Alexandria. The flotilla arrived at Malta on 29 July. The island had a coal shortage, which restricted the vessel's activity. Nonetheless, on 2 August 1914, the destroyer escorted a small fleet led by the battlecruiser Inflexible, and including sister ship Rattlesnake, as part of the search for the German battlecruiser Goeben and light cruiser Breslau. On 5 August, the vessel accompanied Inflexible's sister ship Indomitable and Rattlesnake on a more successful sortie to Bizerta to coal, rejoining the fleet the following day. Savage and Rattlesnake were back the following day for more coal, but nonetheless the fuel shortage continued to curtail action by the whole flotilla. The attempts to intercept Goeben and Breslau failed, and the two German ships reached Turkey on 10 August.

On 29 October, alongside sister ship Scourge, Savage was dispatched by Admiral Sackville Carden to join the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron at Port Said to provide convoy protection in the Gulf of Aqaba. The admiral was most concerned that minefields had been laid in the path of ships travelling to the Suez Canal. This was considered particularly important as it coincided with the arrival of the first ships carrying the first troops of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. From there, the vessel escorted the protected cruiser Minerva on a bombardment of German troops at Aqaba. On 10 November, along with Basilisk, Racoon and Scourge, the destroyer sailed for Tenedos, A division of the class was dispatched to Devonport to create a flotilla that would operate as escorts in the North Sea. The ships were immediately assigned to Portsmouth to patrol between Winchelsea and Poole. The destroyer was one of those called out on the night of 31 December to search for the survivors from the pre-dreadnought battleship Formidable. Arriving early in the morning of 1 January, Savage did not find anyone alive but recovered six bodies from the sea. The vessel remained in escort duty, escorting troopships from Newhaven. Later, the vessel joined the rest of the class in the naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign.

Savage stayed with the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron through 1916 and into 1917 as a member of the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla within the Mediterranean Fleet. The need for destroyer escorts was increasing dramatically as the German navy introduced unrestricted submarine warfare. By June, the submarines were sinking 14,200 long tons (14,400 t) of shipping a month. In response, the Admiralty introduced convoys on major routes, including those between Malta and Egypt. As the following year opened, the destroyer was in dock for repairs.

After the Armistice of 11 November 1918 that ended the war, the Royal Navy quickly withdrew all pre-war destroyers from active service. By February 1919, Savage was based at Portsmouth, but was under a skeleton command. However, that deployment did not last long. As the force returned to a peacetime level of strength, both the number of ships and personnel needed to be reduced to save money. Declared superfluous to operational requirements, Savage was retired, and, on 9 May 1921, sold to Ward at Portishead to be broken up.

Pennant numbers

Notes

1. "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12cwt referring to the weight of the gun.

References

Citations

1. Friedman 2009, pp. 118, 305–306.
2. Manning 1961, p. 56.
3. Cocker 1981, p. 23.
4. Friedman 2009, p. 116.
5. Brown 2010, p. 68.
6. Preston 1985, p. 74.
7. March 1966, p. 85.
8. ^ Preston 1985, p. 73.
9. Manning 1961, pp. 54, 57.
10. March 1966, p. 86.
11. Hythe 1912, p. 249.
12. Friedman 2009, pp. 116, 118.
13. Preston 1985, pp. 73–74.
14. Friedman 2009, p. 151.
15. Friedman 2009, p. 152.
16. Friedman 2009, p. 306.
17. ^ Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 311.
18. "Naval And Military Intelligence". The Times. No. 39408. 20 October 1910. p. 12.
19. Manning 1961, p. 25.
20. "Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad: Flotillas of the First Fleet". The Navy List: 269a. March 1913. Retrieved 21 November 2024 – via National Library of Scotland.
21. "Naval And Military Intelligence: Fifth Destroyer Flotilla for the Mediterranean". The Times. No. 40358. 1 November 1913. p. 14.
22. "Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad: Mediterranean Fleet". The Monthly Navy List: 270a. November 1913. Retrieved 21 November 2024 – via National Library of Scotland.
23. Naval Staff Monograph No. 4 1919, p. 179.
24. Naval Staff Monograph No. 4 1919, p. 181.
25. Naval Staff Monograph No. 21 1923, p. 8.
26. Naval Staff Monograph No. 21 1923, p. 13.
27. Naval Staff Monograph No. 21 1923, pp. 23, 28.
28. Naval Staff Monograph No. 21 1923, pp. 39, 41.
29. Naval Staff Monograph No. 21 1923, pp. 46–47.
30. ^ Naval Staff Monograph No. 21 1923, p. 74.
31. Naval Staff Monograph No. 21 1923, p. 75.
32. Naval Staff Monograph No. 21 1923, p. 79.
33. Corbett 1921, p. 14.
34. Naval Staff Monograph No. 28 1925, p. 153.
35. Naval Staff Monograph No. 29 1925, p. 86.
36. Corbett 1921, p. 148.
37. "XI.—Mediterranean Fleet". Supplement to the Monthly Naval List: 21. January 1917 – via National Library of Scotland.
38. Halpern 2015, p. 307.
39. Halpern 2015, p. 312.
40. Newbolt 1931, p. 75.
41. Newbolt 1931, p. 87.
42. Manning 1961, p. 28.
43. "X.—Vessels at Home Ports Temporarily: Portsmouth". Supplement to the Monthly Naval List. February 1919. p. 20. Retrieved 21 November 2024 – via National Library of Scotland.
44. "792 SAVAGE. (Po)". The Monthly Naval List. February 1919. p. 904. Retrieved 21 November 2024 – via National Library of Scotland.
45. Moretz 2002, p. 79.
46. Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 42.
47. Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 79.
48. Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 53.

Bibliography

• Brown, David K. (2010). The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906–1922. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-085-7.
• Bush, Steve; Warlow, Ben (2021). Pendant Numbers of the Royal Navy: A Complete History of the Allocation of Pendant Numbers to Royal Navy Warships & Auxiliaries. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-52679-378-2.
• Cocker, Maurice (1981). Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-71101-075-8.
• Corbett, Julian S. (1921). Naval Operations: Volume II. History of the Great War. London: Longmans, Green & Co.
• Corbett, Julian S. (1923). Naval Operations: Volume III. History of the Great War. London: Longmans, Green & Co.
• Colledge, J.J.; Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. London: Chatham Press. ISBN 978-1-93514-907-1.
• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
• Grehan, John; Mace, Martin (2014). Gallipoli and the Dardanelles 1915–1916. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-47383-819-2.
• Halpern, Paul G (2015). The Naval War in the Mediterranean: 1914-1918. London: Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-1-31739-186-9.
• Hythe, Thomas, ed. (1912). The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.
• Manning, Thomas Davys (1961). The British Destroyer. London: Putnam. OCLC 6470051.
• March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.
• Monograph No. 4 – Operations in the Mediterranean, August 4th–10th 1914 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. I. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1919. pp. 176–217.
• Monograph No. 21 – The Mediterranean 1914–1915 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. VIII. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1923.
• Monograph No. 28 – Home Waters—Part III.: November 1914 to the end of January 1915 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XII. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1925.
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• Moretz, Joseph (2002). The Royal Navy and the Capital Ship in the Interwar Period. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-71465-196-5.
• Newbolt, Henry (1931). Naval Operations: Volume V. History of the Great War. London: Longmans, Green and Co. OCLC 220475309.
• Parkes, Oscar; Prendergast, Maurice (1969). Jane's Fighting Ships 1919. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. OCLC 907574860.
• Preston, Antony (1985). "Great Britain and Empire Forces". In Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 1–104. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.

• 1910 ships
• Beagle-class destroyers
• Ships built in Southampton
• World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom