:HMS Scout (1918)

{{Main|S-class destroyer (1917)|l1=S-class destroyer}}

Scout was one of 33 Admiralty {{sclass2|S|destroyer (1917)|4}} destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty on 17 April 1917 as part of the Eleventh War Construction Programme. The design was a development of the {{sclass2|R|destroyer (1916)|4}} introduced as a cheaper and faster alternative to the {{sclass2|V and W|destroyer|4}}.{{sfn|Preston|1985|page=85}}{{sfn|Johnston|2014|page=187}} Differences with the R class were minor, such as having the searchlight moved aft.{{sfn|March|1966|page=221}}

Scout had an overall length of {{convert|276|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} and a length of {{convert|265|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} between perpendiculars. The beam was {{convert|26|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}} and draught {{convert|9|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}. Displacement was {{convert|1075|LT|t|lk=in}} normal and {{convert|1221|LT|t}} deep load. Three Yarrow boilers fed steam to two sets of Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines rated at {{convert|27000|shp|kW|lk=on}} and driving two shafts, giving a design speed of {{convert|36|kn|lk=on}} at normal loading and {{convert|32.5|kn|0}} at deep load. Two funnels were fitted. A full load of {{convert|301|LT}} of fuel oil was carried, which gave a design range of {{convert|2750|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}.{{sfn|Friedman|2009|page=297}}

Armament consisted of three QF 4 inch naval gun Mk IV, XII, XXII guns on the ship's centreline.{{sfn|Preston|1985|page=84}} One was mounted raised on the forecastle, one on a platform between the funnels and one aft.{{sfn|Friedman|2009|page=163}} The ship also mounted a single QF 2-pounder naval gun "pom-pom" anti-aircraft gun for air defence. Four British 21 inch torpedo torpedo tubes were carried in two twin rotating mounts aft.{{sfn|Preston|1985|page=84}} Four depth charge chutes were also fitted aft. Typically ten depth charges were carried.{{sfn|Friedman|2009|page=236}} The ship was designed to mount two additional {{convert|18|in|mm|0|abbr=on}} torpedo tubes either side of the superstructure but this required the forecastle plating to be cut away, causing excess water to come aboard at sea, so they were removed.{{sfn|March|1966|page=221}} The weight saved enabled the heavier Mark V 21-inch torpedo to be carried.{{sfn|Preston|1985|page=85}} Fire control included a training-only director, single Dumaresq and a Vickers range clock.{{sfn|Friedman|2009|page=146}} The ship had a complement of 90 officers and ratings.{{sfn|Parkes|Prendergast|1969|page=107}}

Laid down on 25 October 1917 by John Brown & Company in Clydebank with the yard number 475, Scout was launched on 27 April the following year and completed on 15 June.{{sfn|Johnston|2014|page=190}} The vessel was the twelfth with the name to serve in the Royal Navy, the first being recorded in 1577, and one of nine of the class to be built by the yard.{{sfn|Colledge|Warlow|2006|page=313}}{{sfn|Manning|Walker|1959|page=397}}{{sfn|Parkes|Prendergast|1969|page=107}} The vessel joined the Twelfth Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet shortly before the Armistice that ended the First World War.{{cite journal | title=Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet | journal=Supplement to the Monthly Navy List | date=October 1918 | page=12 | url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92315614 | via=National Library of Scotland | access-date=8 June 2023}}

Although the war on the Western Front had finished, the escalating civil war in Russia continued. The United Kingdom decided to send units of the Royal Navy into the Baltic Sea to monitor the situation and to protect British interests.{{sfn|Head|2009|page=136}} The fleet was also tasked with helping to help organise the evacuation of German forces from the country and supporting the Estonian War of Independence.{{sfn|Head|2009|page=147}} Scout was sent as part of a detachment of ten destroyers under the command of Rear-admiral Walter Cowan in the light cruiser {{HMS|Caledon|D53|2}}. The flotilla left on 25 March 1919, sailing initially to Oslo, Norway, and Copenhagen, Denmark.{{sfn|Cunningham|1951|page=99}} Remaining there until 26 April, Scout then departed for Tallinn to support the Estonian armed forces.{{sfn|Dunn|2020|page=96}} On 14 May, the destroyer, alongside the light cruiser {{HMS|Cleopatra|1915|2}}, destroyer leader {{HMS|Shakespeare|1917|2}} and destroyer {{HMS|Walker|D27|2}}, left the port to Narva Bay and sailed along the Gulf of Finland. There they supported the Estonian troops against the Red Army with gunfire. They also had occasional encounters with Soviet warships, but these did not lead to significant action. For example, on 17 May, the British flotilla was stationed off the island of Seskar observing the Russian fleet at Kronstadt when the dreadnought battleship {{ship|Russian battleship|Petropavlovsk|1911|2}} was reported to have left the anchorage. As the flotilla moved in, four Russian destroyers, led by {{ship|Russian destroyer|Avtroil||2}}, attacked. Returning fire, the British ships reported a hit on one of the Russian vessels. However, both sides retreated before significant damage was recorded.{{sfn|Dunn|2020|pages=101–102}}

At the same time, the Royal Navy was returning 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}} By October, Scout had joined the Seventh Destroyer Flotilla based at Rosyth and was placed in reserve with a reduced complement.{{cite journal|title=V Vessels in Reserve at Home Ports and Other Bases|journal=The Navy List|date=October 1919|page=709|url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92552978|via=National Library of Scotland|access-date=8 June 2023}} The ship was briefly allocated to Plymouth as an emergency destroyer until replaced by {{HMS|Tuscan|1919|2}} in August 1925.{{cite news |title=Naval and Military: Plymouth Destroyers |newspaper=The Times |date=6 August 1925 |issue=44033 |page=20}} On 1 April 1932, after being repaired, the vessel took up a similar role at the Nore.{{cite news |title=The Services: Royal Navy |newspaper=The Times |date=24 March 1932 |issue=46090 |page=17}} From there, Scout undertook a visit to Southend between 9 and 13 July.{{cite news |title=The Services: Royal Navy |newspaper=The Times |date=30 May 1932 |issue=46146 |page=7}} On 9 August 1934, the destroyer took part in an exercise with sister ship {{HMS|Scimitar|H21|2}} to test the defences of the northeast coast, including the coastal artillery defending the River Tees.{{cite news |title=Coastal Defence: East Coast Exercise |newspaper=The Times |date=10 April 1934 |issue=46829 |page=19}} Scout was relieved by {{HMS|Wanderer|D74|2}} on 5 March the following year.{{cite news |title=The Services: Royal Navy |newspaper=The Times |date=5 May 1935 |issue=47625 |page=9}} In April 1936, Scout ceremonially carried the body of the German Ambassador, Leopold von Hoesch, from Dover to Germany after he had died of a heart attack in London.{{sfn|Buckle|2019|page=104}} On 4 January 1938, the ship ran aground shortly after departing Sheerness Dockyard for trials but was refloated with one engine damaged and no loss of life.{{cite news |title=Destroyer's Wrong Course |newspaper=The Times |date=21 January 1938 |issue=47898 |page=9}} After being repaired, Scout was recommissioned on 20 September and dispatched to Singapore, arriving at the colony on 19 December via the Suez Canal.{{cite journal | title=Scout | journal=The Navy List | date=July 1939 | page=329 | url= https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92698574 | via=National Library of Scotland | access-date=8 June 2023}}{{cite news |title=The Services: Royal Navy |newspaper=The Times |date=8 November 1938 |issue=48146 |page=8}}

Scout joined the China Station.{{cite journal | title=VII Other Foreign Stations | journal=The Navy List | date=February 1939 | page=207 | url= https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92652978 | via=National Library of Scotland | access-date=8 June 2023}} On 12 May 1939, the destroyer was moored off the coast of Xiamen in response to Japanese aggression.{{cite news |title=Japanese Action At Amoy |newspaper=The Times |date=13 May 1939 |issue=48304 |page=14}} Based at British Hong Kong, with the United Kingdom declaration of war on Japan on 8 December 1941, the ship sailed to Singapore.{{sfn|Woodburn Kirby|1957|page=109}} On 18 December, Scout was in command of a flotilla of small craft known as the Perak Flotilla whose task was to stop Japanese landings in northern Sumatra.{{sfn|Woodburn Kirby|1957|page=233}} The Japanese instead attacked Palembang on the south of the island on 13 February 1942.{{sfn|Woodburn Kirby|1957|page=358}} By that time, the destroyer had left the island. During the fall of Singapore, on 14 February, the destroyer left the colony carrying naval personnel, including some who had survived the sinking of Repulse, to safety.{{sfn|Parkinson|2017|page=496}} Arriving in Batavia, the ship undertook a sortie on 26 February to attack a Japanese convoy, but returned without spotting it the following day. The destroyer sailed for the navy base at Trincomalee in British Ceylon for following day.{{sfn|Dull|2013|page=73}} On 26 March, the ship initially formed part of Force B based at the island supporting the Revenge class battleships that constituted the core of the force.{{sfn|Dull|2013|page=111}} The vessel spent the rest of the war as an escort, primarily between Ceylon and India, but occasionally further afield. For example, on 8 March 1943, the vessel accompanied the troopship {{USS|Monticello|AP-61|2}} on a trip from Bombay to Melbourne, Australia.{{cite web|first=Don|last=Kindell|title=Admiralty War Diaries: Eastern Fleet - January to June 1943|website=Naval History|url=https://www.naval-history.net/xDKWD-EF1943a.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127143942/https://www.naval-history.net/xDKWD-EF1943a.htm|archive-date=27 January 2022}}

After the end of the conflict, Scout was retired and sold to be broken up on 29 March 1946 by Thos. W. Ward at Briton Ferry.{{sfn|Colledge|Warlow|2006|pages=313–314}} At the time, the vessel was the oldest destroyer in the Royal Navy.{{cite news |title=News in Brief |newspaper=The Times |date=11 February 1946 |issue=50373 |page=2}}

{{reflist}}

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• {{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}}
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{{S class destroyers (1917)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scout}}

Category:1918 ships

Category:S-class destroyers (1917) of the Royal Navy

Category:Ships built on the River Clyde

Category:World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom

Category:World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom