Faulknor class leader

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Faulknor class leader

 RN Ensign
General characteristics
Displacement: 1,700 - 1,850 tons
Length: 331 ft
Beam: 32 ft 6 in
Draught: 11 ft
Propulsion: 6 White-Forster type water-tube boilers, steam turbines, 3 shafts, 30,000 shp
Speed: 32 kts
Range: 403 tons coal, 83 tons oil, ?
Complement: 197 - 205
Armament: As built;
  • 6 x 4 in L/40 QF Mark VI, single mounting P Mk. XI
  • 2 x twin tubes for 21 in torpedoes (4 x single in Botha)

As rearmed;

  • 2 x 4.7 in L/45 BL Mark I, single mounting CP Mk. VI
  • 2 x QF 2 pdr pom-pom Mk. II, single mounting HA Mk. II
  • 2 x 4 in L/40 QF Mark IV, single mounting P Mk. IX
  • 2 x twin tubes for 21 in torpedoes

The Faulknor class were a class of flotilla leaders that were under construction in the United Kingdom for the Chilean Navy at the outbreak of World War I. These ships were purchased by the British, taken over and completed for the Royal Navy for wartime service. In common with Royal Navy convention, they were named after famous Royal Navy captains of the past, in this case the members of the Faulknor family.

The Almirante Lynch class destroyers were a private design by J. Samuel White that were significantly larger and heavier armed than their contemporaries. They had four funnels, a tall, narrow fore funnel and three broad, short funnels behind. They were initially armed with six single QF 4 inch guns, unusually arranged with four on the forecastle - two sided in front of the wheelhouse and two sided abreast it - the remaining pair being sided on the quarterdeck. These guns were of a novel Elswick design for the Chileans and when the ships were rearmed they were replaced with standard Royal Navy models. As rearmed in 1918 they carried a BL 4.7 inch gun on the forecastle and another on a bandstand between the after pair of funnels, retained the pair of 4 inch guns abreast the wheelhouse and had two QF 2 pounder pom-poms. They were returned to the friendly nation of Chile in 1920, at which point the Thornycroft type leader Rooke was renamed Broke to maintain this famous name (that of Admiral Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke of the Shannon) in the Navy List.

[edit] Service

All of the class were present at the Battle of Jutland on May 31 to June 1, 1916 where Broke collided with and sank the Acasta class ship HMS Sparrowhawk. Also in this action, Tipperary, serving with the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, was hit by 5.9 inch (150 mm) fire from the secondary battery of the German dreadnought SMS Westfalen and sank with the loss of 185 hands from her crew of 197.

In April 1917, Broke took part in an action known as the Battle of Dover Strait with equally large singleton Swift where she was damaged.

Botha was damaged in the English Channel on March 21, 1918 off the coast of Flanders when she rammed and sunk the German torpdeo boat A-19 and was then torpedoed in error by the French destroyer Capitaine Mehl.

[edit] Ships

see also Almirante Lynch class destroyer for details after return to Chile

[edit] Bibliography

  • Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981, Maurice Cocker, 1983, Ian Allan ISBN 0-7110-1075-7
  • Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919, Jane's Publishing
Languages