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:HMS Mystic (1915)

{{short description|British M-Class destroyer}}

{{other ships|HMS Mystic}}

{{good article}}

{{EngvarB|date=December 2021}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}

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|Ship image=300px

|Ship caption= Sister ship {{HMS|Marmion|1915|6}}

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{{Infobox ship career

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|Ship country= United Kingdom

|Ship flag= {{Shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}

|Ship name= HMS Mystic

|Ship namesake=

|Ship ordered= September 1914

|Ship builder= William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton

|Ship yard number= 1029

|Ship laid down= 27 October 1914

|Ship launched= 20 June 1915

|Ship acquired=

|Ship completed= 11 November 1915

|Ship decommissioned=

|Ship in service=

|Ship out of service= 8 November 1921

|Ship struck=

|Ship reinstated=

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|Ship motto=

|Ship nickname=

|Ship honours=

|Ship fate= Sold to be broken up

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{{Infobox ship characteristics

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|Header caption=

|Ship class= {{sclass2|Admiralty M|destroyer}}

|Ship displacement= *{{convert|1025|LT|t|lk=in}} (normal)

|Ship length= {{convert|265|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} (o.a.)

|Ship beam= {{convert|26|ft|7|in|m|abbr=on|1}}

|Ship height=

|Ship draught= {{convert|8|ft|7|in|m|abbr=on|1}}

|Ship power= 3 Yarrow boilers, {{convert|25000|shp|lk=on|abbr=on}}

|Ship propulsion= Parsons steam turbines, 3 shafts

|Ship speed= {{convert|34|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|1}}

|Ship range= {{convert|2100|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn|abbr=on}}

|Ship complement= 80

|Ship sensors=

|Ship EW=

|Ship armament= *3 × single QF 4 inch naval gun Mk IV, XII, XXII

|Ship armour=

|Ship notes=

}}

HMS Mystic was an {{sclass2|Admiralty M|destroyer}} which served with the Royal Navy during the First World War. The M class was an improvement on the previous {{sclass2|L|destroyer|4||1913}}, capable of higher speed. The vessel, originally named HMS Myrtle but renamed before being launched in 1915, joined the Grand Fleet as part of the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla. The ship was assigned as part of a destroyer screen to protect the British battleships as they sought to destroy the German High Seas Fleet. During the Battle of Jutland in 1916, the destroyer saw action against German light cruisers and, as the evening fell, attacked the German battle line, but recorded no hits. During the following year, the vessel took part in a large anti-submarine patrol, but did not see any German submarines. Later in the war, the ship was transferred to the Coast of Ireland Station at Buncrana and escorted convoys at the start of their journey from ports on the Clyde and Mersey or at the end of their journey across the Atlantic Ocean. After the Armistice in 1918 that marked the end of the First World War, Mystic was placed in reserve before being decommissioned and subsequently sold to be broken up in 1921.

Design and development

Mystic was one of sixteen {{sclass2|Admiralty M|destroyer}}s ordered by the British Admiralty in September 1914 as part of the First War Construction Programme enacted in response to the start of the First World War.{{sfn|McBride|1991|page=44}} The M class was an improved version of the earlier {{sclass2|L|destroyer|0||1913}} destroyers, required to reach a higher speed in order to counter rumoured German fast destroyers. The remit was to have a maximum speed of {{convert|36|kn|lk=on}} and, although the eventual design did not achieve this, the greater performance was appreciated by the Royal Navy. It transpired that the German ships did not exist.{{sfn|Friedman|2009|page=132}}

The destroyer was {{convert|265|ft|m|1}} long overall, with a beam of {{convert|26|ft|7|in|m|1|abbr=on}} and a draught of {{convert|8|ft|7|in|m|1|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Lyon|1975|page=689}} Displacement was {{convert|1025|LT|t|lk=in}} normal and {{convert|1250|LT|t|abbr=on}} full load.{{sfn|Vicary|2014|page=40}} Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding Parsons steam turbines rated at {{convert|25000|shp|kW|lk=on}} and driving three shafts, to give a design speed of {{convert|34|kn|abbr=on}}. Three funnels were fitted.{{sfn|Parkes|Prendergast|1969|page=109}} A total of {{convert|266|LT}} of oil could be carried, giving a range of {{convert|2100|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}.{{sfn|Vicary|2014|page=40}}

Mystic's armament consisted of three single QF 4 inch naval gun Mk IV, XII, XXII guns on the ship's 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 mounts for British 21 inch torpedo located aft of the funnels.{{sfn|Preston|1985|pages=76, 80}}{{sfn|March|1966|page=174}} A single QF 2-pounder naval gun anti-aircraft gun was mounted between the torpedo tubes.{{sfn|Parkes|Prendergast|1969|page=109}}{{sfn|Friedman|2009|page=156}} After February 1916, for anti-submarine warfare, Mystic was equipped with two chutes and two depth charges.{{sfn|Friedman|2009|page=150}} The number of depth charges carried increased as the war progressed.{{sfn|Friedman|2009|page=152}} The ship had a complement of 80 officers and ratings.{{sfn|Preston|1985|page=79}}

Construction and career

Laid down by William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton at their shipyard on 27 October 1914 with the yard number 1029, Mystic was launched on 20 June the following year and completed on 11 November. The vessel was originally to be named Myrtle but was renamed before being launched.{{sfn|Lyon|1975|page=690}} The ship was the first of the name Mystic in service with the Royal Navy.{{sfn|Manning|Walker|1959|page=307}} The vessel was deployed as part of the Grand Fleet, joining the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla based at Scapa Flow before the end of the year.{{cite journal | title=Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet | journal=Supplement to the Monthly Navy List | date=January 1916 | page=12 | url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92029858 | access-date=5 January 2022}}{{sfn|Naval Staff Monograph No. 33|1927|page=259}} On 26 and 27 February 1916, the destroyer 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. The exercise was deemed a success.{{sfn|Naval Staff Monograph No. 31|1926|page=83}} The vessel subsequently took part in a number of sweeps in the North Sea looking for the German High Seas Fleet, including a large operation on 21 April which involved battleships from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battle Squadrons. None of these led to a confrontation with the German fleet.{{sfn|Naval Staff Monograph No. 31|1926|page=189}}

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 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 battleship {{HMS|King George V|1911|2}}, leading at the head of the 2nd Battle Squadron.{{sfn|Brooks|2016|page=270}}{{sfn|Corbett|1920|page=428}} The destroyer was assigned to be part of a screen to protect the larger ships of the Grand Fleet.{{sfn|Jutland: Official Despatches|1920|page=533}} As evening fell, Mystic took advantage of a smoke screen laid by the German destroyers to loose a torpedo at the German fleet, but this missed.{{sfn|Corbett|1920|page=381}} Two hours later, 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}} Castor, leading, opened fire, obscuring the ships from the destroyer. Despite being blinded, Mystic launched a second torpedo but this too missed.{{sfn|Corbett|1920|page=392}} While Castor and Mystic{{'}}s sister ship {{HMS|Marne|1915|2}} were hit by gunfire during the confrontation, Mystic remained undamaged.{{sfn|Brooks|2016|page=386}} Soon after, the destroyer reported a three-funnelled cruiser pass by to port, but no shots were fired.{{sfn|Campbell|1998|page=280}} After the end of the battle, the vessel returned to Scapa Flow, arriving on 2 June.{{sfn|Newbolt|1928|page=1}} On 18 August, the flotilla again sailed with the Grand Fleet under the battleship {{HMS|Iron Duke|1912|2}} to seek out the German fleet.{{sfn|Newbolt|1928|page=34}} The fleets again failed to meet in battle.{{sfn|Newbolt|1928|page=44}}

The destroyer remained with the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla into 1917.{{cite journal | title=Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet | journal=Supplement to the Monthly Navy List | date=July 1917 | page=12 | url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/94242242 | access-date=20 December 2022}} Although still attached to the Grand Fleet and based at Scapa Flow, the destroyers were often unavailable to the fleet due to work in anti-submarine patrols.{{sfn|Naval Staff Monograph No. 34|1933|pages=378–380}} For example, between 14 and 24 June, the flotilla was deployed as part of a substantial operation that undertook a wide-reaching search for German submarines around the coast of Scotland. Despite the force employing approximately 56% of the destroyers available to the Grand Fleet, Mystic was not alone in not seeing a single enemy vessel throughout the operation, and no German submarines were sunk.{{sfn|Naval Staff Monograph No. 35|1939|pages=162–164, 169}} Increasingly, patrols did not provide the security needed to shipping and the Admiralty redeployed the destroyers to act as escorts for convoys, which proved more effective.{{sfn|Newbolt|1928|page=383}} Mystic was redeployed to the Northern Division of the Coast of Ireland Station at Buncrana in early 1918.{{cite journal | title=IX Coast of Ireland Station | journal=Supplement to the Monthly Navy List | date=April 1918 | page=18 | url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92263982 | via=National Library of Scotland | access-date=20 December 2022}} The vessel formed part of a group of destroyers that escorted convoys at the final part of their journey across the Atlantic Ocean from the American industrial complex at Hampton Roads and Sydney, Nova Scotia, or after they departed ports on the Clyde and Mersey to cross to North America.{{sfn|Newbolt|1931|pages=103, 335}}

After the Armistice of 11 November and the end of the First World War, the Royal Navy returned to a peacetime level of operational capacity and both the number of ships and personnel needed to be reduced to save money.{{sfn|Moretz|2002|page=79}} Mystic was initially placed in reserve at Devonport but on 15 October 1919, the destroyer was passed to care and maintenance.{{cite journal | title=V Vessels in Reserve at Home Ports and Other Bases | journal=The Supplement to the Monthly Navy List | date=July 1919 | page=17 | url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92499854 | via=National Library of Scotland | access-date=5 January 2022}}{{cite journal | title=581 Mystic | journal=The Navy List | date=April 1920 | page=814 | url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/94382816 | via=National Library of Scotland | access-date=31 December 2022}} This situation did not last long. 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 worn out.{{sfn|Preston|1985|page=80}} Mystic was decommissioned and then, on 8 November 1921, sold to Slough T. C. to be broken up in Germany.{{sfn|Colledge|Warlow|2006|p=237}}

Pennant numbers

class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"

!Pennant Number

!Date

H2CAugust 1915{{sfn|Dittmar|Colledge|1972|page=65}}
G16January 1917{{sfn|Bush|Warlow|2021|page=62}}
G3AMarch 1918{{sfn|Bush|Warlow|2021|page=68}}
H42January 1919{{sfn|Bush|Warlow|2021|page=73}}

References

=Citations=

{{reflist}}

=Bibliography=

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite book | title=Battle of Jutland, 30 May to 1 June 1916: Official Despatches with Appendices | location=London | publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office | year=1920 | url=https://archive.org/details/battleofjutland300grearich | ref={{harvid|Jutland: Official Despatches|1920}}}}
  • {{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 | first1=J.J. | last1=Colledge | 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}}
  • {{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}}
  • {{cite book | last1=Dittmar | first1=F.J. | last2=Colledge | first2=J.J. | title=British Warships 1914–1919 | year=1972 | publisher=Ian Allan | location=Shepperton |isbn=978-0-71100-380-4}}
  • {{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}}
  • {{cite book | last=Lyon | first=David John | title=The Denny List: Ship numbers 769-1273 | location=London | publisher=National Maritime Museum | year=1975 | oclc=256517657}}
  • {{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=0-85177-582-9}}
  • {{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 | author-link=Henry Newbolt | 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}}
  • {{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 | 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}}
  • {{cite book | last=Vicary | first=Adrian | title=The Royal Navy 1914-1918 : A Photographic Record | location=Liskeard | publisher=Maritime Books| year=2014 | url=https://archive.org/details/royalnavy19141910000vica/page/40/mode/2up | isbn=978-1-90445-956-9}}

{{refend}}

{{M class destroyers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mystic (1915)}}

Category:1915 ships

Category:Admiralty M-class destroyers

Category:Ships built on the River Clyde

Category:World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom