HMS Thracian (1920)

The S-class destroyers were improved versions of the preceding Modified R class. They displaced {{convert|1075|LT|t|0}}.{{sfn|Gardiner|Gray|1985|pp=84–85}} The ships had an overall length of {{convert|276|ft|m|1}}, a beam of {{convert|26|ft|8|in|m|1}} and a draught of {{convert|9|ft|m|1}}. They were powered by two Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Yarrow boilers. The turbines developed a total of {{convert|27000|shp|lk=in}} and gave a maximum speed of {{convert|36|kn|lk=in}}. The ships carried a maximum of {{convert|301|LT|t}} of fuel oil that gave them a range of {{convert|2750|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}. The ships' complement was 90 officers and ratings.{{sfn|Lenton|1998|p=137}}

Thracian was armed with three QF 4 inch naval gun Mk IV, XII, XXII in single mounts and a single 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft gun. The ship was fitted with two twin mounts for British 21-inch torpedo.{{sfn|Gardiner|Gray|1985|pp=84–85}} Two additional single mounts were positioned abreast the bridge at the break of the forecastle for 18-inch (45 cm) torpedoes. All torpedo tubes were above water and traversed to fire.{{sfn|Friedman|2009|p=169}}

HMS Thracian was laid down on 17 January 1918 at Hawthorn Leslie and Company, but she was not launched until 5 March 1920 due to financial constraints post-war limitation in naval expenditure.{{sfn|Mason|2003}} She was completed at Sheerness Dockyard on 1 April 1922.

The ship took part in the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Arthur Luard Pears.{{sfn|Hong Kong War Diary}}{{sfn|Lai|2014|p=23}} She was the only destroyer defending the colony, after the departure of {{HMS|Scout|H51|6}} and {{HMS|Thanet|H29|6}} for Singapore on 8 December.{{sfn|Banham|2003|p=31}} On 10 December, she took part in a raid on Japanese crafts attempting to land on Lamma Island.{{sfn|Mason|2003}} On 13 December, she participated in the evacuation of personnel from Kowloon and Green Island to Aberdeen, Hong Kong Island.{{sfn|Banham|2003|pp=69–71}} On 16 December, she attacked Japanese boats that were preparing for the invasion of Hong Kong Island, but ran aground at Uk Kok. She was refloated later that day and returned to Aberdeen dockyard. Further into the afternoon, she became the target of Japanese high-level bombing. A near miss caused several casualties. With the dockyard badly damaged, the damage Thracian suffered from running aground was considered too bad to fix.{{sfn|Banham|2003|pp=85–86}}{{sfn|Kwong|Tsoi|2013|p=168}} On the next day, she was deliberately run aground at Ngan Chau.{{sfn|Kwong|Tsoi|2013|p=168}}{{sfn|Banham|2003|p=90}} The crew of Thracian continued to defend the colony as infantry,{{sfn|Banham|2003|p=122}}{{sfn|Lai|2014|p=23}} and would suffer heavy losses in the battle and subsequent captivity.{{sfn|Mason|2003}} On 24 December, Japanese troops began salvaging the ship,{{sfn|Mason|2003}} and she was later captured by the Imperial Japanese Army.{{sfn|Banham|2003|p=324}}

File:Japanese patrol boat PB101 in 1942.jpg

File:Japanese patrol boat 101 in 1945.jpg

On 1 October 1942, she was registered to the naval ship list in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and classified as a special service ship (patrol boat). She was renamed Patrol Boat No. 101.{{sfn|JACAR C12070115500|1942}} On 25 November, repairs were completed by the Navy 2nd Construction Department, and she was assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District. Afterwards, she spent her time on convoy escort operations in the Yokosuka Area. On 15 August 1943, she was assigned to the torpedo warfare school at Yokosuka. On 15 March 1944, she was classified as the miscellaneous ship (training ship), and renamed Special Training Ship No. 1.{{sfn|JACAR C12070485300|1942}} She was used for a test bed for new weapons.

By August 1945, she was found in Yokosuka after an unsuccessful scuttling. In December, she was recovered by {{HMS|Undine|R42|6}}, only to be broken up in Hong Kong in 1946.{{sfn|Mason|2003}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite Colledge2006}}
• {{cite book|last=Banham|first=Tony |author-link=Tony Banham|title=Not the Slightest Chance: The Defence of Hong Kong, 1941|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pr7ZjNCqyUsC|year=2003|publisher=UBC Press|isbn=978-0-7748-1045-6}}
• {{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 |name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War|year=2009|location=Barnsley, UK|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|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 |name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.hongkongwardiary.com/searchgarrison/rnandraf.html |title=Royal Navy & Royal Air force |work=Hong Kong War Diary |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217023253/http://www.hongkongwardiary.com/searchgarrison/rnandraf.html |archive-date=2020-02-17 |access-date=2021-01-25|ref={{harvid|Hong Kong War Diary}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Kwong |first1=Chi Man |last2=Tsoi |first2=Yiu Lun |trans-title=Exposed Outpost: the Battle of Hong Kong in the Pacific War|script-title=zh:孤獨前哨: 太平洋戰爭中的香港戰役 |location=Hong Kong |publisher=Cosmos Books Ltd. |language=zh|year=2013 |isbn=9789888254347}}
• {{cite book|last=Lai|first=Benjamin|title=Hong Kong 1941–45: First strike in the Pacific War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GISlCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA23|date=2014-06-20|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-78200-269-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Lenton|first=H. T.|author-link=Henry Trevor Lenton|title=British & Empire Warships of the Second World War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1998|isbn=1-55750-048-7}}
• {{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|year=1966|publisher=Seeley Service|location=London |OCLC=164893555}}
• {{cite web |url=https://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-07T-HMS_Thracian.htm |title=HMS THRACIAN (D 86) - Old S-class Destroyer |last=Mason |first=Geoffrey B |date=2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816010652/https://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-07T-HMS_Thracian.htm |archive-date=2017-08-16 |access-date=2021-01-28 }}
• {{cite web |url={{jacar|C12070115500|plainurl=1}} |script-title=ja:昭和17年1月～12月 達 |language=ja |author=Secretary of the Navy of Japan |work=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |date=1942 |access-date=2021-01-28|ref={{harvid|JACAR C12070115500|1942}}}}
• {{cite web |url={{jacar|C12070485300|plainurl=1}} |script-title=ja:昭和19年1月．昭和19年5月 海軍公報（部内限） |language=ja |author=Secretary of the Navy of Japan |work=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |date=1944 |access-date=2021-01-28|ref={{harvid|JACAR C12070485300|1942}}}}

• Rekishi Gunzō, History of Pacific War Vol.45, Truth histories of the Imperial Japanese Naval Vessels, Gakken (Japanese publisher), May 2004, {{ISBN|4-05-603412-5}}.
• Ships of the World, special issue Vol.45, Escort Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy, {{cite web |url=http://www.ships-net.co.jp/ |title=Kaijinsha}}, (Japan), 1996.
• The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No. 49, "Japanese submarine chasers and patrol boats", {{cite web |url=http://www.kojinsha.co.jp/ |title=Ushio Shobō}} (Japan), 1981.

{{S class destroyers (1917)}}

{{December 1941 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thracian}}

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

Category:1920 ships

Category:Ships built on the River Tyne

Category:Maritime incidents in December 1941

Category:Scuttled vessels

Category:Naval ships of the United Kingdom captured by Japan during World War II