Acorn-class destroyer

Acorn-class destroyer
HMS Fury
Class overview
Builders:	John Brown and Company William Denny & Brothers Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company R. W. Hawthorn Leslie & Company Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson A. & J. Inglis John I. Thornycroft & Company J. Samuel White & Company
Preceded by:	Beagle class
Succeeded by:	Acheron class
Built:	1910–1911
In commission:	1910–1921
Completed:	20
Lost:	3
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	730 to 780 tons
Length:	246 ft 6 in (75.13 m)
Beam:	25 ft 6 in (7.77 m)
Draught:	7 ft (2.1 m)–10 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion:	Oil-fired boilers 3 shaft steam turbines 13,500 shp (10,067 kW)
Speed:	27 knots (50 km/h)
Range:	170 tons oil
Complement:	72
Armament:	2 × BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) L/40 Mark VIII guns, mounting P Mark V 2 × QF 12 pdr 12 cwt Mark I mounting P Mark I 2 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes

For the World War II H-class destroyers, see H class destroyer (1937)

The Acorn class (officially redesignated the H class in 1913) was a class of twenty destroyers of the Royal Navy all built under the 1909-1910 Programme, and completed between 1910 and 1911. The Acorns served during World War I.

After the coal-burning Beagle or G class of 1909, the Acorns marked a return to oil-firing as pioneered in the Tribal or F class of 1905 and HMS Swift of 1907. This change allowed a generally smaller vessel than the Beagles even with an increase in armament.

The Acorns were, as with previous classes, built to designs by their individual builders, but had a more-or-less uniform appearance, with three funnels, a tall, thin fore funnel, a short, thick central and a short narrow after stack. They had two 4-inch guns on the fo'c'sle - which was higher than that of the Beagles, negating the need for a raised bandstand - and on the quarterdeck. The 12-pounder guns were amidships, on the beams between the first two funnels, and the torpedo tubes were aft of the funnels, mounted singly with a searchlight position between them. Three ships were lost in wartime service.

Ships

• Acorn — built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, launched 1 July 1910, sold for breaking up 29 November 1921.
• Alarm — built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, launched 29 August 1910, sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
• Brisk — built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, launched 20 September 1910, sold for breaking up 15 November 1921.
• Cameleon — built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Govan, launched 2 June 1910, sold for breaking up 15 November 1921.
• Comet — built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Govan, launched 23 June 1910, torpedoed and sunk by Austrian U-boat in the Mediterranean 6 August 1918.
• Goldfinch — built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Govan, launched 12 July 1910, wrecked in fog on Start Point, Sanday, Orkney on the night of 18–19 February 1915.
• Fury — built by A. & J. Inglis, Pointhouse, Glasgow, launched 25 April 1911, sold for breaking up 4 November 1921.
• Hope — built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend, launched 6 September 1910, sold for breaking up February 1920 at Malta.
• Larne — built by John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston, launched 23 August 1910, sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
• Lyra — built by John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston, launched 4 October 1910, sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
• Martin — built by John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston, launched 15 December 1910, sold for breaking up 21 August 1920 at Malta.
• Minstrel — built by John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston, launched 2 February 1911, loaned to Imperial Japanese Navy from June 1917 to 1918 as Sendan, sold for breaking up 1 December 1921.
• Nemesis — built by R. W. Hawthorn Leslie & Company, Hebburn, launched 9 August 1910, loaned to Imperial Japanese Navy from June 1917 to 1918 as Kanran, sold for breaking up 26 November 1921.
• Nereide — built by R. W. Hawthorn Leslie & Company, Hebburn, launched 6 September 1910, sold for breaking up 1 December 1921.
• Nymphe — built by R. W. Hawthorn Leslie & Company, Hebburn, launched 31 January 1911, sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
• Redpole — built by J. Samuel White & Company, Cowes, launched 24 June 1910, sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
• Rifleman — built by J. Samuel White & Company, Cowes, launched 22 August 1910, sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
• Ruby — built by J. Samuel White & Company, Cowes, launched 4 November 1910, sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
• Sheldrake — built by William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton, launched 18 January 1911, sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
• Staunch — built by William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton, launched 29 October 1910, torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat UC.38 off Gaza, Palestine 11 November 1917.

Fury (dark, centre picture) and Liverpool try to take the sinking battleship Audacious in tow. The view is from the passenger areas of the liner Olympic, 27 October 1914

References

• Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981, Maurice Cocker, 1983, Ian Allan ISBN 0-7110-1075-7