History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Opportune
OrderedNovember 1914
BuilderDoxford, Sunderland
Launched20 November 1915
CompletedJune1916
Out of service7 December 1923
FateSold to be broken up
General characteristics
Class and typeAdmiralty M-class destroyer
Displacement
  • 950 long tons (970 t) normal
  • 1,021 long tons (1,037 t) full load
Length265 ft 8 in (80.98 m) p.p.
Beam26 ft 9 in (8.15 m)
Draught16 ft 3 in (4.95 m)
Propulsion
Speed34 knots (63.0 km/h; 39.1 mph)
Range3,450 nmi (6,390 km; 3,970 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement76
Armament

HMS Opportune was an Admiralty M-class destroyer which served in the Royal Navy during the First World War. The M class were an improvement on the previous L-class, capable of higher speed. The vessel was launched on 20 November 1915 and joined the Grand Fleet. Opportune spent much of the war involved in anti-submarine warfare. The ship took part in large patrols to seek out submarines which involved entire flotillas and also acted as an escort for convoys. After the Armistice that marked the end of the First World War, the destroyer was transferred to Portsmouth and placed in reserve. After a brief spell as a remote controlled target to test how warships responded to attacks by aircraft, Opportune was decommissioned and, on 7 December 1923, sold to be broken up.

Design and development

Opportune was one of twenty-two Admiralty M-class destroyer destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in November 1914 as part of the Third War Construction Programme.[1] The M-class was an improved version of the earlier L-class destroyer destroyers, originally envisaged to reach the higher speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) in order to counter rumoured German fast destroyers, although the eventual specification was designed for a more economic 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph).[2]

The destroyer was 265 feet (80.77 m) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 26 feet 9 inches (8.15 m) and a draught of 16 feet 3 inches (4.95 m). Displacement was 1,025 long tons (1,041 t) normal and 1,250 long tons (1,270 t) deep load. Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding two Brown-Curtis steam turbines rated at 25,000 shaft horsepower (19,000 kW) and driving two shafts.[3] Three funnels were fitted and 296 long tons (301 t) of oil was 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 4-inch (102 mm) Mk IV QF guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised platform and one between the middle and aft funnels. A single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom anti-aircraft gun was carried, while torpedo armament consisted of two twin mounts for 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes.[5] The ship had a complement of 76 officers and ratings.[4]

Construction and career

Laid down by William Doxford & Sons at their shipyard in Sunderland, Opportune was launched on 20 November 1915 and completed during June the following year[3] The destroyer was the first Royal Navy ship to be given the name.[6] The vessel was deployed as part of the Grand Fleet, joining the Fourteenth Destroyer Flotilla at Scapa Flow.[7][8]

The destroyer was active in anti-submarine warfare but with variable results. On 15 June 1917, Opportune, along with the rest of the flotilla, was involved in a large sweep of the area west of the Shetland Islands.[9] No submarines were sunk.[10] Increasingly, patrols had not provided the security needed to shipping and the Admiralty redeployed the destroyers of the Grand Fleet to focus on the more effective convoy model.[11] Opportune was one of the vessels detached from the flotilla to act as a convoy escort.[12] The flotilla subsequently took part in the Royal Navy's engagement with one of the final sorties of the German High Seas Fleet during the First World War, on 24 April 1918, although the two fleets did not actually meet and the destroyers returned unharmed.[13]

After the armistice, the Grand Fleet was disbanded. The Royal Navy returned to a peacetime level of mobilisation and both the number of ships and the amount of staff needed to be reduced to save money.[14] Opportune was placed in reserve at Portsmouth and, on 17 October 1919, was placed in care and maintenance.[15][16] For a brief period, the destroyer was reactivated and used as a remote controlled target to test the resilience of warships against aerial attacks.[17] However, soon after, in 1923, the Navy decided to scrap many of the older destroyers in preparation for the introduction of newer and larger vessels.[18] On 7 December, Opportune was sold to King of Garston to be broken up.[19]

Pennant numbers

Pennant number Date
G05September 1915[20]
G58January 1917[21]
G59January 1918[21]
G27January 1919[22]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ McBride 1991, p. 45.
  2. ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 132.
  3. 1 2 Parkes & Prendergast 1969, p. 109.
  4. 1 2 Friedman 2009, p. 296.
  5. ↑ Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 79.
  6. ↑ Manning & Walker 1959, p. 324.
  7. ↑ "Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet". The Navy List: 12. October 1916. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  8. ↑ Naval Staff Monograph No. 34 1933, p. 259.
  9. ↑ Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, pp. 163.
  10. ↑ Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, pp. 166.
  11. ↑ Newbolt 1928, p. 383.
  12. ↑ Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, pp. 295.
  13. ↑ Newbolt 1931, p. 287.
  14. ↑ Moretz 2002, p. 79.
  15. ↑ "V Vessels in Reserve at Home Ports and Other Bases", The Navy List, p. 16, July 1919, retrieved 15 April 2022 – via National Library of Scotland
  16. ↑ "638 Opportune", The Navy List, p. 818, October 1920, retrieved 15 April 2022 – via National Library of Scotland
  17. ↑ Moretz 2002, p. 128.
  18. ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 180.
  19. ↑ Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 250.
  20. ↑ Dittmar & Colledge 1972, p. 66.
  21. 1 2 Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 65.
  22. ↑ Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 63.

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, 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.
  • Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-71100-380-4.
  • Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the First World War. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
  • Manning, Thomas Davys; Walker, Charles Frederick (1959). British Warship Names. London: Putnam. OCLC 780274698.
  • 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. 34: Home Waters Part VIII: December 1916 to April 1917 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XVIII. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1933.
  • Monograph No. 35: Home Waters Part IX: 1st May 1917 to 31st July 1917 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XIX. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1939.
  • Moretz, Joseph (2002). The Royal Navy and the Capital Ship in the Interwar Period. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-71465-196-5.
  • Newbolt, Henry (1928). Naval Operations: Volume IV. History of the Great War. London: Longmans, Green and Co. OCLC 1049894132.
  • 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.
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