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_IWM_SP_809.jpg) Sister ship Marmion
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HMS Orcadia was a Repeat Admiralty M-class destroyer that served in the Royal Navy during the First World War. The M class was an improvement on those of the preceding L class, capable of higher speed. Orcadia had a largely uneventful war. Joining the Fifteenth Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet in 1917, the ship was dispatched from the flotilla to the naval base Portsmouth. The vessel was a participant in anti-ship and anti-submarine patrols as part of the flotilla, but did not engage any enemy warships. The Admiralty increasingly used more successful convoys rather than relying on destroyers finding the enemy on patrol. After the Armistice that ended the war, Orcadia was allocated to the Local Defence Flotilla at Portsmouth and was sold in 1921 to be broken up.
Design and development
Orcadia was one of 16 Repeat Admiralty M-class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in February 1915 as part of the Fourth War Programme soon after the start of the First World War. The M class was an improved version of the earlier L class, required to reach a higher speed in order to counter rumoured new German fast destroyers. The remit was to have a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) and, although ultimately the destroyers fell short of that ambition in service, the extra performance that was achieved was valued by the navy. It transpired that the German warships did not exist. The Repeat M class differed from the prewar vessels in having a raked stem and minor design improvements based on wartime experience.
The destroyer had a length of 265 ft (80.8 m) between perpendiculars and 273 ft 4 in (83.3 m) overall, with a beam of 26 ft 8 in (8.1 m) and draught of 8 ft 11 in (2.7 m). Displacement was 948 long tons (963 t) normal. Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding Brown-Curtiss steam turbines rated at 27,800 shaft horsepower (20,700 kW). The turbines drove three shafts and exhausted through three funnels. Design speed was 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph), which the vessel exceeded on trials. A total of 228 long tons (232 t) of oil was carried to give a design range of 2,530 nautical miles (4,690 km; 2,910 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ship had a complement of 80 officers and ratings.
Orcadia had a main armament consisting of three single QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk IV guns on the centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised platform and one between the middle and aft funnels. Torpedo armament consisted of two twin torpedo tubes for 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes located aft of the funnels. Two single 1-pounder 37 mm (1.5 in) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft guns were carried. The anti-aircraft guns were later replaced by 2-pdr 40 mm (1.6 in) "pom-pom" guns and the destroyer was also fitted with racks and storage for depth charges. Initially, only two depth charges were carried but the number increased in service and by 1918, the vessel was carrying between 30 and 50 depth charges.
Construction and career
Orcadia was laid down by Fairfield at their shipyard in Govan on 24 June 1915 with yard number 518 at a cost of £146,528 to build, launched on 26 July 1916 and completed on 29 September the same year, the first of the name in service with the Royal Navy. The vessel was deployed as part of the Grand Fleet, joining the Fifteenth Destroyer Flotilla. On 22 November, the flotilla took part in exercises north of the Shetland Islands under the dreadnought Iron Duke that also involved the majority of the First and Third Battle Squadrons.
In March 1917, the ship was detached from the flotilla to serve at Portsmouth naval base. Between 15 and 24 June 1917, the flotilla took part in anti-submarine patrols east of the Shetland Islands. Orcadia did not sight any submarines, but out of the 117 ships that sailed the route to and from Scandinavia, four were sunk during the operation. This was one of the last such sweeps.
References
Citations
- ^ McBride 1991, p. 45.
- Friedman 2009, p. 132.
- ^ Parkes & Prendergast 1969, p. 109.
- ^ Friedman 2009, p. 296.
- ^ Preston 1985, p. 76.
- Preston 1985, pp. 76, 80.
- March 1966, p. 174.
- Friedman 2009, pp. 150, 296.
- Friedman 2009, p. 152.
- Peebles 1986, p. 146.
- Manning & Walker 1959, p. 324.
- "Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet", Supplement to The Monthly Navy List, p. 12, October 1916, retrieved 30 November 2024 – via National Library of Scotland
- Naval Staff Monograph No. 33 1927, p. 215.
- Naval Staff Monograph No. 34 1933, p. 379.
- Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, pp. 167–168. sfn error: no target: CITEREFNaval_Staff_Monograph_No._351939 (help)
Bibliography
- 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 978-1-526793-78-2.
- Colledge, James Joseph; 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.
- Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
- Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the First World War. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
- Manning, Thomas Davys; Walker, Charles Frederick (1959). British Warship Names. London: Putnam. OCLC 780274698.
- 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.
- McBride, Keith (1991). "British 'M' Class Destroyers of 1913–14". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Warship 1991. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 34–49. ISBN 978-0-85177-582-1.
- Monograph No. 33: Home Waters: Part VII: From June 1916 to November 1916 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XVII. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1927.
- Monograph No. 34: Home Waters—Part VIII: December 1916 to April 1917 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XVIII. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1933. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- 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.
- Peebles, Hugh B. (1986). Warshipbuilding on the Clyde, 1889–1939: A Financial Study Volume 2: Appendixes (Thesis). University of Stirling.
- 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.
