HMS Nubian (1909)

HMS Nubian aground on the South Foreland after her bows had been blown off in October 1916
Career (UK)
Name:	HMS Nubian
Builder:	J I Thornycroft
Launched:	21 April 1909
Fate:	Torpedoed 27 October 1916; undamaged stern joined with bow of HMS Zulu and renamed HMS Zubian
General characteristics
Class and type:	Tribal-class destroyer
Length:	255 ft (77.7 m)
Beam:	25 ft 6 in (7.8 m)
Draught:	8 ft 6 in (2.6 m)
Speed:	33 kn (38 mph; 61 km/h)

HMS Nubian was a Royal Navy Tribal-class destroyer. She was launched in 1909 and torpedoed in 1916. With her bows blown off, the wreck was used to create a new ship by joining the bows of another destroyer of the same class, HMS Zulu. The resulting ship was given the portmanteau name Zubian. She went on to sink the U-boat UC-50 in 1918 and was scrapped in 1919.

Torpedoing and reconstruction

During the Battle of Dover Strait, on the night of 26–27 October 1916 off Folkestone Nubian‍ '​s bows were destroyed by a torpedo from a German destroyer. She was taken in tow and run aground near Dover.

15 of the crew of HMS Nubian were either killed or missing from the battle on 26 October 1916: James Bushell, W. Broomfield, J. Davies, L. Horsley, W, Keeling, F.H.J. Knight, W. Minors, L.E. Pronger, J. Rapson, F. Sayers, J. Sharp, J.W. Smith, W.G. Wavell and Stoker Alfred James Clewley^[1]

Another Tribal-class destroyer, Zulu, had her stern blown off by a mine near Dunkirk on 8 November 1916 and was towed to Calais. Both wrecks were towed to Chatham Dockyard and Zulu‍ '​s bows were joined to the midsection and stern of Nubian. The resulting destroyer was given the portmanteau name Zubian.

Zubian served until the end of the war, sinking the mine-laying U-boat UC-50 on 4 February 1918 off the coast of Essex.

HMS Zubian

Fate

She was broken up at Sunderland in 1919.

References

• "Navies of World War 1 – British Destroyers – Part 1 of 2". Naval-History.net. Retrieved 7 January 2006. 

References