HMS ''Hydra'' was one of 20 ''Acheron''-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. Completed in 1912, the ship participated in World War I and was sold for

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

in 1921.

Design and description

The ''Acheron'' class was a repeat of the preceding . The Admiralty provided general specifications, but each

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

did their own detailed design so that ships often varied in size.Gardiner & Gray, p. 75 The ''Acheron''s had an overall length of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of , and a draught of . The ships displaced at deep load and their crew numbered 70 officers and ratings.Friedman, p. 295 ''Hydra'' was powered by a single Brown-Curtis

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

that drove both propeller shafts using steam provided by three Yarrow boilers. The engines developed a total of and were designed for a speed of . The ship reached a speed of from during her sea trials. The ''Acheron''s had a range of at a cruising speed of . The primary armament of the ships consisted of a pair of BL Mk VIII guns in single, unprotected

pivot mount A pivot gun was a type of cannon mounted on a fixed central emplacement which permitted it to be moved through a wide horizontal arc. They were a common weapon aboard ships and in land fortifications for several centuries but became obsolete aft ...

s fore and aft of the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

. They were also armed with two single QF 12-pounder () guns, one on each

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

abreast the bridge. The destroyers were equipped with a pair of single rotating mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes amidships and carried two reload torpedoes.

Construction and career

''Hydra'' was ordered under the 1910–1911 Naval Programme from John Brown & Company. The ship was laid down at the company's

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

on 7 February 1911, launched on 19 February 1912 and commissioned in June.

The Battle of Dogger Bank

''Hydra'' was with the

First Destroyer Flotilla The 1st Destroyer Flotilla, also styled as the First Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the British Royal Navy from 1909 to 1940 and again from 1947 to 1951. History Pre-war history In May 1906, the First Destroyer Flotilla was at ...

at the Battle of Dogger Bank on 24 January 1915.

The Battle of Jutland

She was present at the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...

on 31 May 1916. Along with the rest of the flotilla, she was transferred to the 3rd Battle Squadron, based at Portsmouth. She collided with a merchant ship on the night of 11 February 1917 in the English Channel. The captain of ''Hydra'' was held liable for the collision because, although the other ship showed him a light, he did not perceive that it was on a crossing course.

Mediterranean Service

From 1917 the Third Battle Squadron was deployed to the Mediterranean. ''Hydra'' was present at the entry of the Allied Fleet through the Dardanelles on 12 November 1918. On 9 February 1921, ''Hydra'' collided with the Royal Navy torpedo boat ''Z 3'' in the Weilingen Channel and sank. ''Z 3'' rescued all 72 of ''Hydra''′s crew. The ship was sold on 9 May 1921 to Thos. W. Ward of Portishead for scrap.

Pennant Numbers

References

External links

Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project - HMS Hydra Crew List
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hydra (1912) Acheron-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Clyde 1912 ships World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1921 Ships sunk in collisions