Military Wiki
Medea-class destroyer
Class overview
Builders: John Brown & Company
Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
Operators: Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom Royal Navy
Built: 1914–1915
In commission: 1915–1921
Completed: 4
Lost: 1
General characteristics
Type: Destroyer
Displacement: 1,040 long tons (1,060 t)
Length: 273 ft 6 in (83.36 m)
Beam: 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m)
Draught: 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Propulsion: Yarrow-type water-tube boilers
Brown-Curtis steam turbines
3 shafts
25,000 shp
Speed: 32 knots (37 mph; 59 km/h)
Endurance: 270 tons oil
Complement: 80
Armament: • 3 × QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mark IV guns, single mounting P Mk. IX
• 1 × QF 2 pdr Mk.II, single mounting HA Mk.I
• 2 × twin 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes

The Medea class were a class of destroyers that were being built for the Greek Navy at the outbreak of World War I but were taken over and completed for the Royal Navy for wartime service. All were named after characters from Greek mythology as result of their Greek heritage.

The Medeas were a private design roughly similar to their various Royal Navy M-class contemporaries. They had three funnels, the foremost of which was taller, and unusually, the mainmast was taller than the foremast, giving rise to a distinctive appearance. They shipped three single QF 4 inch guns, one on the forecastle, one between the first two funnels and the third on the quarterdeck.

Ships[]

Name Ship Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate
Medea (ex-Kriti) John Brown & Company, Clydebank 8 April 1914 30 January 1915 May 1915 Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
Medusa (ex-Lesbos) John Brown, Clydebank 1914 27 March 1915 1915 Rammed and sunk by HMS Laverock off of Schleswig 25 March 1916.
Melampus (ex-Melampus) Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan 1914 16 December 1914 29 June 1915 Sold for breaking up 22 September 1921.
Melpomene (ex-Samos) Fairfields, Govan 1914 1 February 1915 16 August 1915, Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.

Bibliography[]

  • Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981, Maurice Cocker, 1983, Ian Allan ISBN 0-7110-1075-7
  • Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919, Jane's Publishing


Warning: Display title "<i>Medea</i> class destroyer" overrides earlier display title "<i>Medea</i>-class destroyer".

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