Design and description
The ''Acasta''s were larger and heavier armed than the preceding H and I classes ( and , respectively), displacing about 25% more and with the mixed calibre armament replaced with a uniform fit of British ordnance terms#QF, QF 4-inch guns, which the ''Acasta''s introduced. Previous weapons had been of the breech-loading (British ordnance terms#BL, BL) type. The guns were shipped one each on the forecastle and either side abreast the after torpedo tube (or amidships before and after the tube in some ships.) All ships had three funnels, the foremost being tall and narrow, the second short and wide and the third level with the second but narrower. The foremost torpedo tube was sited between the second and third funnels, a distinctive feature of this class. There were twelve 'standard' vessels built to a common Admiralty design, and eight builders' specials that (except for ''Garland'') had a shorter, less beamy hull; five of the latter were from John I. Thornycroft & Company Limited, Thornycroft with (one of Thornycroft's ships, , was planned to diesel engine, diesel cruising motors, but these were not ready in time and ''Hardy'' was completed with Thornycroft's standard machinery).Friedman 2009, pp. 126–129. One by Parsons Marine Steam Turbines, Parsons () had semi-geared turbinesFriedman 2009, p. 127. giving a speed of on trials, with a seventh from Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Fairfields had a clipper bow. The eighth 'special' was by William Denny and Brothers, William Denny, Dumbarton, which was built using longitudinal framing rather than conventional transverse framing. While ''Ardent'' novel construction seems to have been a success, no more destroyers were built for the Royal Navy using longitudinal framing until the J, K and N-class destroyer, J-class destroyers in the 1930s.Brown 2010, pp. 70–71. ''Fortune'' Displacement (ship), displaced with a Length overall, length of , a Beam (nautical), beam of and a Draft (ship), draught of . The destroyer had a complement of 73.Gardiner and Gray, p. 75 The ship was powered by four Yarrow boiler, Yarrow-type water-tube boilers which fed Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company, Parsons steam turbines rated at , which drove two shafts, giving the destroyer a maximum speed of . ''Fortune'' was given an experimental clipper Bow (ship), bow ''Fortune'' was armed with three QF 4 inch naval gun Mk IV, XII, XXII, QF L/40 Mark IV guns on P Mk. IX mountings. However, ''Fortune'' was a "Builders' Special", and the second 4-inch gun was mounted on a platform between the no.2 and 3 funnels. The ship one QF 2 pounder naval gun, QF 2 pdr pom-pom Mk. II gun. The destroyer was also equipped with two single torpedo tubes for four British 21 inch torpedo, 21 inch (533 mm) torpedoes.Construction and career
''Fortune'' was Keel laying, laid down under the 1911–1912 construction programme by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and Ship naming and launching, launched on 17 March 1913. She was temporarily renamed HMS ''Kismet'' in October 1913, but this was reverted shortly afterwards. She joined the 4th Destroyer Flotilla on completion and served with the Grand Fleet on the outbreak of World War I.Battle of Jutland and loss
During the evening of 31 May 1916, the 4th Flotilla was screening the rear of the Grand Fleet in the Battle of Jutland, against the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet. At 11:20 pm, the 4th Flotilla encountered unknown ships off their starboard quarter. Believing them to be British, the flotilla leader flashed a challenge. Six opposing ships, comprising the battleships , and and three cruisers, turned on their floodlights and opened up with their secondary armament. Most aimed for ''Tipperary'' which was soon ablaze. The destroyers began to return fire and launched a torpedo attack, which led to a collision among the Germans. During this first attack, ''Fortune'' and were separated from the rest of the flotilla. They began to look for the German ships which had disengaged after battering their way through the 4th Flotilla.Massie, p. 644 About 11:30 pm they eventually found four large ships and engaged them. Both ''Ardent'' and ''Fortune'' were sunk in the ensuing firefight. The last anyone saw of ''Fortune'' was the ship afire but still firing as the destroyer was sinking. There were seven survivors, the other 67 crewmen were killed or missing. The wrecksite is designated as a ''protected place'', under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.Pennant numbers
References
Citations
Bibliography
* Brown, David K. (2010) ''The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906–1922''. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. . * Friedman, Norman. (2009) ''British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War'', Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. . * Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. . * Massie, Robert K. (2003). ''Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea.'' New York: Ballantine Books.External links