HMS Cockatrice (1912)

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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Cockatrice.
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History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
Name: HMS Cockatrice
Builder: Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Newcastle upon Tyne
Laid down: 23 October 1911
Launched: 8 November 1912
Completed: March 1913
Fate: Sold for scrap May 1921
General characteristics
Class & type: Acasta-class destroyer
Displacement: 935 tons
Length: 267 ft 6 in (81.53 m)
Beam: 27 ft (8.2 m)
Draught: 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Propulsion: Yarrow-type water-tube boilers, Parsons steam turbines
Speed: 29 kn (54 km/h)
Complement: 74
Armament:
  • 3 × BL Mk VIII guns Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
  • 2 × torpedo tubes

HMS Cockatrice was an Acasta-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy.[1] She was built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company, launching in 1912 and served throughout the First World War. She was sold for scrap in 1921.

Construction

Cockatrice was one of three Acasta-class destroyers ordered from the Newcastle upon Tyne shipbuilder Hawthorn Leslie and Company as part of the 1911–1912 shipbuilding programme for the Royal Navy. In all, 20 Acasta-class ships were ordered as part of this programme, of which 12, including Cockatrice, were to the standard Admiralty design with the other 8 ships to their builder's own designs.[2] She was laid down on 23 October 1911 and launched on 8 November 1912.[3] In 1912, as part of a general reorganisation of the Royal Navy's destroyers into alphabetical classes, the Acastas became the K-class,[4] and in 1913, it was decided to switch to names beginning with the class letter, with Cockatrice being allocated the name Kingfisher, but this plan was abandoned for the class and Cockatrice completed under her original name in March 1913.[5][6]

Cockatrice was 260 feet 0 inches (79.25 m) long between perpendiculars and 267 feet 6 inches (81.53 m) overall, with a beam of 27 feet 0 inches (8.23 m) and a draught of 10 feet 5 inches (3.18 m). Displacement was 892 long tons (906 t) normal[lower-alpha 1] and 1,072 long tons (1,089 t) deep load.[8] Four Yarrow boilers fed steam to direct drive Parsons steam turbines rated at 24,500 shaft horsepower (18,300 kW) and driving two shafts. This gave a speed of 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph). The ships had a crew of 73 officers and men.[5]

The ship's main gun armament consisted of three 4-inch (102 mm) BL Mk VIII guns,[lower-alpha 2] with 120 rounds of ammunition carried per gun.[5][8] Two 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes were fitted, while two reload torpedoes could be carried.[8][10] By January 1916, Cockatrice was recorded as being fitted with minesweeping gear.[11] In 1916, one of Cockatrice's 4-inch guns was converted to a high-angle mount, allowing it to be used for anti-aircraft fire, but in 1918, this gun, together with both torpedo tubes, was removed to allow a heavy depth charge armament.[12]

Service

Cockatrice joined her sister ships in the 4th Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet based at Portsmouth.[13][14] With the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the 4th Flotilla, including Cockatrice, joined the newly established Grand Fleet, based at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys.[14][15][16] Cockatrice was damaged during a severe storm in December 1914.[17]

Cockatrice remained part of the 4th Flotilla in May 1916,[18] but was absent from the Battle of Jutland, when most of the 4th Flotilla took part, as she was undergoing refit.[19][20] The 4th Flotilla, including Cockatrice, left the Grand Fleet and moved to the Humber in July 1916,[21][22][23] with the role of protecting British minesweepers and deterring German minelayers off the East coast of England.[24] By December that year, Cockatrice had relocated again as the 4th Flotilla transferred to Portsmouth to carry out anti-submarine operations in the English Channel,[23][25][26][27] while by March 1917, the 4th Flotilla had moved to Devonport.[23][28] On 13 and 14 May 1918, Cockatrice, on patrol with sister ships Christopher and Ambuscade, attacked possible submarine contacts with depth charges with no apparent results.[29][30] Cockatrice was still part of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla in August 1918,[31] but by the end of the war had joined the Northern Patrol Force based at Dundee.[32][33]

Disposal

Cockatrice was sold for scrap to the ship breakers Ward of Hayle on 9 May 1921.[34]

Pennant Numbers

Pennant number[35] From To
H73 6 December 1914   1 January 1918
H26 1 January 1918 Early 1919
G57 Early 1919 6 May 1921

References

  1. ↑ The Navy list for October 1913 notes Cockatrice's displacement as 935 tons.[7]
  2. ↑ Later ships in the class were armed with faster firing QF (Quick-Fire) guns with cased ammunition instead of the BL guns which used bagged charges.[9]
  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Friedman 2009, pp. 126–127
  3. ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 207
  4. ↑ Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 18
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 75
  6. ↑ Friedman 2009, pp. 306–307
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Friedman 2009, p. 295
  9. ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 126
  10. ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 124
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Friedman 2009, pp. 124, 147, 152
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Manning 1961, p. 25
  15. ↑ Jellicoe 1919, pp. 7–9
  16. ↑ Corbett 1920, pp. 25–26
  17. ↑ Jellicoe 1919, p. 174
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Manning 1961, p. 62
  20. ↑ Corbett 1923, pp. 394–395
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Manning 1961, p. 26
  24. ↑ Newbolt 1928, pp. 24–25
  25. ↑ Newbolt 1928, pp. 66–67
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ From the Royal Navy log book for HMS Christopher, 13 May 1918. Transcribed by the Old Weather[?] project.
  30. ↑ From the Royal Navy log book for HMS Christopher, 14 May 1918. Transcribed by the Old Weather[?] project.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Dittmar & Colledge 1972, p. 63
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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