HMS Saumarez (1916)
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HMS ''Saumarez'' was a of the British
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 ...
. She was built by
Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
during the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, being launched on 14 October 1916 and completing on 21 December that year. ''Saumarez'' served with 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 ...
for the rest of the war, which she survived. The ship was sold for scrap in January 1931.


Construction and design

In July 1915, the
British Admiralty The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral of the ...
ordered three s (i.e. large destroyers intended to lead flotillas of smaller destroyers in action) under the Sixth Emergency War Construction Programme, ''Saumarez'', and , from the
Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...
shipyard
Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
. The ''Parker'' class was an improved version of the earlier with the forward two funnels of the ''Marksman'' class merged into one and the ships'
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
moved rearwards, allowing an improved gun layout. The ''Parker''s were long
overall Overalls or bib-and-brace overalls, also called dungarees in British English, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers ...
and
between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...
, with 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 .
Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...
was between and normal and about full load. 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 fed steam to three sets of Parsons
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, rated at and giving a speed of . Three funnels were fitted. of oil fuel were carried, giving a range of at . The ship's main gun armament consisted of four QF Mk IV guns mounted on the ships centreline, with the forward two guns
superfiring Superfiring armament is a naval design technique in which two or more turrets are located one behind the other, with the rear turret located above ("super") the one in front so that it can fire over the first. This configuration meant that both ...
so that one could fire over the other, with one gun between the second and third funnel and one aft. Two 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft guns were fitted, while torpedo armament consisted of two sets of twin 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. The standard anti-submarine armament for flotilla leaders such as ''Saumarez'' from June 1916 onwards was two Type D
depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...
s on chutes, although the number of depth charges tended to increased as the war progressed and the importance of anti-submarine operations grew. The ship's complement was 116 officers and men. ''Saumarez'', named after
James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...
, was
laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...
on 2 March 1916, and was launched on 14 October 1916, and commissioned on 21 December 1916.


Service

On commissioning, ''Saumarez'' joined 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 ...
as leader and flagship of the flotilla's
Captain (D) In the Royal Navy, a Captain (D) or Captain Destroyers is a commander responsible for the administration of ships and other vessels of either a destroyer flotilla or squadron. See also * Captain (D) afloat Captain (Capt.) is a senior office ...
. On 17 May 1917, the German submarine attacked and torpedoed two Swedish merchant ships east of the Orkney Islands, and , sinking ''Viken'' with the loss of eight of her crew, and causing ''Aspen''s crew to abandon ship. ''Saumarez'' sighted some of ''Aspen''s boats, and ordered the destroyer to investigate. ''Michael'' picked up the survivors, and found that ''Aspen'' was still afloat. ''Michael'', with the aid of a tug, brought ''Aspen'' to safety in
Kirkwall Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub wi ...
, with ''Saumarez'' escorting the two ships into harbour. In July 1917, the flotilla, including ''Saumarez'', moved to Rosyth. From 15 June 1917 the destroyers and submarines of the Grand Fleet took part in Operation BB, a large scale operation against German submarines, with 53 destroyers and leaders together with 17 submarines deployed on offensive patrols on the transit route for the Germans from the
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 ...
and around the
Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...
and
Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...
Islands to the
Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...
. ''Saumarez'' led nine to ten destroyers of the 12th Flotilla on patrol to the west of the
Hebrides The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scotland, Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Ou ...
. Two sightings of submarines and one unsuccessful attack on a submarine was carried out in ''Saumarez''s area, while one unescorted merchant ship was sunk by a German submarine in the area. Overall, 61 sightings were made of German submarines were made by the destroyers and submarines of the Grand Fleet until the operation ended on 24 June, of which 12 resulted in attacks on the submarines, but no submarines were sunk or damaged. On 17 November 1917, the Grand Fleet launched a major sortie on German forces in the North Sea - a force of cruisers and destroyers, supported by battlecruisers, and with a squadron of battleships in distant support, was to attack German minesweepers in the
Heligoland Bight The Heligoland Bight, also known as Helgoland Bight, (, ) is a bay which forms the southern part of the German Bight, itself a bay of the North Sea, located at the mouth of the Elbe river. The Heligoland Bight extends from the mouth of the Elb ...
. ''Saumarez'' formed part of the escort for the covering force of the battleships of the
1st Battle Squadron The 1st Battle Squadron was a Squadron (naval), naval squadron of the British Royal Navy consisting of battleships. The 1st Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet. After World War I the Grand Fleet was reverted to i ...
, sailing a few hours behind the main force. The operation resulted in the inconclusive
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 ...
. ''Saumarez'' remained leader of the 12th Flotilla until the end of the war. The Grand Fleet was broken up after the end of the war, with new destroyer flotillas formed, and in February, ''Saumarez'' was listed as being based at
HMNB Devonport His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roya ...
, but not as part of a flotilla. By March, she was leader of the
5th Destroyer Flotilla The British 5th Destroyer Flotilla, or Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from 1910 to 1942 and again from 1947 to 1951. History The flotilla was formed in February 1910 and disbanded in 1942. Its first commander ...
, but she was reduced to reserve at Devonport on 15 October 1919. ''Saumarez'' remained in reserve most of the rest of her career apart from brief commissionings to take part in exercises, serving as a tender to the training school at Keyham. ''Saumarez'' was sold to the
shipbreakers Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for t ...
Thos. W. Ward Thos. W. Ward Ltd was a Sheffield, Yorkshire, business primarily working steel, engineering and cement. It began as coal and coke merchants. It expanded into recycling metal for Sheffield's steel industry, and then the supply and manufacture ...
on 8 January 1931 for £5,100 and was removed to their works at
Briton Ferry Briton Ferry () is a town and Community (Wales), community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The Welsh name may indicate that the church, ''llan'', is protected from the wind, ''awel''. Alternatively, ''Sawel'' may be a deri ...
for scrapping on 2 February that year.


Pennant numbers


Notes


Citations


References

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saumarez (1916) Parker-class flotilla leaders World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Mersey 1916 ships