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HMS Ulysses (1917)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Ulysses.

Sister ship HMS Undine
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Ulysses
NamesakeUlysses
OrderedMarch 1916
BuilderWilliam Doxford & Sons, Sunderland
Launched24 March 1917
FateSank following collision 29 October 1918
General characteristics
Class and typeModified Admiralty R-class destroyer
Displacement1,085 long tons (1,102 t)
Length276 ft (84.1 m)
Beam27 ft (8.2 m)
Draught11 ft (3.4 m)
Propulsion
Speed36 knots (41.4 mph; 66.7 km/h)
Range3,450 nmi (6,390 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Complement82
Armament

HMS Ulysses was a Royal Navy modified R-class destroyer constructed and then operational in the First World War. The R class were an improvement on the previous M class with geared steam turbines to improve efficiency. The Modified R class added attributes of the Yarrow Later M class to improve the capability of the ships to operate in bad weather. Built by Doxford and launched in March 1917, the vessel served with the Fifteenth Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet that escorted convoys that travelled between Britain and Scandinavia. On 29 October 1918, the destroyer struck SS Ellerie in fog and sank. The entire ship's company was rescued.

Design and description

Main article: R-class destroyer

Ulysses was one of eleven modified R-class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in March 1916 as part of the Eighth War Construction Programme.[1] The design was a development of the existing R class, adding features from the Yarrow Later M class which had been introduced based on wartime experience.[2] The R class was generally similar to the preceding M class, but differed in having geared steam turbines, the aft gun mounted on a raised platform and minor changes to improve seakeeping.[3] The forward two boilers were transposed and vented through a single funnel, enabling the bridge and forward gun to be placed further aft. Combined with hull-strengthening, this improved the destroyers' ability to operate at high speed in bad weather.[4]

Ulysses was 276 feet (84.1 m) long overall and 265 feet (80.8 m) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 27 feet (8.2 m) and a draught of 11 feet (3.4 m). Displacement was 1,035 long tons (1,052 t) normal and 1,090 long tons (1,110 t) at deep load.[2] Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding two Parsons geared steam turbines rated at 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) and driving two shafts, to give a design speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph).[1] Two funnels were fitted. A total of 296 long tons (301 t) of fuel oil were carried, giving a design range of 3,450 nautical miles (6,390 km; 3,970 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[4]

Armament consisted of three single 4-inch (102 mm) Mk V QF guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised platform and one between the funnels. Increased elevation extended the range of the gun by 1,800 metres (2,000 yd) to 11,000 metres (12,000 yd). A single 2-pounder 40 mm (1.6 in) "pom-pom anti-aircraft gun was carried on a platform between two rotating twin mounts for 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes.[5] The destroyer was fitted with racks and storage for depth charges.[6] 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.[7] The ship had a complement of 82 officers and ratings.[2]

Construction and career

Ulysses was built by William Doxford & Sons in Sunderland and launched 24 March 1917.[8] On commissioning, Salmon joined the Fifteenth Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet based at Scapa Flow.[9] The flotilla was assigned to escort convoys that travelled between Britain and Scandinavia, protecting them from German submarines.[10] By 31 March 1917, the flotilla had moved to Rosyth.[11] During that time, the German submarine tactics had changed from using gunfire, so that, by April, over half of the merchant vessels sunk had been hit by torpedoes. This also led to an increase in the number of ships lost.[12] The flotilla took part in anti-submarine patrols between 15 and 24 June 1917. Although sixty-one sightings of submarines and twelve attacks were reported during that operation, no submarines were sunk.[13]

Ulysses remained with the Fifteenth Destroyer Flotilla into 1918.[14] The vessel was sunk following a collision on 29 October 1918 with the SS Ellerie in the Firth of Clyde.[15][16][a] However she sank without loss of life, with the ship's crew being rescued by the drifter Ivy III.[18][17] Due to wartime security restrictions her sinking position is unknown.[18] It is stated that the collision occurred in fog.[19][20]

Pendant numbers

Pennant Number Date
F80 January 1917[16]
G77 March 1918[21]
G96 January 1918[22]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Elleric according to Hepper[17]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Friedman 2009, p. 310.
  2. ^ a b c Parkes & Prendergast 1969, p. 107.
  3. ^ Friedman 2009, p. 326.
  4. ^ a b Preston 1985, p. 82.
  5. ^ Preston 1985, p. 81.
  6. ^ Friedman 2009, p. 151.
  7. ^ Friedman 2009, p. 152.
  8. ^ Dunn & Dunn 2014, p. 85.
  9. ^ "Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet". Supplement to the Monthly Navy List: 12. July 1917. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  10. ^ Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, p. 174.
  11. ^ Naval Staff Monograph No. 33 1927, p. 379.
  12. ^ Newbolt 1928, p. 384.
  13. ^ Newbolt 1931, pp. 54–56.
  14. ^ "Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet". Supplement to the Monthly Navy List: 12. April 1918. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  15. ^ "HMS Ulysses". The Wreck Site. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  16. ^ a b Dittmar & Colledge 1972, p. 71.
  17. ^ a b Hepper 2006, p. 143.
  18. ^ a b Alexander 2009, p. 47.
  19. ^ "Destroyers: HMS Ulysses". Harwich and Dovercourt. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  20. ^ Kemp 1999, p. 82.
  21. ^ Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 45.
  22. ^ Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 68.

Bibliography

  • Alexander, Alistair (2009). Action Stations!: U-Boat Warfare in the Clyde in Two World Wars. Glasgow, UK: Neil Wilson Publishing. ISBN 978-1-90647-607-6.
  • 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.
  • Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
  • Dunn, Clive; Dunn, Gillian (2014). Sutherland in the Great War. Havertown, UK: Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-47384-658-6.
  • Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
  • Hepper, David J. (2006). British Warship Losses in the Ironclad Era, 1860-1919. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-8617-6273-3.
  • Kemp, Paul (1999). The Admiralty Regrets: British Warship Losses of the 20th Century. Stroud: Sutton. ISBN 978-0-75091-567-0.
  • 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. 35: Home Waters—Part IX.: 1st May, 1917 to 31st July, 1917 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XIX. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1939.
  • Newbolt, Henry (1928). Naval Operations: Volume IV. History of the Great War. London: Longmans, Green and Co. OCLC 1049894132.
  • Newbolt, Henry (1931). Naval Operations: Vol. V. History of the Great War. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
  • 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.
Quelle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ulysses_(1917)