Two R-class destroyers, sister ship HMS Rob Roy nearest
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Stork
OrderedDecember 1915
BuilderHawthorn Leslie, Hebburn
Laid down10 April 1916
Launched25 November 1916
Completed1 February 1917
Out of service7 October 1927
FateSold to be broken up
General characteristics
Class and typeR-class destroyer
Displacement
Length
Beam26 ft 8 in (8.1 m)
Draught9 ft (2.7 m)
Installed power
Propulsion2 Parsons geared steam turbines, 2 shafts
Speed36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range3,450 nmi (6,390 km; 3,970 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement82
Armament

HMS Stork was an R-class destroyer that served in the Royal Navy during the First World War. The R-class were an improvement on the previous M-class with geared steam turbines to improve efficiency. Launched by Hawthorn Leslie at Hebburn in 1917, Stork joined the Harwich Force. The destroyer saw service escorting convoys in the English Channel and encountered both German submarines and torpedo boats, but did not record any hits on the enemy. The vessel also supported attacks on German forces on the coast of Western Europe by Coastal Motor Boats, flying boats and monitors, including the Zeebrugge Raid of 1918.

After the armistice that ended the war, the destroyer was transferred to the Gunnery School at Nore in 1919. In 1922, the warship carried representatives to the unveiling of war memorials in Dunkirk and Ostend. The Navy decided to retire many of the older vessels as new destroyers were introduced. In 1927, Stork was sold to be broken up.

Design and development

Stork was one of eight R-class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in December 1915 as part of the Seventh War Programme.[1] The design 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.[2]

The destroyer had a length of 265 feet (80.8 m) between perpendiculars and 276 feet (84.1 m) overall, with a beam of 26 feet 8 inches (8.1 m) and a mean draught of 9 feet (2.7 m). The ship's displacement was 975 long tons (991 t) normal and 1,173 long tons (1,192 t) deep load. 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). Three funnels were fitted.[3] A total of 296 long tons (301 t) of fuel oil was carried which gave 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 QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk IV guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised platform and one between the second and third funnels. A single QF 2-pounder 40 mm (1.6 in) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft gun was carried, while torpedo armament consisted of two twin mounts for 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes.[3] The destroyer was subsequently equipped with the ability to drop depth charges.[5] The ship had a complement of 82 officers and ratings.[6]

Construction and career

Laid down by R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company at their shipyard in Hebburn on 10 April 1916, Stork was launched on 25 November 1916 and completed on 1 February the following year.[6] The destroyer was the sixth to carry the name.[7] Stork was deployed as part of the Harwich Force, joining the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla.[8]

Stork was deployed as an escort for the Dutch traffic, convoys of merchant ships which crossed the English Channel between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. On 10 May, the destroyer was part of a substantial force, including light cruisers, returning from escort duties which spotted a flotilla of twelve German destroyers from the 3rd Torpedo-Boat Flotilla and the Zeebrugge Half Flotilla. Stork led a division of destroyers that pursued the enemy until they sought refuge under the shore batteries at Zeebrugge. Some hits were reported, but the German ships escaped.[9] On 17 May, Stork and sister ship Sylph left Harwich at the head of two divisions of destroyers escorting a convoy of more than a dozen merchant ships in foggy weather when they came under attack from German destroyers. A confused fight ensued during which the destroyer Setter was rammed and sunk by Sylph, and SS Cito was sunk by the German warships. In the confusion of battle it is unclear which members of either the 3rd Torpedo-Boat Flotilla or the Zeebrugge Half Flotilla were involved in the action as both were deployed against convoys on the route that night.[10][11][12] On the following day, Stork unsuccessfully attacked the German submarine UC-64 with depth charges.[13]

On 11 April 1918, the destroyer had the opportunity to return to the fortifications at Zeebrugge. Stork formed part of a force of 165 Royal Navy vessels, including the monitors Erebus and Terror sent to bombard the town.[14] The mission succeeded in partially blocking the harbour and placed limits on the way it could be used by submarines.[15] Later that year, on 18 August, Stork formed part of an escort for destroyers towing lighters which carried Thornycroft Coastal Motor Boats, Curtis Large American flying boats and Sopwith Camels with the aim of attacking German assets close to the Western European coast. Initially, the assignment was not a success as the majority of the aircraft failed to take off and the boats were all sunk or interned, but subsequently one of the aircraft shot down the Zeppelin LZ 100.[16][17]

After the Armistice of 11 November 1918 that ended the war, the navy needed to move to a peacetime level of operational capability. Stork was moved from active service and transferred to the Gunnery School at Nore.[18] Stork was employed to accompany the Duke of York to Dunkirk on 25 July 1922, transporting 200 British Army soldiers to the unveiling of a war memorial to those who had died in the First World War.[19] On 4 September, the ship then carried representatives of the British Army to a similar event in Ostend.[20] The destroyer also formed an escort for the floating dock, which was transferred from Chatham to Portland on 25 November 1923.[21]

On 29 July 1925, Stork took part in an exercise with Garrison Point Fort, Sheerness. Stork approached from the River Medway and exchanged blanks with the ravelin battery.[22] This proved one of the last operations the ship participated in. The navy needed to reduce both the number of ships and the amount of staff to save money and decided to scrap many of the older destroyers in preparation for the introduction of newer and larger vessels.[23][24] Stork was sold to Cashmore of Newport, Wales, on 7 October 1927 to be broken up.[7]

Pennant numbers

Pennant Number Date
F66September 1915[25]
F65January 1918[25]
G60January 1919[26]
H90January 1922[27]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 310.
  2. ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 326.
  3. 1 2 Preston 1985, p. 81.
  4. ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 296.
  5. ↑ Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, p. 13.
  6. 1 2 Parkes & Prendergast 1969, p. 108.
  7. 1 2 Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 334.
  8. ↑ "II Harwich Force". Supplement to the Monthly Navy List: 12. October 1917. Retrieved 17 March 2022 – via National Library of Scotland.
  9. ↑ Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, pp. 4–5.
  10. ↑ Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, pp. 9–11.
  11. ↑ Fock 1989, p. 361.
  12. ↑ Karau 2014, p. 126.
  13. ↑ Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, pp. 12–13.
  14. ↑ Newbolt 1931, p. 249.
  15. ↑ Newbolt 1931, p. 265.
  16. ↑ Friedman 2014, p. 184.
  17. ↑ Newbolt 1931, pp. 345–347.
  18. ↑ "III. — Local Defence and Training Establishments". The Navy List: 704. October 1919. Retrieved 17 March 2022 – via National Library of Scotland.
  19. ↑ "Dunkirk War Memorial: Naval Arrangements". The Times. No. 43086. 18 July 1922. p. 7.
  20. ↑ "Allied Dead at Ostend: Monument Unveiled". The Times. No. 43127. 4 September 1922. p. 7.
  21. ↑ "News in Brief". The Times. No. 43508. 26 November 1923. p. 11.
  22. ↑ "Shore Defence Practice on the Thames". The Times. No. 44030. 3 August 1925. p. 6.
  23. ↑ Moretz 2002, p. 79.
  24. ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 180.
  25. 1 2 Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 50.
  26. ↑ Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 65.
  27. ↑ Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 77.

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.
  • Fock, Harald (1989). Z-Vor! Internationale Entwicklung und Kriegseinsätze von Zerstörern und Torpedobooten 1914 bis 1939 [Z-Vor! International development and wartime operations of destroyers and torpedo boats from 1914 to 1939] (in German). Herford, Germany: Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mBH. ISBN 978-3-78220-207-7.
  • Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the First World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
  • Friedman, Norman (2014). Fighting the Great War at Sea: Strategy, Tactics and Technology. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-189-2.
  • Karau, Mark D. (2014). The Naval Flank of the Western Front: The German MarineKorps Flandern 1914–1918. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-231-8.
  • 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 (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.
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