HMS Tribune (1918)

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HMS Tara (1918) IWM SP 1415.jpg
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Tribune
NamesakeTribune
Ordered7 April 1917
BuilderJ. Samuel White], East Cowes
Yard number1506
Laid down21 August 1917
Launched28 March 1918
Completed16 July 1918
Out of service17 December 1931
FateSold to be broken up
General characteristics
Class and typeS-class destroyer
Displacement
  • 1,075 long tons (1,092 t) normal
  • 1,220 long tons (1,240 t) deep load
Length265 ft (80.8 m) p.p.
Beam26 ft 8 in (8.13 m)
Draught9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) mean
Propulsion
Speed36 knots (41.4 mph; 66.7 km/h)
Range2,750 nmi (5,090 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Complement90
Armament
  • 3 × QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mark IV guns, mounting P Mk. IX
  • 1 × single 2-pounder (40-mm) "pom-pom" Mk. II anti-aircraft gun
  • 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2×2)

HMS Tribune was an S-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. Launched on 28 March 1918, the vessel entered service with the Aegean Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet. Tribune saw no action during the during the First World War but was involved in the evacuation of refugees from the Russian Civil War, particularly from the Crimea in 1920 and 1921. In 1923, the destroyer was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet. In 1930, the signing of the London Naval Treaty required the Royal Navy to retire older destroyers before acquiring new ones. Tribune was one of those chosen for retirement and, on 17 December 1931, the destroyer was sold to be broken up.

Design and development[]

Main article: S-class destroyer

Tribune was one of thirty-three Admiralty S class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty on 7 April 1917 as part of the Twelfth War Construction Programme. The design was a development of the R class introduced as a cheaper and faster alternative to the V and W class.[1] Differences with the R class were minor, such as having the searchlight moved aft.[2]

Tribune had a overall length of 276 ft (84 m) and a length of 265 ft (81 m) between perpendiculars. Beam was 26 ft 8 in (8.13 m) and draught 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m). Displacement was 1,075 long tons (1,092 t) normal and 1,220 long tons (1,240 t) deep load. Three White-Forster boilers fed steam to two sets of Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines rated at 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) and driving two shafts, giving a design speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) at normal loading and 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph) at deep load. Two funnels were fitted. The ship carried 301 long tons (306 t) of fuel oil, which gave a design range of 2,750 nautical miles (5,090 km; 3,160 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[3]

Armament consisted of three QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk IV guns on the ship's centreline.[4] One was mounted raised on the forecastle, one on a platform between the funnels and one aft.[5] The ship also mounted a single 40-millimetre (1.6 in) 2-pounder pom-pom anti-aircraft gun for air defence. Four 21-inch (533 mm) tubes were fitted in two twin rotating mounts aft.[4] The ship was designed to mount two 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes either side of the superstructure to be controlled by the officer in charge directly, but this required the forecastle plating to be cut away, which made the vessel very wet, so they were removed.[2] The weight saved enabled the heavier Mark V 21-inch torpedo to be carried.[1] The ship had a complement of 90 officers and ratings.[6]

Construction and career[]

Ordered on 7 April 1917, Tribune was laid down by J. Samuel White at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight with the yard number 1506 on 21 August, and launched on 28 March the following year.[7] The ship was completed on 16 July.[8] The vessel was the fifth to carry the name, which recalled the tribunes of ancient Rome.[9] On commissioning, Tribune joined the Aegean Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet.[10]

With the First World War closing, the destroyer saw no action before the Armistice, and remained in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the Sixth Destroyer Flotilla until 1921.[11] By this time, the increasingly belligerent Russian Civil War led to the Royal Navy sending ships into the Black Sea to support the White Russian forces and manage the refugee crisis that arose from the conflict, including the evacuation of the Crimea. Tribune was sent to Karkinit Bay in the Crimea in January 1920.[12] On 8 December the following year, Tribune was dispatched to Mykolaiv.[13] Although there is a lack of contemporary evidence for how Tribune was involved in the actual evacuation, the operation was considered a success by contemporaries.[14]

On 21 September 1923, Tribune was recommissioned and subsequently joined the Seventh Destroyer Flotilla of the Atlantic Fleet.[15] The ship then served for a further eight years. On 22 April 1930, the United Kingdom signed the London Naval Treaty, which limited the total destroyer tonnage that the navy could operate.[16] The S class was deemed out of date and ripe to be replaced with more modern ships, including the C and D-class destroyers. On 17 December 1931, the destroyer was sold to Cashmore of Newport, Wales, and broken up.[9]

Pennant numbers[]

Penant numbers
Pennant number Date
F9A November 1918[17]
F33 January 1919[18]
D16 January 1922[19]

References[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ a b Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 85.
  2. ^ a b March 1966, p. 221.
  3. ^ Friedman 2009, p. 297.
  4. ^ a b Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 84.
  5. ^ Friedman 2009, p. 163.
  6. ^ Parkes & Prendergast 1969, p. 107.
  7. ^ Williams & Sprake 1993, p. 719.
  8. ^ Williams & Sprake 1993, p. 36.
  9. ^ a b Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 359.
  10. ^ "XV Mediterranean". The Navy List: 23. October 1918. Retrieved 11 October 2021 – via National Library of Scotland.
  11. ^ "VII Mediterranean". The Navy List: 712. January 1921. Retrieved 11 October 2021 – via National Library of Scotland.
  12. ^ Halpern 2019, p. 142.
  13. ^ Halpern 2019, p. 16.
  14. ^ Halpern 2019, p. 132.
  15. ^ "Destroyer Flotillas of the Atlantic Fleet". The Navy List: 276. April 1925.
  16. ^ Friedman 2009, p. 211.
  17. ^ Dittmar & Colledge 1972, p. 74.
  18. ^ Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 47.
  19. ^ Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 34.

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: A Complete Record of all Fighting ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th century to the Present. London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-85367-566-9.
  • 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.
  • Halpern, Paul (2019). The Mediterranean Fleet, 1919-1929. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-91142-387-4.
  • March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.
  • Parkes, Oscar; Prendergast, Maurice (1969). Jane's Fighting Ships 1919. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. OCLC 907574860.
  • Williams, David L.; Sprake, Raymond F. (1993). White's of Cowes : "White's-built, well-built!". Peterborough: Silver Link. ISBN 978-1-85794-011-4.
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