HMS Ariel (1911)

{{stack|File:Harwich Force destroyers.jpg}}

With her sister, Acheron, she was a "Thornycroft special", and as such was slightly longer and more powerful than the standard destroyer of her class. Ariel was laid down at the Woolston yard of John I. Thornycroft & Company, and launched on 26 September 1911. Capable of {{convert|29|kn|lk=in|abbr=on}}, she carried two {{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on}} guns, other smaller guns and 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes and had a complement of 70 men.

As part of the First Destroyer Flotilla, she was attached to the Grand Fleet in August 1914, and then to the Third Battle Squadron from the spring of 1916. Once converted to a minelayer in 1917, she became part of the 20th Flotilla.{{cite web|url=http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/acheron.htm |title=Battleships-Cruisers.co.uk website - Acheron Class|access-date=1 July 2008}}

On 5 August 1914, Ariel towed submarine {{HMS|E8||2}} to Terschelling. They were in company with cruiser {{HMS|Amethyst|1903|2}} and submarine {{HMS|E6||2}}. After releasing the tow, the two submarines conducted the first Heligoland Bight patrol of the war.{{cite book|last=Keyes|first=Sir Roger|title=The Naval Memoirs of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes. Vol. 1: The Narrow Seas to the Dardanelles 1910-1915|date=1934|publisher=Thornton Butterworth|location=London|page=68}}

As part of the Harwich Force, the First Destroyer Flotilla took part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August.{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/heligoland-oob.html|title=Heligoland Bight - Order of Battle|access-date=17 October 2008}} Ariel — under Commander Dashwood Moir — shared in the prize money for the battle.

On 24 January 1915, Ariel took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank as part of the First Destroyer Flotilla, with {{HMS|Aurora|1913|2}} as flotilla leader. Aurora was the first British ship to engage the German ships as she encountered Hipper's screening vessels at the Dogger Bank at 07:05.

File:German submarine U-12.jpg

On 10 March, in company with her sisters {{HMS|Attack|1911|2}} and {{HMS|Acheron|1911|2}}, Ariel was searching for a German submarine reported by the trawler Man Island near Aberdeen. At 10:10, Attack sighted {{Ship|SM|U-12|Germany|2}} and opened fire. Ariel, commanded by Lt Cdr J V Creagh,{{cite web|url=http://www.gwpda.org/naval/sml00001.htm|title=German Submarine Losses From All Causes During World War One, Compiled and Edited by J David Perkins|access-date=18 October 2008}} sighted the submarine at 10:12 at about {{convert|2|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} and all three destroyers turned towards it. U-12 dived and raised her periscope, which Ariel sighted at a distance of {{convert|200|yd|m|abbr=on}}. She turned to ram, sighting the conning tower under the water in the final moments before she struck the submarine at a fine angle. Within two minutes, the submarine had returned to the surface so that the crew could escape, but they found the conning tower hatch jammed, and most of the survivors managed their escape via the other hatches. The destroyers opened fire as the submarine lay on the surface, killing and injuring some of the escaping sailors. At 10:30, U-12 sank approximately in position {{coord|56|15|N|1|56|W}}, and the destroyers picked up 10 survivors; 19 lives had been lost.{{cite web|url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/After-90-years--sea.3671427.jp|title=After 90 years, sea gives up secret of sunken sub|access-date=18 October 2008|date=15 January 2008|publisher=The Scotsman}}{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7187862.stm|title=Divers discover U-boat wreckage|access-date=18 October 2008|date=14 January 2008|publisher=BBC}} The damage to Ariel{{'}}s bow was so serious that she had to be towed into port.[https://books.google.com/books?id=fRy5aAzkFc8C&dq=hms+ariel+dogger+bank&pg=PA27 Verschollen: World War I U-boat Losses], by Dwight R Messimer, Naval Institute Press, 2002, {{ISBN|978-1-55750-475-3}}, p.27

Ariel was present at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Tippet{{cite web|url=http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWI/OOB_WWI_Jutland.htm|title=The Battle of Jutland - Order of Battle|access-date=17 October 2008}} as part of the First Destroyer Flotilla, led by {{HMS|Fearless|1912|2}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.bobhenneman.info/oobj.htm|title=Battle of Jutland - Forces Involved at Bob Henneman's website|access-date=18 October 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820042220/http://www.bobhenneman.info/oobj.htm|archive-date=20 August 2008}}

On 6 December 1916, {{Ship|SM|UC-19||2}} sank the Russian sailing ship Ans (Later claimed to have been sunk by {{Ship|SM|UB-29||2}}). The P&O vessel Kashmir sent out a radio warning, and later the same day Ariel{{'}}s lookouts spotted the conning tower of a submarine. A depth charge was dropped in the position of the submarine, but it failed to explode. Ariel{{'}}s explosive paravane was deployed, and after an explosion at about {{convert|30|ft|m|abbr=on}}, oil and bubbles were observed.[https://books.google.com/books?id=j6ooZdh1rlkC&dq=%22hms+ariel%22&pg=PA20 Lost Patrols: Submarine Wrecks of the English Channel], by Innes McCartney and Jak Mallmann-Showell, Periscope Publishing Ltd, 2002, {{ISBN|978-1-904381-04-4}}, p.20 Twenty-five German sailors were killed, and UC-19 now lies in about {{convert|330|ft|m|abbr=on}} of water in an approximate position of {{coord|49|41|N|06|31|W}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.uboat.net/wwi/boats/index.html?boat=UC+19|title=UC-19 at U-Boat.net|access-date=18 October 2008}}

In 1917, the Acheron-class destroyers {{HMS|Ferret|1911|2}}, Sandfly and Ariel were converted to minelaying destroyers,{{Cite EB1922 |wstitle=Minesweeping and Minelaying |volume = 31 | pages = 949–955; see page 954 |date= 1922 |last= Dewar |first= Alfred C. }} capable of carrying 40 mines.Smith 2005, p. 22. Ariel served with the 20th Flotilla, and operated out of Immingham.{{cite web|url=http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritishDestroyers.htm|title=British Destroyers - Naval history.net website|access-date=17 October 2008}}

The provision of converted minelaying destroyers and the availability of reliable H2-pattern mines allowed the greatest allied minelaying operation of the First World War — the attempt to close Heligoland Bight to German ships and submarines. Ariel — with her sisters — was employed on this work until the end of the war. On 27 March 1918, while laying a barrier minefield {{convert|70|nmi|mi km|abbr=on}} north-west of Heligoland, Ariel — in company with Ferret, {{HMS|Abdiel|1915|2}}, {{HMS|Legion|1914|2}} and {{HMS|Telemachus|1917|2}}{{cite web|url=http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/LondonGazette/PrizeMoney/Prize_Bounty_WWI.html|title=An Index of Prize Bounties as announced in the London Gazette 1915 - 1925|access-date=10 November 2009|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924083340/http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/LondonGazette/PrizeMoney/Prize_Bounty_WWI.html|url-status=dead}} — came upon three armed German trawlers, Polarstern, Mars and Scharbentz. All three vessels were sunk and 72 prisoners were captured.Smith 2005, pp. 44–49.

On 2 August, while conducting minelaying in the western end of the Heligoland Bight, the V-class destroyer {{HMS|Vehement|1917|2}} sank after striking a German mine. In attempting to exit the minefield, Ariel lost her bow and sank in less than an hour.{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/sunk18.htm|title=World War I Naval Combat - Major Warship losses in 1918|access-date=19 October 2008}} 49 people died, including her commanding officer, Lieutenant Frank A Rothera.{{cite web|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1918-08Aug.htm|title=Royal Navy Casualty List, August 1918 - Naval history.net website|access-date=17 October 2008}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Smith|first=Peter C.|title=Into the Minefields: British Destroyer Minelaying 1916–1960|year=2005|publisher=Pen & Sword Maritime|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=1-84415-271-5}}

{{EB1922 Poster|Minesweeping and Minelaying }}

• {{Commons category-inline|HMS Ariel (ship, 1912)}}
• [https://www.jutlandcrewlists.org/ariel Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project - HMS Ariel Crew List]

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{{Acheron class destroyers}}

{{August 1918 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ariel (1911)}}

Category:Acheron-class destroyers of the Royal Navy

Category:Ships built in Southampton

Category:1911 ships

Category:World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom

Category:Maritime incidents in 1918

Category:World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea

Category:Ships sunk by mines

Category:Ships built by John I. Thornycroft & Company