Tribal-class destroyer (1936)
HMCS Haida, a Canadian Tribal-class destroyer and the only Tribal-class destroyer to be preserved
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Class overview | |
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Builders |
|
Operators | |
Preceded by | I class |
Succeeded by | J class |
In commission | 1938–1963 |
Planned | 32 |
Completed | 27 |
Cancelled | 5 |
Lost | 13 |
Scrapped | 13 |
Preserved | 1 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Destroyer |
Displacement |
|
Length | 377 ft (115 m) (o/a) |
Beam | 36 ft 6 in (11.13 m) |
Draught | 11 ft 3 in (3.43 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines |
Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
Range | 5,700 nmi (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Complement | 190 (219 in flotilla leaders) |
Sensors and processing systems | ASDIC |
Armament |
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The Tribal class, or Afridi class, was a class of destroyers built for the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Australian Navy that saw service in World War II. Originally conceived during design studies for a light fleet cruiser,[1] the Tribals evolved into fast, powerful destroyers, with greater emphasis on guns over torpedoes than previous destroyers, in response to new designs by Japan, Italy, and Germany.[2] The Tribals were well admired by their crews and the public when they were in service due to their power, often becoming symbols of prestige while in service.[3]
As some of the Royal Navy's most modern and powerful escort ships, the Tribal class served with distinction in nearly all theatres of World War II. Only a handful of Royal Navy Tribals survived the war, all of which were subsequently scrapped from hard use, while Commonwealth Tribals continued to serve into the Cold War, serving with distinction in the Korean War. Only one Tribal survives to this day: HMCS Haida, which is now a museum ship in Hamilton Harbour, Ontario, Canada.
Design history
From 1926, all Royal Navy destroyers had descended from a common lineage based upon the prototypes
Although the design was rejected for the fleet cruiser role,
Construction
The Royal Navy placed an order for seven Tribals on 10 March 1936, with a second group of nine Tribals ordered on 9 June for two flotillas' worth of ships. The Royal Australian Navy and Royal Canadian Navy both ordered a flotilla of Tribals. The eight Australian ships were to be built in Australian shipyards. Three were completed, two in 1942 and one in 1945, but the rest were cancelled.[7] The Canadian order was for four ships from British yards in 1940 (completed in 1942 and 1943) and another four from Canadian yards at Halifax in 1942. The latter were not completed until after the war.
Between 1937 and 1945, twenty-seven Tribals were built. Estimated cost per ship was around £340,000 excluding weaponry, and £520,000 overall.
Modifications
Wartime modifications
The Royal Navy equipped the Tribal class with a comparatively heavy anti-aircraft armament; all eight 4.7in guns could engage aircraft with predicted fire using the FKC computer, and thus provide a powerful augmentation to the battle-fleet's AA defence.
By 1944, the four surviving British Tribals were given a tall lattice foremast to carry a
Post-war modifications
Post war, survivors of the class met different fates: Royal Navy Tribals were retired by the 1950s, while Tribals in service with the Australian and Canadian navies continued in service, with many refitted as anti-submarine destroyers.
Two of the Australian Tribals, Arunta and Warramunga, were modernised during the early 1950s.[16] The aft-most 4.7-inch (120 mm) gun mounting was removed, with the space modified to accommodate a Squid anti-submarine mortar.[16] New sonar and radar units were fitted, the latter requiring the replacement of the tripod radar mast with a stronger lattice structure.[16] Although the modernisation was intended to take less than six months per ship, it took two years for each ship to be refitted, by which time their modifications had already become obsolete.[17] Financial restrictions meant that the third Australian Tribal, Bataan, was not modernised, and a combination of manpower shortages and rapid obsolescence saw all three ships decommissioned by the end of the 1950s.[16][17]
Ships
Name | Builder | Laid down
|
Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
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Afridi | Vickers Armstrongs, Walker
|
9 June 1936 | 8 June 1937 | 3 May 1938 | Lost 3 May 1940 to aircraft attack |
Ashanti | William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton
|
23 November 1936 | 5 November 1937 | 21 December 1938 | Sold for scrap, 12 April 1949 |
Bedouin | 13 January 1937 | 21 December 1937 | 15 March 1939 | Lost 15 June 1942 to aircraft attack after being disabled by Italian cruisers Raimondo Montecuccoli and Eugenio di Savoia | |
Cossack | Vickers Armstrongs, Walker | 9 June 1936 | 8 June 1937 | 7 June 1938 | Lost 24 October 1941, torpedoed by U-563 |
Eskimo | 5 August 1936 | 3 September 1937 | 30 December 1938 | Sold for scrap, 27 June 1949 | |
Gurkha | Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Govan
|
6 July 1936 | 7 July 1937 | 21 October 1938 | Lost 9 April 1940, to aircraft attack |
Maori | 6 July 1936 | 2 September 1937 | 2 January 1939 | Lost 12 February 1942 to aircraft | |
Mashona | Vickers Armstrongs | 5 August 1936 | 3 September 1937 | 28 March 1939 | Lost 28 May 1941 to aircraft attack |
Matabele | Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Greenock
|
1 October 1936 | 6 October 1937 | 25 January 1939 | Lost 17 January 1942, torpedoed by U-454 |
Mohawk | Woolston
|
16 July 1936 | 15 October 1937 | 7 September 1938 | Lost 16 April 1941, torpedoed by Italian destroyer Luca Tarigo |
Nubian | 10 August 1936 | 21 December 1937 | 6 December 1938 | Sold for scrap, 11 June 1949 | |
Punjabi | Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Greenock | 1 October 1936 | 18 December 1937 | 29 March 1939 | Lost 1 May 1942, rammed by King George V |
Sikh | Alexander Stephen & Sons, Linthouse
|
24 September 1936 | 17 December 1937 | 12 October 1938 | Lost 14 September 1942 to coastal artillery |
Somali | Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend
|
26 August 1936 | 24 August 1937 | 12 December 1938 | Lost 20 September 1942, torpedoed by U-703, sank while under tow |
Tartar | 26 August 1936 | 21 October 1937 | 10 March 1939 | Sold for scrap, 6 January 1948 | |
Zulu | Alexander Stephen & Sons, Linthouse | 10 August 1936 | 23 September 1937 | 7 September 1938 | Lost 14 September 1942 to aircraft attack |
Name | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Iroquois (ex-Athabaskan) | Vickers Armstrongs, Newcastle | 19 September 1940 | 23 September 1941 | 10 December 1942 | Sold for scrap, 1966 |
Athabaskan (I) (ex-Iroquois) | 31 October 1940 | 18 November 1941 | 3 February 1943 | Lost 29 April 1944, torpedoed by German torpedo boat T24 | |
Huron | 15 July 1941 | 25 June 1942 | 28 July 1943 | Sold for scrap, 1965 | |
Haida | 29 September 1941 | 25 August 1942 | 18 September 1943 | Preserved as museum ship, 1964 | |
Micmac | Halifax
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20 May 1942 | 18 September 1943 | 14 September 1945 | Sold for scrap, 1964 |
Nootka | 20 May 1942 | 26 April 1944 | 9 August 1946 | ||
Cayuga | 7 October 1943 | 28 July 1945 | 20 October 1947 | ||
Athabaskan (II) | 15 May 1944 | 4 May 1945 | 12 January 1947 | Sold for scrap, 1969 |
Name | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arunta | Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney | 15 November 1939 | 30 November 1940 | 30 April 1942 | Sold for scrap 1969, foundered en route to breakers off Broken Bay |
Warramunga | 10 February 1940 | 2 February 1942 | 23 November 1942 | Sold for scrap, 1963 | |
Bataan (ex-Kurnai) | 18 February 1942 | 15 January 1944 | 25 May 1945 | Sold for scrap, 1958 |
Service
As some of the Royal Navy's most modern and powerful escorts,[4] they were widely deployed in World War II, and served with great distinction in nearly all theatres of war. The Tribals were often selected for special tasks and as a result, losses were heavy, with 12 of the 16 Royal Navy Tribals sunk,[4] as well as one Canadian ship. Gurkha has the rare and unfortunate distinction of being the name of two ships that were sunk in World War II: the L-class destroyer Larne was renamed to honour the lost Tribal-class ship, and was herself lost in 1942.
1940
Cossack earned fame early on in the war, when on 6 February 1940, commanded by
1941
In May 1941, Somali, Bedouin, and Eskimo, along with the N-class destroyer
1942
In 1942, Matabele was torpedoed and sunk by U-454 in the Barents Sea and Maori was hit in the engine room by a bomb whilst lying in Grand Harbour, Valletta, in February, catching fire and later blowing up where she lay.[26][29] Punjabi was accidentally rammed and sunk by the battleship King George V in May, whilst performing close escort in thick weather.[30] In June, Bedouin was disabled in action with Regia Marina's cruisers Raimondo Montecuccoli and Eugenio di Savoia during Operation Harpoon.[28] Although later taken in tow by HMS Partridge the tow had to be cast when the Italian cruisers reappeared and, dead in the water, Bedouin was sunk by aircraft torpedo attack.[28] Ashanti was assigned to Operation Pedestal of August 1942. In September, the final two Tribals lost in the Battle of the Mediterranean were sunk; Sikh and Zulu during a disastrous raid on Tobruk.[11][31] Also that month, Somali was torpedoed by U-703 while covering the returning Russian Convoy QP 14. Although taken under tow by Ashanti, she sank four days later after heavy weather broke her back.[23] This was the last Royal Navy Tribal lost during the war.
1943
In 1943, the four remaining British Tribals (Ashanti, Eskimo, Tartar, and Nubian) participated in
At the same time, the two active Australian Tribals, Arunta and Warramunga, were attached to the joint Australian-American Task Force 74 and supported a series of landings in New Britain, and deployed to support a series of landings in Operation Cartwheel.[32]
The Canadian Tribals were also heavily engaged; Athabaskan was hit by German glide bombs while conducting operations in the Bay of Biscay and was put out of action for almost three months,[33] while Haida and Huron escorted the various Arctic convoys.[34][35]
1944
Eskimo, Ashanti, Athabaskan, Haida, Huron, Nubian, Tartar and later Iroquois saw extensive action in the English Channel before and after Operation Overlord, sinking or damaging a variety of enemy ships.[36][37][38][39]
In April,
After the Normandy invasion, Nubian was sent to screen Royal Navy Home Fleet units engaged in the protection of the Russian Convoy JW 59, and carrier-based aerial attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz and elsewhere in Norway.[36] Iroquois and Haida met up with the Free French cruiser Jeanne d'Arc which was sailing from Algiers to Cherbourg carrying members of the French Provisional Government.[39] Iroquois then escorted the liner RMS Queen Mary which was carrying the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the Second Quebec Conference.[39]
1945
Eskimo, Nubian, and Tartar were given some minor tropicalisation refits and were sent east to join the
During this period, the Canadian Tribals continued to be engaged; Haida, Huron and Iroquois escorted Russian convoys until May 1945, when Germany surrendered.[34][35][39] The Canadian Tribals then engaged in the escort of British warships liberating Norway following the German surrender.[34][35][39] Iroquois then joined the British cruisers Dido, Devonshire, and destroyer Savage at Copenhagen and headed to Wilhelmshaven, as escort for the surrendered German cruisers Prinz Eugen and Nürnberg.[39] Following this, the Canadian Tribals then returned to Halifax harbour for tropicalisation refits, which were suspended when the Japanese surrendered, and were sent into reserve.[34][35][39]
Post-war
Twenty-three Tribal-class destroyers were constructed before and during World War II; sixteen for the Royal Navy, four for the Royal Canadian Navy, and three for the Royal Australian Navy.[2] Thirteen were lost during the war;[2] six British Tribals to aircraft attack, four British and one Canadian Tribal to torpedo attacks, one British Tribal to shore batteries off Tobruk, and one British Tribal in a collision with a British battleship.
The surviving four British destroyers were paid off and sold for scrap during 1948 and 1949, while the Australian and Canadian Tribals were refitted and modernised for post-war service.[2] Four destroyers still under construction in Canada when World War II ended were completed and then modernised,[2] while five ships under construction in Australia were cancelled.
The Australian and Canadian ships, with the exception of Micmac, served during the Korean War, with Bataan at one point escorting a United States aircraft carrier with the same name. The Australian and Canadian Tribals continued in service until the late 1950s and early 1960s, when they were gradually decommissioned and sold for scrapping.
Only one ship of the class has been preserved. HMCS Haida was restored and is docked in Hamilton Harbour, Ontario, Canada as a museum ship. The bow of HMS Maori, sunk on 12 February 1942 by German aircraft, rests 13 m (43 ft) below sea level in Valletta's Marsamxett Harbour, Malta, and is a popular scuba diving site.
Notes
- ^ a b c Brown, D.K. (2006). Nelson to Vanguard: Warship Development, 1923–1945. London: Naval Institute Press.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Campbell, p. 40
- ^ a b Hadley, Michael L. (1996). A Nation's Navy: In Quest of Canadian Naval Identity. Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press. pp. ?.
- ^ a b c Roberts, John (2000). British Warships of the Second World War. London: Naval Institute Press.
- ISBN 0-85177-137-8
- OCLC 36817771.
- ^ a b Harding, editor, The Royal Navy, 1930–2000: innovation and defence. pp. 19-41:, Pugh, Managing the aerial threat.
- ^ Hodges and Friedman, Destroyer weapons of WW2, pp. 23-24.
- ^ Hodges and Friedman, Destroyer weapons of WW2, Previous to the Tribal class, Royal Navy destroyers carried either 2 x 2pdr AA guns or twin quadruple .5" Vickers machine guns. USN destroyers, in the same time frame, usually carried 4 x .5" Browning machine guns.
- ^ a b Mason, Geoffrey B. (2004). "HMS Zulu". naval-history.net. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
- ^ Hodges, p. 64.
- ^ "FORWARD GUNS". Friends of HMCS Haida. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ "Squid Mortar". Friends of HMCS Haida. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ "3" 50 GUN". Friends of HMCS Haida. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ OCLC 36817771.
- ^ a b Donohue, From Empire Defense to the Long Haul, p. 171
- ^ a b Vian, Sir Philip (1960). Action This Day. London: Frederick Muller.
- ^ a b "The Last Boarding Action of the Royal Navy". BBC. 6 November 2003. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ The Times (London), Monday, 19 February 1940, p. 10
- ^ Mason, Geoffrey B (2001). "HMS Afridi". naval-history.net. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ISBN 1-55750-744-9.
- ^ a b Mason, Geoffrey B (2001). "HMS Somali". naval-history.net. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ Ballard 1990, p. 117. Bismarck: Germany's Greatest Battleship reveals her secrets
- ISBN 978-1-903223-87-1.
- ^ a b c Mason, Geoffrey B (2001). "HMS Maori". naval-history.net. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
- ^ Mason, Geoffrey B (2004). "HMS Cossack". naval-history.net. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
- ^ a b c Mason, Geoffrey B (2001). "HMS Bedouin". naval-history.net. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
- ^ Mason, Geoffrey B. (2002). "HMS Matabele". naval-history.net. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ Woodman, Richard (2002). The History of the Ship: The Comprehensive Story of Seafaring from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. The Lyons Press.
- ^ Mason, Geoffrey B. (2003). "HMS Sikh". naval-history.net. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
- ^ Mason, Geoffrey B. (2006). "HMAS Arunta". naval-history.net. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ a b Mason, Geoffrey B. (2001). "HMCS Athabaskan". naval-history.net. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f Mason, Geoffrey B. (2003). "HMCS Haida". naval-history.net. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ a b c d Mason, Geoffrey B. (2001). "HMCS Huron". naval-history.net. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g Mason, Geoffrey B. (2002). "HMS Nubian". naval-history.net. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f Mason, Geoffrey B. (2006). "HMS Eskimo". naval-history.net. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
- ^ a b c d Mason, Geoffrey B. (2003). "HMS Tatar". naval-history.net. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g Mason, Geoffrey B. (2003). "HMCS Iroquois". naval-history.net. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
- ^ Mason, Geoffrey B. (2001). "HMS Ashanti". naval-history.net. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
References
- Brice, Martin H. (1971). The Tribals. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0245-2.
- Unlucky Lady: The Life and Death of HMCS Athabaskan 1940–44, Len Burrow & Emile Beudoin, Canada's Wings, 1983, ISBN 0-920002-13-7
- Campbell, N. J. M. (1980). "Great Britain". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books. pp. 2–85. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.
- Cooper, A (2010). HMAS Bataan, 1952: An Australian Warship in the Korean War. Sydney, Australia: University of NSW Press. ISBN 9781742231181.
- English, John (2001). Afridi to Nizam: British Fleet Destroyers 1937–43. Gravesend, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-64-9.
- ISBN 1-86176-137-6.
- HMCS Haida: Battle Ensign Flying, ISBN 1-55125-058-6
- Hodges, Peter (1971). Tribal Class Destroyers: Royal Navy and Commonwealth. London: Almark Publishing. ISBN 0-85524-047-4.
- Hodges, Peter; Friedman, Norman (1979). Destroyer Weapons of World War 2. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-137-3.
- ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
- ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
External links
- HMCS Haida Official Web Site
- Canadian Tribal Destroyer Association
- Booklet of general plans, circa 1941. Courtesy of the Historic Naval Ships Association.