HMS Minstrel (1911)
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= Japanese destroyer SENDAN 1917.jpg |Ship caption=The destroyer Sendan 栴檀（せんだん）(ex HMS Minstrel) at Marseilles in 1917 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|UK|naval}} |Ship name=HMS Minstrel |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 2 February 1911 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country= Empire of Japan |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Empire of Japan|naval}} |Ship name=Sendan (栴檀)（せんだん) |Ship acquired= 20 September 1917 |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate= 17 January 1919 and returned to the Royal Navy |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|Acorn|destroyer}} |Ship displacement=772 tons |Ship length={{convert|246|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|25.2|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|8.5|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship speed={{convert|27|kn|lk=in}} |Ship propulsion= 4 Yarrow boilers, Parsons turbines, {{cvt|13500|shp|lk=in}} |Ship complement=72 |Ship armament=*2 × BL 4 inch naval gun Mk VIII, mounting P Mark V
|Ship notes= }} |
HMS Minstrel was an {{sclass|Acorn|destroyer}} built by John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston, that was lent to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) from 1917–1919. In the IJN she was named Sendan (栴檀)（せんだん).
Construction and design
The British Admiralty ordered 20 {{sclass|Acorn|destroyer|0}} destroyers as part of the 1909–1910 shipbuilding programme for the Royal Navy,{{Harvnb|Friedman|2009|p=122}} with four ({{HMS|Larne|1910|2}}, {{HMS|Lyra|1910|2}}, {{HMS|Martin|1910|2}} and Minstrel) ordered from John I. Thornycroft & Company.{{Harvnb|Friedman|2009|p=306}}
Minstrel was {{convert|240|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}} long between perpendiculars and {{convert|246|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}} overall, with a beam of {{convert|25|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}} and a draught of between {{convert|7|ft|4+1/2|in|m|abbr=on}} and {{convert|8|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}} depending on load. Displacement was {{convert|760|LT|t}} normal and {{convert|855|LT|t}} full load.{{Harvnb|Friedman|2009|p=295}}{{#tag:ref|Displacement was listed as {{convert|730|LT|t|abbr=on}} in Navy Lists.{{cite magazine |title=326a: Minstrel: Torpedo Boat Destroyer |magazine=The Navy List |date=March 1913 |page=345 |url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/94247490 |access-date=12 June 2022 |via=National Library of Scotland}}|group=lower-alpha}} The ship's machinery consisted of four Yarrow boilers feeding steam to Parsons steam turbines which drove three propeller shafts. The machinery was rated at {{convert|13500|shp|kW}} giving a design speed of {{convert|27|kn}}.{{Harvnb|Gardiner|Gray|1985|p=74}} The ship had a crew of 72 officers and enlisted.
Gun armament consisted of two BL 4 inch naval gun Mk VIII guns,{{#tag:ref|The abbreviation BL stood for Breech Loading. In British use it also indicated that the gun used a bagged charge, with QF (Quick Firing) meaning that the gun used a charge enclosed in a metal cartridge case.|group=lower-alpha}} one on the ship's forecastle and one aft, and two 12-pounder (76 mm) QF 12 cwt guns{{#tag:ref|"Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12cwt referring to the weight of the gun.|group=lower-alpha}} carried in the waist position between the first two funnels. Torpedo armament consisted of two British 21-inch torpedo torpedo tubes, with two reload torpedoes carried. The torpedo tubes were aft of the funnels, mounted singly with a searchlight position between them. By 1918, a 3-pounder (47 mm) anti aircraft gun was fitted, and depth charges were carried.
Minstrel was laid down at Thornycoft's Woolston, Southampton shipyard on 11 March 1910, and was launched on 2 February 1911. Minstrel reached a speed of {{convert|29.627|kn}} during sea trials, and was completed in May 1911.
==Service==
On commissioning, Minstrel, like the rest of her class, joined the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, replacing the {{sclass2|River|destroyer|1||1903}} {{HMS|Boyne|1904|2}} in the flotilla, with the older destroyer transferring to the Nore Destroyer Flotilla.{{cite magazine |title=Naval Matters–Past and Prospective: Sheerness Dockyard |magazine=The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect |date=June 1911 |page=408}} On 20 July 1911, Minstrel having been detached from her flotilla, (which was on passage from Cromarty to Portland) to make her way independently to Southampton, ran aground off Langston Bar. Her commanding officer, Commander William G. A. Kennedy, was court martialed over the grounding and found guilty of allowing his ship to be grounded by negligence, having failed to keep track of the ship's position and maintained an unnecessary speed of {{convert|18|kn}}. Kennedy was severely reprimanded.{{cite news |title=The Stranding of the Minstrel |newspaper=The Times |date=12 October 1911 |issue= 39714|page=4}}
On the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, including Minstrel, joined the newly established Grand Fleet.{{Harvnb|Jellicoe|1919|p=9}}{{Harvnb|Manning|1961|pp=25–26}} The 2nd Flotilla's destroyers suffered frequent failures of the ship's steering gear during the winter of 1914–15.{{harvnb|Naval Staff Monograph No. 28|1925|p=144}} Minstrel remained part of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla until December 1915, then transferring to the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, part of the Mediterranean Fleet,{{harvnb|Naval Staff Monograph No. 21|1923|p=256}}{{cite journal|title=Supplement to the Navy List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands &c.: I — The Grand Fleet: Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet|journal=The Navy List|date=December 1915|page=12|url=http://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/pageturner.cfm?id=92009814}}{{cite journal|title=Supplement to the Navy List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands &c.: IX. — Mediterranean Fleet|journal=The Navy List|date=January 1916|page=20|url=http://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/pageturner.cfm?id=92029594}} escorting troop transports on their passage to Malta.{{harvnb|Naval Staff Monograph No. 21|1923|p=339}}
On {{cnspan|20 September 1917|date=June 2022}} the destroyer was lent to the IJN 2nd Special Squadron and renamed Sendan (Eng: Chinese berry). {{cnspan|She was assigned to the Sasebo Naval District on 19 November|date=June 2022}}. Along with HMS Nemesis (as Kanran), she was listed as part of the Malta Flotilla of the British Mediterranean Fleet (under Japanese ensign, and manned by Japanese ratings) in the January, 1918, issue of The Navy List.{{cite book |author= |date=1918-01-01 |title=Supplement to The Monthly Navy List Showing Organisation Of The Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands, &c. |location=London (printed by Harrison and Sons, printers in ordinary to His Majesty) |publisher=British Government |page=21}} She was released on 17 January 1919 and returned to the British Navy at Plymouth Harbour.
Disposal
Following the end of the war, pre-war destroyers like the Acorns were quickly laid up into reserve.{{Harvnb|Manning|1961|p=28}} On 1 December 1921, she was sold for dismantling.{{Harvnb|Dittmar|Colledge|1972|p=61}}
Notes
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Citations
{{Reflist}}
References
- {{Cite Colledge2006}}
- {{cite book|last1=Dittmar|first1=F.J.|last2=Colledge|first2=J.J.|title=British Warships 1914–1919|year=1972|publisher=Ian Allan|location=Shepperton, UK|isbn=0-7110-0380-7}}
- {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War|year=2009|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=978-1-84832-049-9}}
- {{cite book|editor-last1=Gardiner|editor-first1=Robert|editor-last2=Gray|editor-first2=Randal|title=Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-245-5}}
- {{cite book| last=Jellicoe|first=John |author-link=John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe |title=The Grand Fleet 1914–16: Its Creation, Development and Work| url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.41761| year=1919| publisher=Cassell and Company |location=London |oclc=859842281 }}
- {{cite book |last = Manning | first =T.D. |title = The British Destroyer |publisher = Putnam| date = 1961 | location = London|oclc=6470051 }}
- {{cite book |title=Monograph No. 21: The Mediterranean 1914–1915 |series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical) |volume=VIII |year=1923 |publisher=Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.VIII_opt.pdf |ref={{Harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 21|1923}} }}
- {{cite book |title=Monograph No. 28: Home Waters—Part III.: From November 1914 to January 1915 |series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical) |volume=XII |year=1925 |publisher=Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XII_opt.pdf |ref={{Harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 28|1925}} }}
- {{cite book |title=Monograph No. 29: Home Waters Part IV: From February to July 1915 |series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical) |volume=XIII |year=1925 |publisher=The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XIII_opt.pdf |ref={{Harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 29|1925}} }}
- {{cite book |last=Moore |first=John |title=Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I |location=London|publisher=Studio|year=1990|isbn=1-85170-378-0}}
- {{cite book |last=Newbolt |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Newbolt |title=Naval Operations: Vol. V |year=1931 |publisher=Longmans Green| location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/navaloperations0000corb/page/n5 |oclc=220475309 }}
{{Acorn class destroyer}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minstrel, HMS}}
Category:Acorn-class destroyers