| HMS Leven (1898) | |
|---|---|
| Career |  |
| Name: | HMS Leven |
| Ordered: | 1897 – 1898 Naval Estimates |
| Builder: | Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, Glasgow |
| Laid down: | 24 January 1898 |
| Launched: | 28 June 1898 |
| Commissioned: | July 1899 |
| Out of service: | In 1919 paid off and laid up in reserve awaiting disposal |
| Honours and awards: | Belgian Coast 1915 – 16 |
| Fate: | 14 September 1920 sold to Hayes of Porthcawl for breaking |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class & type: | Fairfield "30 knotter" destroyer |
| Displacement: |
370 long tons (376 t) light 420 long tons (427 t) full load |
| Length: |
215 ft 6 in (65.68 m) oa 209 ft 9 in (63.93 m) pp |
| Beam: | 21 ft 0 1⁄4 in (6.41 m) |
| Draught: | 8 ft 2 in (2.5 m) |
| Installed power: | 6,300 ihp (4,700 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
4 × Thornycroft water tube boiler |
| Speed: | 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
| Complement: | 63 officers and men |
| Armament: |
[2]
|
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Operations: | World War I 1914 - 1918 |
HMS Leven was a Fairfield "30-knotter" destroyer of the Royal Navy, later classified as part of the C Class. It was built in 1898–1899, and served with the Royal Navy through to the First World War, sinking a German U-boat in 1918. Leven was sold for scrapping in 1920.
Construction[]
HMS Leven was ordered from the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, Glasgow, as part of the British Admiralty's 1897–1898 shipbuilding programme, one of six "Thirty-Knotter" destroyers ordered in that programme, at a contract cost of £52,407.[1][3] As with other early Royal Navy destroyers, the design of Leven was left to the builder, with the Admiralty laying down only broad requirements.[4][5]
Leven's design was a near repeat of the three Thirty-Knotters (Fairey, Falcon and Gipsy) ordered as part of the previous 1896–1897 construction programme, with four Thornycroft boilers feeding a triple-expansion steam engine, and three funnels being fitted.[1][6] The ship had the standard armament of the Thirty-Knotters, i.e. a QF 12 pounder 12 cwt (3 in (76 mm) calibre) gun on a platform on the ship's conning tower (in practice the platform was also used as the ship's bridge), with a secondary armament of five 6-pounder guns, and two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.[7][8]
Leven was laid down as Yard No 405[1] on 24 January 1898 and launched on 28 June 1898. During her builder's trials the ship made its contracted speed requirement. Leven was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in July 1898, and was the third ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1813 for a 20-gun 6th rate in service until 1848.[9][10]
Operational history[]
Pre-war[]
HMS Leven served in British home waters for the whole of its career,[1] participating in the 1901 British Naval Manoeuvres.[11] On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyers were to be grouped into classes designated by letters based on contract speed and appearance. As a three-funneled destroyer with a contract speed of 30 knots, Leven was assigned to the C Class.[12][13] The class letters were painted on the hull below the bridge area and on a funnel.[14]
World War I[]
From August 1914 to November 1918 Leven was deployed in the 6th Destroyer Flotilla based at Dover. While employed with the 6th Flotilla she conducted counter mining patrols escorted merchant ships, defended the Dover Barrage and took part in operations off the Belgian Coast.[citation needed]
On 26 January 1918, Leven, carrying out a courier service between Dover and Dunkirk,[15] spotted the periscope of the German submarine UB35, when UB35 was attempting to pass through the Dover Barrage, a series of anti-submarine minefields and antisubmarine patrols.[16] Leven sank UB35 with depth charges at position 51°03’N 01°46’E, rescuing a single survivor, who identified that the sunken submarine was UB35 before he died.[17][18]
Disposition[]
In 1919 Leven was paid off and laid-up in reserve awaiting disposal. The ship was sold on 14 September 1920 to Hayes of Porthcawl for scrapping.[19]
Leven was awarded the battle honour "Belgian Coast 1914–16" for her service.
Pennant Numbers[]
| Pennant Number[19] | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| P33 | 6 Dec 1914 | 1 Sep 1915 |
| D62 | 1 Sep 1915 | 1 Jan 1918 |
| D51 | 1 Jan 1918 | 17 Mar 1921 |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Lyon 2001, p. 89.
- ↑ Jane 1905, p. 77.
- ↑ Lyon 2001, pp. 23–24.
- ↑ Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 87.
- ↑ Manning 1961, p. 39.
- ↑ Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, pp. 95, 97.
- ↑ Lyon 2001, pp. 98–99.
- ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 40.
- ↑ Jane 1898, pp. 84–85.
- ↑ Moore 1990, p. 76.
- ↑ Brassey 1902, pp. 90, 99.
- ↑ Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 18.
- ↑ Manning 1961, pp. 17–18.
- ↑ Manning 1961, p. 34.
- ↑ Keyes 1935, p. 172.
- ↑ Grant 1964, pp. 74–78, 81.
- ↑ McCartney 2003, pp. 158–159.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "UB 35 - German and Austrian U-boats of World War One - Kaiserliche Marine". uboat.net. http://uboat.net/wwi/boats/index.html?boat=UB+35. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Arrowsmith, Jack (27 January 1997). ""Arrowsmith" List – Part 1 Destroyer Prototypes through "River" Class". The World War I Document Archive. http://www.gwpda.org/naval/s0420000.htm. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- Brassey, T.A. (1902). The Naval Annual 1902. Portsmouth, UK: J. Griffin and Co.
- Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M (1979). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
- Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
- Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Grant, Robert M. (1964). U-Boats Destroyed: the Effect of Anti-Submarine Warfare 1914–1918. London: Putnam.
- Jane, Fred T. (1969) [1st. pub. Sampson Low & Marston, London]. Jane’s All The Worlds Fighting Ships 1898. New York: ARCO Publishing Company.
- Keyes, Roger (1935). The Naval Memoirs of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes: Volume 2: Scapa Flow to the Dover Straits. Taylor & Francis. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Q5wOAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- Lyon, David (2001). The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-3648.
- Manning, T. D. (1961). The British Destroyer. London: Putnam & Co. Ltd.
- Manning, Captain T.D (1979). The British Destroyer. Godfrey Cave Associates. ISBN 0-906223-13-X.
- McCartney, Innes (2003). Lost Patrols: Submarine Wrecks of the English Channel. Penzance, UK: Periscope Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-904381-04-9. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=j6ooZdh1rlkC&pg=PA158&dq=HMS+Leven&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6lcpUbHaLMio0QX9x4DYDw&ved=0CDYQ6AEwATgU#v=onepage&q=HMS%20Leven&f=false.
- Moore, John (1990). Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. London: Studio Editions. ISBN 1-85170-378-0.
External links[]
- http://navalhistory.flixco.info/H/381436/8330/a0.htm
- http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=768
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The original article can be found at HMS Leven (1898) and the edit history here.