 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSDouglas |
| Ordered | July 1916 |
| Builder | Cammell Laird |
| Laid down | 30 June 1917 |
| Launched | 20 February 1918 |
| Commissioned | 2 September 1918 |
| Out of service | Paid off into reserve, February 1945 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap on 20 March 1945 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Admiralty type destroyer leader |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 332 ft 6 in (101.35 m) |
| Beam | 31 ft 9 in (9.68 m) |
| Draught | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) |
| Installed power | 40,000 shp (30,000 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 36.5 kn (42.0 mph; 67.6 km/h) |
| Range | 5,000 nmi (5,800 mi; 9,300 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h) |
| Complement | 164-183 |
| Armament | |
HMSDouglas was anAdmiralty type flotilla leader (also known as theScott-class) of the BritishRoyal Navy. Built byCammell Laird,Douglas commissioned in 1918, just before the end of theFirst World War. During theSecond World War,Douglas served withForce H out ofGibraltar and as a convoy escort. She was sold for scrap in March 1945.
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In December 1916, theBritish Admiralty placed orders for twolarge flotilla leaders,HMS Bruce andDouglas fromCammell Laird as a follow on to the prototype of the class,HMS Scott, which had been ordered in April that year.[1] The ship was 320 feet 0 inches (97.54 m)long between perpendiculars and 332 feet 5 inches (101.32 m)overall,[2] with abeam of 31 feet 9 inches (9.68 m) and adraught of 12 feet 6 inches (3.81 m).[1] Designdisplacement was 1,580 long tons (1,610 t) normal and 2,050 long tons (2,080 t) full load.[2] The ship's machinery consisted of fourYarrow boilers that fed steam at 250 pounds per square inch (1,700 kPa) to two sets ofParsons single-reduction geared-steam turbines, rated at 40,000 shaft horsepower (30,000 kW). This gave a design speed of 36.5 knots (67.6 km/h; 42.0 mph) light, which corresponded to about 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) at full load.[3]
Douglas' main gun armament consisted of five4.7 in (120 mm)/45 calibre BL Mark I guns,[a] on CP VI mountings capable of elevating to 30 degrees.[4] These guns could fire a 50-pound (23 kg) shell to 15,800 yards (14,400 m) at a rate of 5–6 rounds per minute per gun.[5] 120 rounds per gun were carried.[2] Anti-aircraft armament consisted of a single3 inch (76 mm) 20 cwt gun.[6] Torpedo armament consisted of six 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes in two triple mounts.[4]
Douglas waslaid down at Cammell Laird'sBirkenhead shipyard on 30 June 1917,launched on 8 June 1918 andcommissioned on 30 August 1918.[7][8][b]
WhileDouglas had only limited modifications between the wars,[10] an early change during the Second World War was the replacement of the amidships 4.7-inch gun by two2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom"autocannon, with the aft funnel shortened to improve the field of fire for the 3 inch anti-aircraft gun.[10][11] ThreeOerlikon 20 mm cannon later supplemented the short-range anti-aircraft armament, while a further two Oerlikons finally replaced the 2-pounders.[3]Radar (Type 286, later replaced byType 290 andType 271) was fitted during the war,[3] as wasHF/DF radio direction-finding gear.[12]
Conversion to a short-range escort involved removal of two more 4.7 inch guns and a bank of torpedo tubes, with the forward gun replaced by aHedgehog anti-submarine mortar, and the aft gun and tubes removed to allow a heavy depth charge armament of 70 charges.[13]
On commissioningDouglas joined the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, part of theDover Patrol, as leader.[14] On 16 September 1918,Douglas' boats helped to pick up survivors from the monitorGlatton, which was scuttled in Dover harbour following a magazine fire and explosion. In October,Douglas was employed escorting monitors off the Belgian coast, taking part in the bombardment ofOstend on 17 October 1918 and rescuing survivors fromM21 when the monitor was mined and sunk off Ostend on 20 October.[15] On 25 October that yearDouglas transferred to theGrand Fleet, joining the 11th Destroyer Flotilla atScapa Flow.[15][16][17]
By March 1919,Douglas had moved to the 7th Destroyer Flotilla,[18] but by May 1919,Douglas was in reserve atRosyth.[19] On 18 March 1920,Douglas recommissioned as leader for the4th Destroyer Flotilla of theAtlantic Fleet. On 2 December, she was damaged by a collision atQueenstown in the south of Ireland, and was under repair atPembroke Dock until 26 January 1921.[15]Douglas reduced to reserve (with a reduced complement) on 26 June 1921,[15] and was still laid up at Rosyth at the end of 1921.[20] In March 1922,Douglas, still under reserve, moved toDevonport, and from June to November that year was employed testing cradles for newslipways at Pembroke, before returning to reserve at Devonport.[15]
Douglas was refitted atSheerness dockyard in January to March 1928, and then commissioned as leader of the 1st Submarine Flotilla of theMediterranean Fleet, based atMalta on 7 April 1928.[15][21]Douglas was again refitted at Sheerness from October 1933 to May 1934, where her boilers were retubed, before returning to the 1st Submarine Flotilla.[15]Douglas was refitted at Malta in August 1935, and in September that year, as a result of theAbyssinia Crisis, reinforcing the1st Destroyer Flotilla.[22] In July 1936, following the outbreak of theSpanish Civil War, the Royal Navy sent ships to Spanish harbours to evacuate British subjects, withDouglas being one of several ships sent toBarcelona.[23]Douglas returned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in September 1936,[22] and remained part of that flotilla in March 1939.[24]Douglas was refitted atGibraltar from March to July 1939.[22]
In September 1939, at the start of theSecond World War,Douglas was a member of the 13th Destroyer Flotilla, based atGibraltar, having joined the flotilla on 22 August.[22][25] On 24 October,Douglas, along with the leaderKeppel and the destroyersWatchman andVidette, set out to hunt the German submarineU-37, which had sunk three merchant ships.Douglas picked up the survivors from one of the ships, theTafna. ASaro Londonflying boat from Gibraltar-basedNo. 202 Squadron RAF alighted in an attempt to rescue survivors, but was unable to take-off again, and was towed back to Gibraltar byDouglas as she returned the survivors to land.[26] On 21 January 1940,Douglas was escorting the Gibraltar bound convoy OG.15F off the coast ofPortugal when she spotted a German submarineU-44 and attacked.U-44 sustained only minor damage.[27][10]
On 8 July 1940,Douglas sortied as part of the escort forForce H, which had left Gibraltar to act as a distraction while the British Mediterranean Fleet escorted two convoys between Malta andAlexandria. While the Mediterranean Fleet clashed briefly with Italian forces at theBattle of Calabria, Force H's movements caused Italian submarines, one of which sank the destroyerEscort, to be redeployed away from the convoy, and attracted heavy air attacks.[28] Later that month,Douglas returned to Britain, undergoing condenser repairs before joining to theHome Fleet, based at Scapa Flow, carrying out patrol duties, as well as escorting the fleet and minelaying operations.[22][29][30] On 2 November,Douglas rescued twelve survivors from the naval trawlerWardour, which had been sunk by a mine on 31 October.[31]
In February 1941,Douglas was transferred from the Home Fleet toWestern Approaches Command, joining the 2nd Escort Group. On 28 April, Convoy HX 121 came under heavy U-boat attack, and the 2nd Escort Group, includingDouglas, was detached from Convoy OB 314 to reinforce HX 121. On approaching the convoy,Douglas rescued 18 survivors from the tankerCapulet, which had been torpedoed byU-552, but failed in an attempt to sinkCapulet's abandoned wreck with gunfire.[c]Douglas then depth-charged and sank the submarineU-65.[d] In all four ships were lost from HX 121, with one U-boat being sunk.[35][34][36] On 11 September, the 2nd Escort Group, led byCommander W. E. Banks aboardDouglas, left Convoy ON 13F to reinforceConvoy SC 42 under heavy attack off the east coast ofGreenland from the U-boats of thewolfpackMarkgraf, which had sunk 15 ships from the convoy already. Banks took charge of the convoy's defence, ordering the destroyersLeamington andVeteran to investigate a sighting by an aircraft of a submarine ahead of the Convoy, which resulted in the two destroyers sinkingU-207, and managing to drive off several attacking U-boats over the next few days.[37][38]
On 15 January 1942,Douglas was part of the escort of Convoy ON 55 offIceland in a severe storm (described as the worst seen in Iceland for 15 years), when the American destroyerMayo, part of an American escort group attempting to relieve the 2nd Escort Group, collided withDouglas, badly damaging both ships, with one seaman lost fromDouglas.[39][40][41] After temporary repair by thedepot shipHecla at Iceland and returning to the United Kingdom, it was decided to convertDouglas to a Short-Range Escort while she was under repair atPalmers inJarrow. This involved reducing the ship's gun and torpedo armament to accommodate better anti-submarine weaponry.[22][30]
Douglas was under repair and refit until April 1942, joining the Home Fleet in May.Douglas formed part of the ill-fated Arctic ConvoyConvoy PQ 17, but left the convoy to join Convoy QP-13, which was returning from the Soviet Union at the same time as PQ 17 was sailing to the Soviet Union, on 2 July 1942, before PQ 17 had come under serious attack.[42][30][43] The ship continued in escort operations, and in November 1942, rescued 29 survivors from the merchant shipLouise Moller, sunk byU-172 on 13 November south-east ofDurban.[36][44] On 11 July 1943,Douglas, together with the destroyerHMCS Iroquois and the frigateMoyola, were escorting aconvoy consisting of the troopshipsCalifornia andDuchess of York and the munitions shipPort Fairy, when the convoy was attacked by threeFocke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors ofKampfgeschwader 40 300 miles (480 km) offVigo. BothCalifornia andDuchess of York were badly hit, with 46 killed aboardCalifornia and 27 aboardDuchess of York, and the blazing ships were sunk by the convoy's escorts early the next day after the survivors were rescued, in order to avoid the attentions of U-boats.[45][46][47][48][e]
On 31 October 1943, thenaval trawlerImperialist depth-charged the German submarineU-732 west of Gibraltar, forcing the submarine to the surface, and scored several gun hits beforeU-732 managed to submerge, which resulted inImperialist subjectingU-732 to another heavy depth-charging. After dark,U-732 attempted to escape on the surface but was spotted by an aircraft. On being spotted, the commanding officer ofU-732 ordered that the submarine be scuttled, but before the submarine sank,Douglas attacked with 10 more depth charges. Eighteen ofU-732's crew were rescued, eight byDouglas, with 31 killed.Imperialist andDouglas were jointly credited with the sinking ofU-732.[49][50][51]
Douglas continued in use as a convoy escort until February 1945 when she was paid off into reserve. She was sold for scrap on 20 March 1945 to theBritish Iron & Steel Corporation (BISCO) who passed the ship on to TW Ward.[30]
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