E and F class destroyer


Electra
Class overview
Operators:  Royal Navy
Royal Canadian Navy
 Hellenic Navy
Dominican Navy
Preceded by: C and D class
Succeeded by: G and H class
Subclasses: E, F
In commission: 21 April 1932 - April 1956
Completed: 18
Lost: 9 + 1 expended
Retired: 8
General characteristics as per Lenton[1]
Type: E and F destroyer
Displacement: 1,405 long tons (1,428 t) (standard)
1,940 long tons (1,970 t) (deep)
Length: 329 ft (100 m) o/a
Beam: 33 ft 3 in (10.13 m)
Draught: 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) (deep)
Installed power: 38,000 shp (28,000 kW)
Propulsion: 2 × Parsons geared steam turbines
3 × Admiralty 3-drum water tube boilers
2 × shafts
Speed: 35.5 kn (40.9 mph; 65.7 km/h)
31.5 kn (36.2 mph; 58.3 km/h) )deep)
Range: 6,350 nmi (7,310 mi; 11,760 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
1,275 nmi (1,467 mi; 2,361 km) at 35.5 kn (40.9 mph; 65.7 km/h)
Complement: 145
Armament:

4 × QF 4.7-inch (120-mm) Mk. IX L/45 guns
8 × .5 in (13 mm) Mk.I anti-aircraft machine guns (2x4)
8 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes

1 × 20-round depth charge rack
General characteristics (Esk and Express as minelayers)
Armament: 2 × QF 4.7 in (120 mm) Mk. IX L/45 dual purpose guns, 60 × Mk. XVI mines
Notes: Other characteristics as per above
General characteristics (flotilla leaders)
Displacement: 1,495 long tons (1,519 t) (standard)
2,050 long tons (2,080 t) (full load)
Length: 343 ft (105 m) o/a
Beam: 33 ft 9 in (10.29 m)
Speed: 36 kn (41 mph; 67 km/h)
32 kn (37 mph; 59 km/h) (deep)
Range: 6,500 nmi (7,500 mi; 12,000 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
1,500 nmi (1,700 mi; 2,800 km) at 36 kn (41 mph; 67 km/h)
Complement: 175
Armament: 5 × QF 4.7 in (120 mm) Mk. IX L/45 dual purpose guns
Notes: Other characteristics as per above

The E and F class was a class of 18 destroyers of the Royal Navy that served during the Second World War. Three ships were later transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy, one to the Royal Hellenic Navy and one to the Dominican Navy. Launched in 1934, they served in the Second World War. Nine were lost. The E class were ordered under the 1931 construction programme, the F class being of the 1932 programme.

Contents

Design

For the first time since the A-class of the 1927 programme, the flotilla leaders were built to an enlarged design, being lengthened to incorporate an additional QF 4.7-inch (120-mm) gun between the funnels. The lengthened design resulted in a three boiler room layout to enhance water-tight integrity.[2] The leaders were not fitted for minesweeping or minelaying.

Ships

E class

Ship Pennant number Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate
Echo H.23 William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton 20 March 1933 16 February 1934 22 October 1934 Transferred to the Royal Hellenic Navy as Navarinon, 1944
Eclipse H.08 William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton 22 March 1933 12 April 1934 29 November 1934 Sunk by a mine off Kalymnos, Greece, 24 October 1943
Electra H.27 Hawthorn Leslie & Company, Hebburn 15 March 1933 15 February 1934 13 September 1934 Sunk by the Japanese light cruiser Jintsu in the Battle of the Java Sea, 27 February 1942
Encounter H.10 Hawthorn Leslie & Company, Hebburn 15 March 1933 29 March 1934 2 November 1934 Scuttled after being severely damaged by the Japanese heavy cruisers Ashigara and Myōkō in the Battle of the Java Sea, 1 March 1942
Escapade H.17 Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Greenock 30 March 1933 30 January 1934 30 August 1934 Sold to G & W Brunton, Grangemouth for breaking up, August 1947
Escort H.66 Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Greenock 30 March 1933 29 March 1934 30 October 1934 Torpedoed by the Italian submarine Guglielmo Marconi, 8 July 1940; sank while under tow, 11 July 1940
Esk H.15 Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend 24 March 1933 19 March 1934 28 September 1934 Sunk by a mine near Texel, the Netherlands, 31 August 1940
Express H.61 Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend 24 March 1933 29 May 1934 2 November 1934 Transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Gatineau, 1943
Exmouth (flotilla leader) H.02 HM Dockyard, Portsmouth 15 May 1933 7 February 1934 9 November 1934 Sunk by U-22 in the Moray Firth, 21 January 1940

F class

Ship Pennant number Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Fate
Fame H.78 Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company, Wallsend (hull subcontracted to Vickers Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness) 5 July 1933 28 June 1934 26 April 1935 Transferred to the Dominican Republic as Generalisimo, February 1949
Fearless H.67 Cammell Laird & Company, Birkenhead 17 March 1933 12 May 1934 22 December 1934 Torpedoed by Italian aircraft in the Mediterranean, 12 July 1941; scuttled, 23 July 1941
Firedrake H.79 Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company, Wallsend (hull subcontracted to Vickers Armstrongs, Walker) 5 July 1933 28 June 1934 30 May 1935 Sunk by U-211 on 16 December 1942
Foresight H.68 Cammell Laird & Company, Birkenhead 21 July 1933 29 June 1934 15 May 1935 Torpedoed by Italian planes, 12 August 1942; scuttled the same day
Forester H.74 J. Samuel White & Company, Cowes 15 May 1933 28 June 1934 29 March 1935 Sold, 22 January 1946; scrapped at Rosyth, June 1947
Fortune H.70 John Brown & Company, Clydebank 25 July 1933 29 August 1934 27 April 1935 Transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Saskatchewan, 31 May 1943
Foxhound H.69 John Brown & Company, Clydebank 21 August 1933 12 October 1934 6 June 1935 Transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Qu'Appelle, 8 February 1944
Fury H.76 J. Samuel White & Company, Cowes 19 May 1933 10 September 1934 18 May 1935 Mined and damaged beyond repair off Normandy, 21 June 1944; scrapped, 18 September 1944
Faulknor (flotilla leader) H.62 Yarrow & Company, Scotstoun 31 July 1933 12 June 1934 24 May 1935 Sold, 22 January 1946; scrapped at Milford Haven, April 1946

Notes

  1. ^ British and Empire Warships of the Second World War, H. T. Lenton, Greenhill Books, ISBN 1-85367-277-7
  2. ^ Destroyers of World War Two, M. J. Whitley, 1988, Cassell Publishing ISBN 1-85409-521-8

References

External links