HMAS ''Success'' was an Admiralty

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built for the Royal Navy during World War I, the ship was not completed until 1919, and spent less than eight months in British service before being transferred to the RAN at the start of 1920. The destroyer's career was uneventful, with almost all of it spent in Australian waters. ''Success'' was decommissioned in 1930, and was sold for

ship breaking Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction ...

in 1937.

Design and construction

''Success'' was built to the Admiralty design of the S-class destroyer, which was designed and built as part of the British emergency war programme.Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 113 The destroyer had a displacement of 1,075 tons, a length of overall and between perpendiculars, and a beam of . The propulsion machinery consisted of three Yarrow boilers feeding Brown-Curtis turbines, which supplied to the ship's two propeller shafts.Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 114 ''Success'' had a maximum speed of , and a range of at .Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', pp. 113–4 The ship's company was made up of 6 officers and 93 sailors. The destroyer's primary armament consisted of three QF 4-inch Mark IV guns. These were supplemented by a

2-pounder pom-pom The 2-pounder gun, officially the QF 2-pounder ( QF denoting "quick firing") and universally known as the pom-pom, was a British autocannon, used as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy.British military of the period traditionally denoted s ...

, two 9.5-inch howitzer bomb throwers, five .303 inch machine guns (a mix of Lewis and Maxim guns), two twin 21-inch torpedo tube sets, two

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

throwers, and two depth charge chutes. ''Success'' was laid down by William Doxford and Sons Limited at their

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

shipyard in 1917. The destroyer was launched on 29 June 1918, and completed on 15 April 1919. The ship was briefly commissioned into the Royal Navy in April 1919, but was quickly marked for transfer to the RAN, along with four

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s. ''Success'' was commissioned into the RAN on 27 January 1920.

Operational history

''Success'' and three of her sister ships sailed for Australia on 20 February, visiting ports in the Mediterranean, India, Singapore, and the Netherlands East Indies before reaching Sydney on 29 April. ''Success'' operated in Australian waters until 6 October 1921, when she was placed in reserve. The destroyer was reactivated on 1 December 1925. In late May 1926, ''Success'' visited Port Moresby.

Decommissioning and fate

''Success'' paid off on 21 May 1930. She was sold to Penguins Limited for

in 1937.

Citations

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Success (H02) S-class destroyers (1917) of the Royal Australian Navy Ships built on the River Wear 1918 ships