HMS Wolverine (1910)
 HMS Wolverine
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Wolverine |
| Builder | Cammell Laird, Birkenhead |
| Launched | 15 January 1910 |
| Fate | Sunk in collision, 12 December 1917 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Beagle-class destroyer |
| Length | 274 ft (84 m) |
| Beam | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
| Draught | 10 ft (3.0 m) |
| Installed power | 12,500 ihp (9,300 kW) |
| Propulsion | Steam engines |
| Speed | 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) |
| Complement | 96 |
| Armament |
|
HMS Wolverine was a Beagle-class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched on 15 January 1910. She was built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead.
Design and construction
Wolverine was one of three
Wolverine was
sea trials,[11] meeting the contract requirement of 27 knots, and was completed in September 1910.[10]
Service history
On commissioning, Wolverine joined the
Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, part of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet by November that year.[16]
At the outbreak of the
Gulf of Smyrna.[21]
In 1915, along with numerous other Beagle,
naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign. Early operations involved escorting trawlers when they attempted to sweep Turkish minefields in the narrows of the Dardanelles.[22] During the initial landings at ANZAC Cove and at Cape Helles, Wolverine joined several other destroyers in minesweeping operations in the Dardanelles straits to allow Allied battleships to bombard Turkish positions. On 28 April, Wolverine was sweeping in conjunction with sister ship Racoon (the sweep wire was run between the two ships) when she was hit on the ship's bridge by a Turkish shell, which killed Commander Osmond J. Prentis, Wolverine' s captain and two more men.[23][24] On the night of 12/13 May, the pre-dreadnought battleships Goliath and Cornwallis were anchored in Morto Bay, supporting French troops. To protect the two battleships, Beagle and Bulldog patrolled the north side of the straits, with Scorpion and Wolverine patrolling the southern side and Pincher in the centre of the straits. Despite these patrols, the Turkish destroyer Muavenet-i Milliye managed to sneak past Beagle and Bulldog on the northern side of the straits and torpedoed and sunk Goliath before successfully escaping. On releasing that Goliath had been torpedoed, Wolverine and Scorpion attempted to cut off the Turkish destroyer, but Muavenet-i Milliye evaded them.[25]
Work included naval artillery support, particular at the Cape Helles beachhead.[26] On 28 June Wolverine provided support for the advancing forces at the Battle of Gully Ravine, helping to break up a Turkish counter attack.[27] She provided cover for the final evacuation from Cape Helles on the night of 8/9 January 1916.[28][29] From March 1916, Wolverine operated in the Aegean, patrolling the Dodecanese, Sporades and Cyclades and the Turkish coast, carrying raiding parties of Greek and Cretan irregular troops commanded by the classical scholar John Myres which carried out cattle raids on the Turkish coast.[30]
Wolverine was recalled to home waters and assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla now based at Buncrana, near Lough Swilly in the north of Ireland in October 1917.[31][32] On 12 December 1917, Wolverine sank following a collision with the fleet sweeping sloop Rosemary off the northwest coast of Ireland.[33] Two of Wolverine's crew were killed.[34]
Notes
- ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
Citations
- ^ Friedman 2009, pp. 118, 305–306.
- ^ Manning 1961, p. 56.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 68.
- ^ Manning 1961, p. 57.
- ^ "542a: Wolverine, 1. Torpedo boat destroyer". The Navy List: 397a. March 1913. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 73.
- ^ Manning 1961, pp. 54, 57.
- ^ Friedman 2009, pp. 116, 118.
- ^ Gardiner and Gray 1985, pp. 73–74.
- ^ a b Friedman 2009, p. 306.
- ^ Hythe 1912, p. 249.
- ^ Manning 1961, pp. 25, 55.
- ^ a b "NMM, vessel ID 378955" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol iv. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ Manning 1961, p. 25.
- ^ "Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad: Flotillas of the First Fleet". The Navy List: 269a. September 1913. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ "Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad: Mediterranean Fleet". The Navy List: 270a. November 1913. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ "Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad: Mediterranean Fleet". The Navy List: 270. August 1914. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
- ^ Massie 2007, pp. 41–43.
- ^ Marder 2013, pp. 25–28.
- ^ The Naval Review Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 514–519.
- ^ Dorling 1932, pp.66–67.
- ^ Kindell, Don (15 February 2011). "1st - 30th April 1915: in date, ship/unit & name order". World War 1 - Casualty Lists of the Royal Navy and Dominion Navies. naval-history.net. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ Dorling 1932, p. 72
- ^ Corbett 1923, p. 71.
- ^ Dorling 1932, pp. 88–89.
- ^ Corbett 1923, pp. 248–255.
- ^ Dorling 1932, pp. 95–100.
- ^ "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands &c.: XI—Mediterranean Fleet". The Navy List. September 1917. p. 21.
- ^ "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands &c.: VII.—Coast of Ireland Station". The Navy List. October 1917. p. 17.
- ^ Kemp 1999, p. 60.
- ^ Kindell, Don (22 February 2011). "1st - 31st December 1917: in date, ship/unit & name order". World War 1 - Casualty Lists of the Royal Navy and Dominion Navies. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
References
- Brown, David K. (2010). The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906–1922. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-085-7.
- Corbett, Julian S. (1920). History of the Great War: Naval Operations: Vol. I: To the Battle of the Falklands. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
- Corbett, Julian S. (1921). History of the Great War: Naval Operations: Vol. II. London: Longmans Green. OCLC 1185863.
- Corbett, Julian S. (1923). History of the Great War: Naval Operations: Vol. III. London: Longmans Green.
- Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
- Dorling, Taprell (1932). Endless Story: Being an account of the work of the Destroyers, Flotilla-Leaders, Torpedo-Boats and Patrol Boats in the Great War. London: Hodder and Stoughton. OCLC 55531197.
- 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, eds. (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Viscount Hythe, ed. (1912). The Naval Annual 1912. Portsmouth, UK: J. Griffin & Co.
- Kemp, Paul (1999). The Admiralty Regrets: British Warship Losses of the 20th Century. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-1567-6.
- Manning, T. D. (1961). The British Destroyer. London: Putnam. OCLC 6470051.
- Marder, Arthur J. (2013). From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era 1904–1919: Volume II: The War Years: To the Eve of Jutland 1914–1916. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-163-2.
- Massie, Robert K. (2007). Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. London: Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-099-52378-9.
- "Narrative from a Destroyer During the Goeben and Breslau Hunt" (PDF). The Naval Review. 7 (4): 514–519.
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in December 1917 | |
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