:HMS Minion (1915)

Minion was one of the sixteen {{sclass2|Admiralty M|destroyer|1}}s ordered by the British Admiralty in September 1914 as part of the First War Programme.{{sfn|McBride|1991|page=45}} The M class was an improved version of the earlier {{sclass2|L|destroyer|4||1913}}, required to reach a higher speed in order to counter rumoured new German fast destroyers. The remit was to have a maximum speed of {{convert|36|kn|lk=on}} and, although ultimately the destroyers fell short of that ambition in service, the extra performance that was achieved was valued by the navy. It transpired that the German warships did not exist.{{sfn|Friedman|2009|page=132}}

The destroyer had a length of {{convert|265|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} between perpendiculars and {{convert|273|ft|4|in|m|1|abbr=on}} overall, with a beam of {{convert|26|ft|8|in|m|1|abbr=on}} and draught of {{convert|8|ft|11|in|m|1|abbr=on}}. Displacement was {{convert|971|LT|t|lk=on}} normal.{{sfn|Friedman|2009|page=296}} Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding Brown-Curtiss rated at {{convert|23000|shp|kW|lk=on}}, driving three shafts and exhausting through three funnels.{{sfn|Parkes|Prendergast|1969|page=109}} Design speed was {{convert|34|kn}}, although Minion managed {{convert|33.88|kn}} on {{convert|22500|shp|kW|abbr=on}} during trials.{{sfn|McBride|1991|page=44}} A total of {{convert|228|LT}} of oil was carried. Design range was {{convert|2530|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}, but actual endurance in service was less; sister ship {{HMS|Murray|1914|2}} had a range of {{convert|2240|nmi}} at {{convert|15|kn}}.{{sfn|Friedman|2009|page=296}}

Minion had a main armament consisting of three single QF 4 inch naval gun Mk IV, XII, XXII guns on the centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised platform and one between the middle and aft funnels. Torpedo armament consisted of two twin torpedo tubes for British 21 inch torpedo located aft of the funnels.{{sfn|Preston|1985|pages=76, 80}}{{sfn|March|1966|page=174}} Two single QF 1-pounder pom-pom anti-aircraft guns were carried.{{sfn|Preston|1985|page=76}} The anti-aircraft guns were later replaced by QF 2 pounder naval gun guns.{{sfn|Friedman|2009|page=296}} The ship had a complement of 80 officers and ratings.{{sfn|Preston|1985|page=76}}

Minion was laid down by John I. Thornycroft & Company at their yard in Woolston, Southampton in November 1914, was launched on 11 September the following year and was completed three months later in the following November.{{sfn|Friedman|2009|page=308}} The vessel was the fourth to be named after the minion, a small cannon.{{sfn|Manning|Walker|1959|page=299}}{{sfn|Colledge|Warlow|2006|page=227}} Minion was deployed as part of the Grand Fleet, joining the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla.{{cite journal | title=Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet|journal=Supplement to the Monthly Navy List | date=October 1915 | page=12 | url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92009814| via=National Library of Scotland | access-date=2 June 2023}}

On 26 and 27 February 1916, the flotilla took part in a large naval exercise east of Shetland, involving four flotillas of destroyers, as well as all the operational battlecruisers, battleships and cruisers of the Grand Fleet.{{sfn|Naval Staff Monograph No. 31|1926|page=83}} On 17 March, the flotilla was unsuccessful in destroying the German U-boat {{SMU|U-48||2}} that had been operating off the Straits of Dover.{{sfn|Naval Staff Monograph No. 34|1933|page=342}} It was then split into two halves to support the Navy's light cruisers.{{sfn|Corbett|1920|page=318}} During May, the destroyer sailed to Cromarty along with eight other destroyers from the flotilla and the flotilla leader {{HMS|Kempenfelt|1915|2}} to meet with the 2nd Battle Squadron. The ships sailed to rendezvous with the remainder of the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla under the light cruiser {{HMS|Castor|1915|2}} on 31 May.{{sfn|Brooks|2016|pages=154–155}} The British ships sailed along with the rest of the Grand Fleet to confront the German High Seas fleet in the Battle of Jutland. As the two fleets converged, the flotilla formed close to the dreadnought battleship {{HMS|King George V|1911|2}}, leading at the head of the Second Battle Squadron.{{sfn|Brooks|2016|page=270}}{{sfn|Corbett|1920|page=428}} As evening fell, the flotilla saw a line of unknown vessels ahead, later identified as the light cruisers of the German 2nd Scouting Group.{{sfn|Campbell|1998|page=280}} Minion took no active part in the ensuing skirmish.{{sfn|Campbell|1998|page=288}}

The destroyer, along with the rest of the flotilla, returned to Scapa Flow on 2 June.{{sfn|Newbolt|1928|page=1}} The destroyer remained part of the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla on 19 August, based at Scapa Flow.{{sfn|Naval Staff Monograph No. 33|1927|page=259}} On 30 April 1917, Minion, along with the light cruisers {{HMS|Calliope|1914|2}} and {{HMS|Comus|1914|2}}, was on an anti-submarine patrol when the destroyer ran low on fuel. An unsuccessful attempt was made to refuel from Calliope. This led to the deployment being curtailed.{{sfn|Naval Staff Monograph No. 35|1939|page=1}} On 16 October, the ship formed part of a fleet of 84 ships, including 54 destroyers, that were sent to protect convoys travelling from Scandinavia. The deployment led to two British destroyers being sunk by German cruisers while Minion did not even sight the enemy.{{sfn|Newbolt|1931|pages=151–156}} At the beginning of the following year, the destroyer was transferred to the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla to act as local defence for the naval base at Devonport.{{cite journal | title=VII Local Defence and Escort Flotillas | journal=The Supplement to the Monthly Navy List | date=April 1918 | page=17 | url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92263538 | via=National Library of Scotland | access-date=2 June 2023}}

After the Armistice of 11 November 1918 that ended the war, the Royal Navy returned to a peacetime level of strength and both the number of ships and personnel needed to be reduced to save money.{{sfn|Moretz|2002|page=79}} Minion continued to be operated as part of the defence flotilla at Devonport into 1919.{{cite journal | title=III Local Defence and Training Establishments | journal=The Supplement to the Monthly Navy List | date=July 1919 | page=13 | url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92499806 | via=National Library of Scotland | access-date=2 June 2023}} However, the harsh conditions of wartime operations, particularly the combination of high speed and the poor weather that is typical of the North Sea, exacerbated by the fact that the hull was not galvanised, meant that the ship was soon worn out.{{sfn|Preston|1985|page=80}} The destroyer was declared superfluous to operational requirements, retired, and, on 8 November 1921, was sold to Slough Trading Company. Minion was sent to Germany to be broken up.{{sfn|Colledge|Warlow|2006|page=227}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book | last=Brooks | first=John | title=The Battle of Jutland | location=Cambridge | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-107-15014-0}}
• {{cite book | last1=Bush | first1=Steve | last2=Warlow | first2=Ben | title=Pendant Numbers of the Royal Navy: A Complete History of the Allocation of Pendant Numbers to Royal Navy Warships & Auxiliaries | location=Barnsley | publisher=Seaforth Publishing | year=2021 | isbn=978-1-526793-78-2}}
• {{cite book | last=Campbell | first=John | title=Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting | location=London | publisher=Conway Maritime Press | year=1998 | isbn=978-0-85177-750-4}}
• {{cite book | last1=Colledge | first1=James Joseph | first2=Ben | last2=Warlow | title=Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy | location=London | publisher=Chatham Press | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-93514-907-1 | author-link1=J. J. Colledge}}
• {{cite book | last=Corbett | first=Julian S. | title=Naval Operations: Volume III | series=History of the Great War | location=London | publisher=Longmans, Green and Co | year=1920 | url=https://archive.org/details/navaloperations03corb/ | oclc=1049894619 | author-link=Julian Corbett}}
• {{cite book | last=Friedman | first=Norman| title=British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the First World War | year=2009 | publisher=Seaforth Publishing | location=Barnsley | isbn=978-1-84832-049-9 | author-link=Norman Friedman}}
• {{cite book | last1=Manning | first1=Thomas Davys | last2=Walker | first2=Charles Frederick |title=British Warship Names | location=London | publisher=Putnam | year=1959 | oclc=780274698}}
• {{cite book | last=March | first=Edgar J. | title=British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans | location=London | publisher=Seeley Service | year=1966 | oclc=164893555}}
• {{cite book | last=McBride | first=Keith | chapter=British 'M' Class Destroyers of 1913–14 | pages=34–49 | editor-last=Gardiner | editor-first=Robert | title=Warship 1991 | year=1991 | publisher=Conway Maritime Press | place=London | isbn=978-0-85177-582-1}}
• {{cite book | title= Monograph No. 31: Home Waters Part VI: From October 1915 to May 1916 |series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical) | volume= XV | year=1926 | publisher=Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division | url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XV_opt.pdf | ref={{harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 31|1926}}}}
• {{cite book | title=Monograph No. 33: Home Waters: Part VII: From June 1916 to November 1916|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical) | volume= XVII|year=1927| url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XVII_opt.pdf | publisher=Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division | ref={{harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 33|1927}}}}
• {{cite book | title=Monograph No. 34: Home Waters—Part VIII: December 1916 to April 1917 | series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical) | volume=XVIII | year=1933 | publisher=The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division| url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XVIII_opt.pdf | ref={{harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 34|1933}}}}
• {{cite book | title=Monograph No. 35: Home Waters—Part IX.: 1st May, 1917 to 31st July, 1917|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical) | volume=XIX | year=1939 | publisher=The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division | url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XIX_opt.pdf | ref={{Harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 35|1939}}}}
• {{cite book | last=Moretz | first=Joseph | title=The Royal Navy and the Capital Ship in the Interwar Period | location=London | publisher=Routledge| year=2002 | isbn=978-0-71465-196-5}}
• {{cite book | last=Newbolt |first=Henry | title=Naval Operations: Volume IV |series=History of the Great War |location=London |publisher=Longmans, Green and Co |year=1928 |url=https://archive.org/details/navaloperations04corb |oclc=1049894132 | author-link=Henry Newbolt}}
• {{cite book | last=Newbolt | first=Henry | title=Naval Operations: Volume V | series=History of the Great War | location=London | publisher=Longmans, Green and Co | year=1931 | url=https://archive.org/details/navaloperations0000corb | oclc=220475309}}
• {{cite book |last1=Parkes |first1=Oscar |last2=Prendergast |first2=Maurice |title=Jane's Fighting Ships 1919 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbott |year=1969 |oclc=907574860}}
• {{cite book | last=Preston | first=Antony | author-link=Antony Preston | chapter=Great Britain and Empire Forces | pages=1–104 | editor1-last=Gardiner | editor1-first=Robert | editor2-last=Gray | editor2-first=Randal | title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 | publisher=Conway Maritime Press | location=London | year=1985 | isbn=978-0-85177-245-5}}

{{refend}}

{{M class destroyers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minion (1915)}}

Category:1915 ships

Category:Admiralty M-class destroyers

Category:Ships built by John I. Thornycroft & Company

Category:Ships built in Southampton

Category:World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom