HMS Lurcher (1912)

HMS Lurcher was a modified Acheron-class destroyer, named after the lurcher-type dog, and the fifth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name; when new she was the fastest ship in the Royal Navy.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Lurcher.

HMS Lurcher
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Lurcher
Builder: Yarrow & Company, Scotstoun, Glasgow
Yard number: 1305[1]
Launched: 1 June 1912
Fate: Sold for scrapping, 9 June 1922
General characteristics
Class and type: Acheron-class destroyer
Displacement: 990 tons[2]
Length: 75 m (246 ft)
Beam: 7.8 m (26 ft)
Draught: 2.7 m (8.9 ft)
Installed power: 20,000 shp (15,000 kW)[2]
Propulsion:
  • 2 × Parsons turbines
  • 3 × Yarrow oil-fired boilers
  • 2 × shafts[3]
Speed: 35 knots (65 km/h)
Complement: 70
Armament:

Pennant numbers
Pennant Number[4]FromTo
H016 December 1914  1 January 1918
H651 January 1918Early 1919
H90Early 191910 October 1921

Construction

Sir Alfred Yarrow maintained that it was possible to build strong, seaworthy destroyers with a speed of 32 kn (59 km/h), and a contract for three such boats was placed with Yarrow & Company of Scotstoun, Glasgow. The "Firedrake Specials", "Special I class" or "Yarrow Specials" were a little larger than the rest of the class but carried the same armament. Lurcher, Firedrake and Oak were, however, distinctive in appearance and at least 4 knots faster than the rest of their class. They all exceeded their contract speed, Lurcher making over 35 knots (65 km/h); she became part of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla.

World War One

At the start of World War I Lurcher and Firedrake were assigned to the Eighth Submarine Flotilla under the command of Commodore Roger Keyes, and were based at Parkeston Quay, Harwich. Both ships were employed in escorting, towing and exercising with submarines of their flotilla, and the more notable episodes are detailed below:

The Battle of Heligoland Bight
Main article: Battle of Heligoland (1914)

On 26 August 1914 Keyes hoisted his broad pennant in Lurcher, leading Firedrake, two D-class and six E-class submarines eastwards into the North Sea. Also at sea were the destroyers of Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt. The plan was to place elements of the High Seas Fleet between Royal Navy surface ships and bottomed Royal Navy submarines. Unknown to Keyes and Tyrwhitt, the Admiralty had added significant reinforcements at the last minute.

Keyes' despatch reads:

At midnight on the 26th August, I embarked in the Lurcher, and, in company with Firedrake and Submarines D2, D8, E4, E5, E6, E7, E8 and E9 of the Eighth Submarine Flotilla, proceeded to take part in the operations in the Heligoland bight arranged for the 28th August. the Destroyers scouted for submarines until nightfall on the 27th, when the latter proceeded independently to take up various positions from which they could co-operate with the Destroyer Flotillas on the following morning. At Daylight on the 28th August, the Lurcher and Firedrake searched the area through which the Battle Cruisers were to advance for hostile Submarines, and then proceeded towards Heligoland in the wake of Submarines E6, E7 and E8, which were exposing themselves with the object of inducing the enemy to chase them to the westward.[5]

Battle was joined at 7:00 on 28 August in misty conditions. Due to lack of information about reinforcements sent by the Admiralty, great potential existed for fratricidal attacks; at 8:15 am Firedrake and Lurcher came close to attacking the cruisers Lowestoft and Nottingham.[6]

SMS Mainz sinking, with Lurcher and boats of Liverpool to the left of the picture

After the German cruiser SMS Mainz was heavily damaged and disabled, Commodore Goodenough ordered his ships to cease firing on her at 12:55 pm and a rescue operation was undertaken. Liverpool, accompanied by Lurcher and Firedrake, manoeuvred close to Mainz in an effort to recover the surviving crew. Boats from Liverpool were deployed to retrieve those who had abandoned ship while Lurcher positioned alongside Mainz to transfer the crew who remained on board.[7] By 1:10pm the Royal Navy ships withdrew as the height of tide was high enough to allow larger German Navy units to enter the area. Although the operation had been something of a shambles in the mist, the results were clear: Three German light cruisers and a destroyer sunk against no Royal Navy losses.

Submarines in the Baltic

On 22 September 1914 Firedrake and Lurcher towed the submarines E1 and E5 towards the Skagerrak.[6] This was the first act in a long saga that culminated in a British submarine flotilla in the Baltic.

Raid on Scarborough
Main article: Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby

By 14 December 1914 the Admiralty had advance warning of the intended raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby through signals intelligence. Commodore Keyes was ordered to send eight submarines and his two command destroyers, Firedrake and Lurcher, to take stations off the island of Terschelling to catch the German ships should they turn west into the English Channel. On 16 December, as the situation developed, the submarines were ordered to move to the Heligoland Bight in order to intercept returning German ships. They failed, although one torpedo was fired at SMS Posen by E11, which missed. As a last-ditch attempt to catch Rear Admiral Franz Hipper, the Admiralty ordered Keyes to take his two destroyers and attempt to torpedo Hipper as he returned home around 2 am. on 17 December. Keyes himself had considered this and wanted to try, but the message was delayed and failed to reach him until too late.[8]

Search for HM Submarine C31

On 7 January 1915 both Lurcher and Firedrake carried out a search for the missing submarine C31, to little avail; it transpired later that she had been mined off the Belgian coast on 4 January.

Battle of Jutland

Lurcher sailed from Harwich on 30 May in company with HM Submarines E31, E53 and D6 to patrol positions between Southwold and the Dutch coast,[9] but were not involved in the Battle of Jutland, which occurred further to the east.

Collision with HM Submarine C17
HMS C17

In May 1917 Lurcher collided with and sank C17, which was later repaired and returned to service.[10][11]

Rescue of HM Submarine C25

At about noon on 6 July 1918 a squadron of five German seaplanes returning from a daylight raid on Lowestoft and Walmer came across C25 on the surface 15 miles (24 km) east of Orford Ness. Their machine-gun attack killed the commanding officer and four other men, as well as mortally wounding the coxswain. The steering gear, compasses and radio were all damaged. The first lieutenant, Sub Lieutenant Cobb, attracted the attention of E51 at about 12:45, and a tow was established. The seaplanes carried out further attacks on both submarines between 3:18 and 3:45 pm, and it was not until the arrival of Lurcher that the enemy seaplanes were driven off.[12][13]

Disposal

Lurcher survived the war and was sold to J. Cashmore[4] of Newport for breaking on 9 June 1921.[4]

Commanding officers
FromToCaptain
29 October 191213 December 1913Commander Claude Lionel Cumberlege RN[14]
19141915Commander Wilfred Tomkinson RN[15]

References
  1. "HMS Lurcher". Clyde-built Ship Database. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2015.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. "HMS Oak". Clyde-built Ship Database. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2015.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. "Miscellenia" (PDF). The Engineer. Vol. 114. 12 July 1912. p. 39. The vessel is 255ft. long by 25ft. 7in. beam, and is propelled by Parsons turbines driving two shafts, steam being supplied by three Yarrow water-tube boilers fitted with the firm's latest feed-heating devices
  4. "Arrowsmith List: Royal Navy WWI Destroyer Pendant Numbers". The Great War Primary Documents Archive. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  5. "Despatch of Commodore Keyes, HMS Maidstone, October 17, 1914". World War 1 Naval Combat. 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  6. Compton-Hall, Richard (2004). Submarines at War 1914–18. Periscope Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-904381-21-1.
  7. Osborne, Eric W. (2006). The Battle of Heligoland Bight. Indiana University Press. pp. 91–92. ISBN 978-0-253-34742-8.
  8. Massie, Robert (2004). Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. London: Jonathan Cape. p. 354. ISBN 0-224-04092-8.
  9. Hawes, Richard, Steffen Boel Jørgensen, Peter Lienau & Bruce Wright (2008). "Order of Battle – Battle of Jutland – 31 May to 1 June 1916". NavWeaps. Retrieved 1 February 2015.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. "Submarine Losses". Submariners Association (Barrow in Furness Branch). 2015. Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  11. "Royal Navy C Class Submarines". battleships-cruisers.co.uk. 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  12. "Today in History: 6 July". SeaWaves. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  13. "The life and death of William Barge". Devon Heritage. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  14. "Rear Admiral Claude Lionel Cumberlege". Cumberbatch Family History. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  15. "Survey of the Papers of Senior UK Defence Personnel, 1900–1975". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
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