A class destroyer
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| A class |  |
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| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,350 tons standard (Saguenay, Skeena; 1,337 tons) |
| Length: | 323 ft (98.5 m) (Saguenay, Skeena; 320 ft (97.5 m)) |
| Beam: | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
| Draught: | 12.2 ft (3.7 m) |
| Propulsion: | 3 x Admiralty 3-drum boilers (Thornycroft in Acheron, Yarrow in Anthony, Ardent) steam turbines, 2 shafts, 34,000 shp |
| Speed: | 35 knots |
| Range: | 4,800 nm at 15 knots |
| Complement: | 138 |
| Armament: (designed) |
4 x 4.7 in (120 mm) guns Mark IX on mountings CP Mk.XIII 2 x 2 pdr Mk.II A/A |
| Codrington | |
| Displacement: | 1,540 tons standard, 2,012 tons full |
| Length: | 343 ft ( 104.5 m) o/a |
| Beam: | 33 ft 9 in (10.29 m) |
| Draught: | 12 ft 4 in (3.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | 3 x Admiralty 3-drum boilers, steam turbines, 2 shafts, 39,000 shp |
| Speed: | 37 knots |
| Range: | 4,800 nm at 15 knots |
| Complement: | 185 |
| Armament: |
5 x 4.7 in (119 mm) guns Mark IX on mountings CP Mk.XIII 2 x 2 pdr Mark II A/A |
The A class was a flotilla of eight destroyers built for the Royal Navy as part of the 1927 naval programme. A ninth ship, Codrington, was built to an enlarged design to act as the flotilla leader. Two similar ships, Saguenay and Skeena were built for the Royal Canadian Navy.
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[edit] Design
The A class were based on the 1926 prototypes Amazon and Ambuscade. It was intended that the following alterations be made to the prototypes;
- The guns were to be true Quick Firing (QF) pieces with full length shields
- 'B' gun was to be carried on a High-Angle (HA) mounting giving 60° elevation
- The torpedo tubes were to be quadruple instead of triple
- Asdic (Sonar), depth charges and high-speed destroyer minesweeps were to be carried
- The separate cruising steam turbines were to be replaced by adding a cruising stage to the main turbine
- A petrol generator was to be fitted, so that electric light and services could be provided when steam was down in harbour
In the event, the HA mounting was a failure and was not fitted and cost cutting meant that Asdic and most of the depth charges were deleted. The class were 200 tons heavier than the 1926 prototypes yet the only major improvement were the quadruple tubes. Speed was disappointing, being 35 knots with a deep load maximum of only 31 knots.
Acheron was given high temperature and pressure boilers (500 psi, 750 ° F) by Parsons Marine Steam Turbines to examine the weight and economy savings. Her specific fuel consumption was reduced from 0.8 lb -1 hp-1 hour-1 in her sisters to 0.6 lb -1 hp-1 hour-1. In the event the trials were inconclusive, and it is unfortunate that the Admiralty maintained a conservative attachment to the 300 psi / 600 °F until the Battle class destroyer of 1942 which did not enter service until 1944, some ten years after other major Navies.
Codrington was built to an enlarged design - 343 ft (105 m) compared to 320 ft (98 m) - to accommodate Captain (D) and his staff, some 47 additional officers and men. She shipped a fifth 4.7 in gun between the funnels, and with 39,000 shp made 37.7 knots on trials. However the increased length made her somewhat unhandy, having a turning circle much greater than the standard A class, making flotilla manouvers complicated.
The two Canadian ships were slightly modified from the British ships, with their bow strengthened with heavier plating to enable them to perform in areas with ice. Their length was three feet less than their British counterparts, and their displacement also decreased, though only slightly. They were built by J I Thornycroft and had the broad, slab-sided funnels characteristic of that builder.
[edit] War modifications
It is unlikely that the early war losses Codrington, Acasta, Acheron and Ardent received any major alterations. In 1941 the surviving ships had the after funnel cut down in height and the after torpedo tubes replaced by a World War I era 12 pdr 20 cwt (3 in / 76 mm) anti-aircraft (A/A) gun on mounting HA Mk.IV ; a somewhat token addition. More of an improvement was landing 'Y' gun and the minesweeps and fitting Asdic and racks and throwers for a 10-pattern depth charge salvo, 70 rounds being carried. Two 20 mm Oerlikon guns were fitted, one in each bridge wing. Achates had 'A' gun replaced by a Hedgehog anti-submarine (A/S) mortar and had the centimetric Radar Type 271 for detecting surfaced U-boats. Others had metric Radar Type 286F or 290 added, the former of which had a fixed antennae array and required the ship to be turned to change the bearing down which it scanned. By 1942, the Canadian ships generally had 'B' and 'Y' guns removed, Radar Type 286 added, no torpedoes, a 12 pdr gun, six single 20 mm Oerlikon guns and stowage for 141 depth charges.
By 1943, Antelope had Radar Type 271, and Type 286 and 290 sets, where fitted, were replaced with Type 291. The 12 pounder gun was removed around 1943 and High Frequency Direction Finding (HF/DF, or "huff-duff") was generally added. The single 20 mm guns in the wings were replaced by Mark V powered mountings for twin weapons, the singles replacing the ancient 2 pounder guns amidships. In 1944 Active, Anthony and Antelope receiving a pair of 6 pounder / 10 cwt QF Mark I guns on a Mark I* mounting in lieu of 'B' gun. This automatic weapon was fitted for dealing with E-boats on east coast duties.
[edit] Service
The class saw much service in World War II, being involved in convoy protection and anti-submarine warfare in home waters and the North Atlantic. Seven of the eleven ships of the class were sunk in World War II. Acasta and Ardent were sunk on 8 June 1940 by Scharnhorst and Gneseisnau west of Narvik during the Norwegian Campaign. Codrington was sunk by German air attack at Dover on 27 July 1940. Acheron was sunk by a mine off the Isle of Wight on 17 December 1940. Achates was sunk by two large German heavy cruisers Admiral Hipper and Lützow. Arrow was so heavily damaged when the ammunition ship Fort la Monte blew up on 17 October 1944 at Algiers that she could not be repaired and was towed to Taranto and paid off. Skeena was wrecked in a storm off Iceland on 25 October 1944. Saguenay was heavily damaged in a collision with the merchant ship Azara and was consigned to the role of training ship after being repaired.
The surviving ships were worn out from war duties and were scrapped soon after the war.
[edit] Ships
[edit] Royal Navy
[edit] Royal Canadian Navy
[edit] Bibliography
- Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981, Maurice Cocker, Ian Allan, ISBN 0-7110-1075-7
- Royal Navy Destroyers since 1945, Leo Marriot, Ian Allan, ISBN 0-7110-1817-0
- British and Empire Warships of the Second World War, H T Lenton, Greenhill Books, ISBN 1-85367-277-7
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946, Ed. Robert Gardiner, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0-87021-913-8
- Destroyers of World War II, An International Encyclopedia, M. J. Whiteley, Arms and Armour Press, 1988, ISBN 1-84509-521-8
[edit] See also
A class destroyer (1913) - a previous group of Royal Navy destroyers also known as the "A class".
| A-class destroyer |
| Royal Navy |
| Codrington (leader) | Acasta | Achates | Acheron | Active | Antelope | Anthony | Ardent | Arrow |
| Royal Canadian Navy |
| Saguenay | Skeena |
