HMS ''Narborough'' was an 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 First World War. She was wrecked after
running aground
Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...
in 1918.
Description
The Admiralty M class were improved and faster versions of the preceding .
[Gardiner & Gray, p. 76] 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
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Radio beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...
of and a
draught of . They were powered by three
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. 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 76 officers and
ratings.
[Friedman, p. 298]
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.
[
]
Construction and service
''Narborough'' was ordered under the Fourth War Programme in February 1915 and built by John Brown & Company
John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish Naval architecture, marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and ''Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship), Queen Elizabeth 2''.
At its heig ...
at Clydeside
Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...
. The ship was laid down in May 1915, launched on 3 March 1916 and completed in April 1916. She was named for Rear Admiral Sir John Narborough (1640-1688).
On commissioning, ''Narborough'' joined the 13th Destroyer Flotilla
The British 13th Destroyer Flotilla, or Thirteenth Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from November 1915 – November 1918 and again from September 1939 to January 1944.
History World War One
The flotilla was first form ...
, part of the Battlecruiser Force of 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 ...
. ''Narborough'' was one of ten destroyers of the 13th Flotilla that took part in the Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland () was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, durin ...
on 31 May–1 June 1916, supporting Admiral Beatty Beatty may refer to:
Places U.S. places
* Beatty, Nevada
* Beatty, Ohio
* Beatty, Oregon
* Beatty, Kentucky, now known as Beattyville
Other places
* Beatty, Saskatchewan
Beatty ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of S ...
's battlecruisers. At 16:09 hr, the 13th Flotilla was ordered to launch a torpedo attack against German battlecruiser
The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of att ...
s, while at almost the same time, the German 9th Torpedo-boat flotilla was ordered to attack the British battlecruisers. The two destroyer forces became involved in an intense engagement in which the British destroyer was disabled and the German torpedo boats and were sunk. ''Narborough'' did not open fire during this clash.[Campbell, pp. 46, 50.]
''Narborough'' continued as part of the 13th Destroyer Flotilla until transferring to the 12th Destroyer Flotilla
The British 12th Destroyer Flotilla, or Twelfth Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from November 1915 to March 1919 and again from September 1939 to 2 July 1943.
History World War One
The flotilla was first formed in Nov ...
of the Grand Fleet in November 1917. She was at sea screening the 1st Battle Squadron during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight
The Second Battle of Heligoland Bight, also the Action in the Helgoland Bight and the , was an inconclusive naval engagement fought between British and German squadrons on 17 November 1917 during the First World War.
Background
British minel ...
on 13 November 1917, but did not see action. On 12 January 1918, she and her sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...
, , were wrecked on the cliffs at Hesta Rock, just to the north of Windwick Bay, South Ronaldsay.
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Admiralty Board of Enquiry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narborough, HMS
Admiralty M-class destroyers
Ships built on the River Clyde
1916 ships
World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom
Maritime incidents in 1918
World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea