HMS ''Lennox'' was a built for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
during the 1910s.
Description
The ''Laforey'' class were improved and faster versions of the preceding . They
displaced . The ships had an
overall length
The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...
of , a
beam of and a
draught of . ''Lennox'' was powered by two
Parsons direct-drive
steam turbine
A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
s, each driving one
propeller shaft
A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect o ...
, using steam provided by four
Yarrow boiler
Yarrow boilers are an important class of high-pressure water-tube boilers. They were developed by
Yarrow Shipbuilders, Yarrow & Co. (London), Shipbuilders and Engineers and were widely used on ships, particularly warships.
The Yarrow boiler desi ...
s.
[Gardiner & Gray, p. 76] The turbines developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The ships carried a maximum of of
fuel oil
Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil (bunker fuel), marine f ...
that gave them a range of at . The ships' complement was 74 officers and
ratings.
[Friedman, p. 296]
The ships were armed with three single
QF Mark IV guns and two
QF 1.5-pounder (37 mm) anti-aircraft gun
Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...
s. These latter guns were later replaced by a pair of
QF 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft guns. The ships were also fitted with two above-water twin mounts for
torpedoes. They were equipped with rails to carry four
Vickers Elia Mk IV mines, although these rails were never used.
[
]
Construction and service
''Lennox'' was laid down at William Beardmore and Company
William Beardmore and Company was a British engineering and shipbuilding Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active from 1886 to the mid-1930s and at its peak employed about 40,000 peo ...
's Clydebank
Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...
shipyard as ''Portia'' on 14 November 1912.[Friedman, p. 307.] On 30 September 1913, the Admiralty ordered that the L-class be renamed with names beginning with the letter "L", and ''Portia'' was renamed ''Lennox''.3rd Destroyer Flotilla
The British 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, also styled as Third Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from 1909 to 1939 and again from 1945 to 1951.
History
In 1907 the Channel Fleet had a large Channel Flotilla of destroyers in Fe ...
, based at The Nore
The Nore is a long bank of sand and silt running along the south-centre of the final narrowing of the Thames Estuary, England. Its south-west is the very narrow Nore Sand. Just short of the Nore's easternmost point where it fades into the cha ...
.[Manning, p. 15.] On the outbreak of the First World War this Flotilla became part of the Harwich Force
The Harwich Force originally called Harwich Striking Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War and based in Harwich. It played a significant role in the war.
History
After the outbreak of the First World War, it ...
, under the overall command of Commodore
Commodore may refer to:
Ranks
* Commodore (rank), a naval rank
** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom
** Commodore (India), in India
** Commodore (United States)
** Commodore (Canada)
** Commodore (Finland)
** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...
Reginald Tyrwhitt
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Reginald Yorke Tyrwhitt, 1st Baronet, (; 10 May 1870 – 30 May 1951) was a Royal Navy officer. During the First World War he served as commander of the Harwich Force. He led a supporting naval force of 31 destroyers an ...
,North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
, but capable of reinforcing either the Grand Fleet
The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.
History
Formed in August 1914 from th ...
or forces in the English Channel
The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
as required.[Friedman, pp. 139–140.] ''Lennox'' saw action in several engagements, including the Battle off Texel. On 6 May 1916, ''Lennox'' accidentally collided with , a seaplane carrier. Damage was insignificant for both ships, however.[Caruna, "et al"]
Notes
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lennox (1914)
Laforey-class destroyers (1913)
1914 ships
World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom
Ships built on the River Clyde