HMS Nomad

HMS Nomad
Career (UK)
Name:	HMS Nomad
Builder:	Alexander Stephen and Sons, Linthouse
Launched:	7 February 1916
Fate:	Sunk on 31 May 1916
General characteristics
Class & type:	Admiralty M-class destroyer
Displacement:	994 long tons (1,010 t) standard 1,042 long tons (1,059 t) full load
Length:	269 ft (82 m)
Beam:	27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)
Draught:	8 ft 8 in (2.64 m) mean 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) maximum
Propulsion:	3 shafts, steam turbines, 25,000 shp (18,642 kW)
Speed:	34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range:	237–298 tons fuel oil
Complement:	80
Armament:	• 3 × QF 4 in (100 mm) Mark IV guns, mounting P Mk. IX • 3 × single QF 2 pdr "pom-pom" Mk. II • 2 × twin 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes

HMS Nomad, built by Alexander Stephen and Sons, Linthouse, and launched on 7 February 1916, was an Admiralty M-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was commissioned under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Paul Whitfield and briefly served in the 13th Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet. She was sunk on 31 May 1916 at the Battle of Jutland by gunfire from Admiral Hipper's battlecruiser squadron. 72 survivors (including Whitfield) were rescued from the sea by the Germans and became prisoners-of-war. She was depicted in a book called Prisoner of War, by Martin Booth, serving as the protagonist's ship. The wreck is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.

The wreck of HMS Nomad was found by accident in 2001 by a dive team including marine archaeologist Innes McCartney. The ship's bell can be seen on display at the Jutland shipwreck museum.

References

• http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/destroyers_before_1900.htm
• SI 2008/0950 Designation under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986