HMS Strongbow (1916)

HMS Strongbow was ordered from Yarrow Shipbuilders in July 1915 as part of the Sixth War Programme of shipbuilding for the Royal Navy.Friedman 2009, p. 310. Strongbow was built as one of the Yarrow Later M class to Yarrow's own design rather than to the Admiralty's own design for the M-class destroyer. Yarrow's design used direct-drive steam turbines rather than the geared turbines of the Admiralty design, and had two funnels rather than three. As such, they more closely resembled Yarrow R-class Specials,Friedman 2009, p. 157.Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 81. and are referred to as Yarrow R-class ships in some sources.Dittmar and Colledge 1972, pp. 67–68.Manning 1961, pp. 69–70.Moore 1990, p. 70.

Strongbow{{'}}s hull was {{convert|273|ft|6|in|m}} long overall, with a beam of {{convert|25|ft|7+1/2|in|m|2}} and a draught of {{convert|9|ft|m|2}}. Displacement was {{convert|930|LT|t|lk=in}}. Three Yarrow boilers fed Parsons turbines, driving two propeller shafts and generating {{convert|27000|shp|kW}}. This gave a speed of {{convert|36|kn}}. Armament consisted of three QF Mark IV 4 inch (102 mm) guns, with a single 2-pounder (40-mm) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft gun and four 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. The ship had a crew of 82 officers and men.

Strongbow was launched from Yarrow's Glasgow shipyard on 30 September 1916 and was completed in November that year.

Following commissioning, Strongbow joined the Twelfth Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet,{{cite journal|url=http://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/pageturner.cfm?id=92098750&mode=fullsize|title=Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands &c.: Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet|journal=The Navy List|date=December 1916|page=12|access-date=13 October 2014}} with the pennant number G.44.Dittmar and Colledge 1972, p. 68. Strongbow was one of eight destroyers detached to Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, with the duty of escorting the regular convoys from Scandinavia to the United Kingdom.{{cite web|last=Newbolt|first=Henry|title=History of the Great War: Naval Operations: Volume V, April 1917 to November 1918 (Part 1 of 4)|year=2013|orig-year=Originally published by Longmans, Green, London, 1931|publisher=Naval-History.net|url=http://www.naval-history.net/WW1Book-RN5a.htm|access-date=13 October 2014}}

On 16 October 1917, Strongbow joined a westbound convoy of 12 merchant ships from Norway. The escort consisted of Strongbow, the destroyer {{HMS|Mary Rose|1915|2}} and two naval trawlers. In the morning of 17 October, the convoy was attacked by two German light cruisers, the {{SMS|Bremse||2}} and {{SMS|Brummer||2}}, about {{convert|70|nmi}} east of Lerwick. Strongbow sighted two unknown ships at 06:00, in poor visibility, and believing them to be Royal Navy cruisers, challenged them with recognition signals. Strongbow, receiving inadequate responses, had not yet cleared for action when the two German cruisers opened fire at a range of about {{convert|3000|yd|m|-2}}. Strongbow quickly received heavy damage and was immobilised, and after ensuring that all confidential papers had been destroyed, the captain ordered the surviving crew to abandon ship. Mary Rose, which had been ahead of the convoy, and only realised that the convoy was under attack when her crew heard gunfire, was also quickly sunk, as were nine of the merchant vessels. Neither destroyer managed to make a radio report of the attack, and the two German cruisers escaped unscathed.Massie 2007, p. 747. Forty-six of Strongbow{{'}}s crew were killed in the attack.{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=1st - 31st October 1917 in date, ship/unit & name order|work=World War 1 - Casualty Lists of the Royal Navy and Dominion Navies|publisher=Naval-History.net|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1917-10Oct.htm|access-date=13 October 2014}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{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|last1=Gardiner|first1=Robert|last2=Gray|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=Manning|first=T. D.|title=The British Destroyer|year=1961|publisher=Putnam & Co. Ltd|location=London}}
• {{cite book|last=Massie|first=Robert K.|title=Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany and the Winning of the War at Sea|year=2007|publisher=Vintage Books|location=London|isbn=978-0-099-52378-9}}
• {{cite book|last=Moore|first=John|title=Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I|year=1990|publisher=Studio Editions|location=London|isbn=1-85170-378-0}}

{{R class destroyers}}

{{October 1917 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strongbow}}

Category:1916 ships

Category:Maritime incidents in 1917

Category:Ships built on the River Clyde

Category:World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom

Category:World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea

Category:Yarrow Later M-class destroyers