HMS Spitfire (1912)
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HMS Spitfire was an Acasta-class destroyer of the Royal Navy which took part in the battle of Jutland in 1916.
She was launched on 23 December 1912 and joined the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla, attached to the Grand Fleet.
Amongst the small engagements which happened during the night of 31 May–1 June 1916 during the Battle of Jutland was one between Spitfire and the German battleship Nassau. Spitfire evaded an attempt by Nassau to ram her, but the two ships nevertheless collided and Spitfire was seriously damaged, blast from Nassau's guns demolishing much of her upperworks, but she ripped off a 20 ft (6 m) section of the German ship's side plating. Both ships survived to return to port.[1]
Spitfire also helped in the rescue of survivors from the hospital/evacuation ship Rhodesia (formerly the Union Castle liner Galway Castle) which was torpedoed 160 miles off Fastnet by the submarine U-82 on 12 September 1918.
Spitfire was sold for scrapping in May 1921.
See HMS Spitfire for other ships of this name.
[edit] References
- ^ The Grand Fleet; Warship Design and Development 1906-1922, D K Brown, 1999, Chatham Publishing, ISBN 1-86176-099-X
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