HMS ''Exe'' was a

River-class destroyer The River-class destroyer (re-designated in 1913 as the E class) was a class of torpedo boat destroyer built for the Royal Navy at the turn of the 20th century, and which saw extensive service in World War I. The class introduced new features t ...

ordered by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

under the 1901–1902 Naval Estimates. Named after the

River Exe The River Exe ( ) in England rises at Exe Head, near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It flows for 60 mile ...

in southern England flowing through

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

in the County of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy. She served on the

China Station The Commander-in-Chief, China was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 18 ...

before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

during the war. She was sold in 1920.

Construction

She was laid down on 14 July 1902 at the Palmer’s shipyard at Jarrow and launched on 27 April 1903. She was completed in March 1904. Her original armament was to be the same as the turtleback torpedo boat destroyers that preceded her. In 1906 the Admiralty decided to upgrade the armament by landing the five QF 6-pounder (8 cwt) guns and shipping three QF 12-pounder 8 cwt guns. Two would be mounted abeam at the forecastle break and the third gun would be mounted on the quarterdeck.

Pre-war

After commissioning she was assigned to the

in late 1904. In September 1905 ''Exe'' under the command of Commander Alan Everett, while accompanying encountered a severe typhoon between

Wei-hai-wei Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea. Weihai's popula ...

and

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. Both ships weathered the storm and proved the seaworthiness of the River class design. On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyer classes were to be designated by alpha characters starting with the letter 'A'. The ships of the River class were assigned to the E class. After 30 September 1913, she was known as an E-class destroyer and had the letter ‘E’ painted on the hull below the bridge area and on either the fore or aft funnel. In September 1912 ''Exe'' completed a refit at

Sheerness Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard also known as the Sheerness Station was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960. Location In the Age of Sail, the R ...

and rejoined the Fifth Flotilla. In March 1913, ''Exe'' formed part of the Ninth Flotilla based at

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

, one of four Flotillas equipped with old destroyers and torpedo boats for patrol purposes.

World War I

Upon her return to Home Waters 1914 she was in the

9th Destroyer Flotilla The 9th Destroyer Flotilla, or Ninth Destroyer Flotilla, was a military formation of the British Royal Navy from January 1913 to December 1925 and again in January to July 1940. History Established in January 1913 when it was assigned to the Pa ...

based at Chatham tendered to . The 9th Flotilla was a patrol flotilla tasked with anti-submarine and counter mining patrols in the Firth of Forth area. Soon after the commencement of hostilities she was deployed to the

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009 Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...

Local Flotilla under the command of the Commander-in-Chief Home Fleet tendered to . Her duties here included counter-mining patrols and antisubmarine measures in defence of the Fleet anchorage. ''Exe'' was still based at Scapa in January 1915, but in February, it was decided to base more destroyers in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

to protect troop transports, and ''Exe'' was ordered to join the Sixth Flotilla, part of the

Dover Patrol The Dover Patrol and later known as the Dover Patrol Force was a Royal Navy command of the First World War, notable for its involvement in the Zeebrugge Raid on 22 April 1918. The Dover Patrol formed a discrete unit of the Royal Navy based at Dove ...

, leaving Scapa on 27 February and arriving at

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

on 2 March. At the end of March, she moved again, being one of eight River-class destroyers transferred to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

for escort operations, relieving the s from their escort duties so the ''Beagle''s could be detached to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

for use in the Dardanelles Campaign. On 15 December 1916 ''Exe'' and sister ship were mid-

, returning from escorting a convoy to

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

when they interrupted the German submarine , which had stopped the British steamer ''Red Rose''. ''UC-17'' dived on sighting the smoke from the destroyers, saving ''Red Rose'' from being sunk. ''Exe'' attempted to search for the submarine, deploying an explosive paravane, which exploded when lowered, but ''UC-17'' was unharmed. On 27 February 1917 ''Exe'' spotted the German submarine in the Channel. ''Exe'' attacked with explosive paravanes while the P-class patrol boat attacked with

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 ...

s, but the submarine was undamaged. On the night of 13/14 May ''Exe'' was escorting the merchant ship between Portsmouth and

when her commanding officer spotted a possible submarine. ''Exe'' attempted to ram the submarine, which disappeared in a rain storm without being hit.

Fate

In 1919 she was paid off and laid up in reserve awaiting disposal. On 10 February 1920 she was sold to

Thos. W. Ward Thos. W. Ward Ltd was a Sheffield, Yorkshire, steel, engineering and cement business, which began as coal and coke merchants. It expanded into recycling metal for Sheffield's steel industry, and then the supply and manufacture of machinery. I ...

of Sheffield for breaking at Rainham, Kent, on the Thames Estuary.

Pennant numbers

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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