HMS ''Ure'' was a Palmer Type River Class Destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the

River Ure The River Ure in North Yorkshire, England is approximately long from its source to the point where it becomes the River Ouse. It is the principal river of Wensleydale, which is the only major dale now named after a village rather than its ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, England, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

Construction

She was laid down on 1 March 1904 at the Palmer’s shipyard at Jarrow and launched on 25 October 1904. She was completed in June 1905. Her original armament was to be the same as the Turleback torpedo boat destroyers that preceded her. In 1906 the Admiralty decided to upgrade the armament by landing the five 6-pounder naval guns and shipping three 12-pounder 8 hundredweight (cwt) guns. Two would be mounted abeam at the foc's'le break, and the third gun would be mounted on the quarterdeck.

Pre-War

After commissioning she was assigned to the East Coast Destroyer Flotilla of the 1st Fleet and based at Harwich. On 27 April 1908 the Eastern Flotilla departed Harwich for live fire and night manoeuvres. During these exercises rammed and sank then damaged . In April 1909 she was assigned to the

3rd Destroyer Flotilla The British 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, also styled as Third Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from 1909 to 1939 and again from 1945 to 1951. History In 1907 the Channel Fleet had a large Channel Flotilla of destroyers in Fe ...

on its formation at Harwich. She remained until displaced by a Basilisk Class destroyer by May 1912. She was assigned to the

5th Destroyer Flotilla The British 5th Destroyer Flotilla, or Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of 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 ...

of the 2nd Fleet with a nucleus crew. 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.

World War I

In early 1914 when displaced by G Class destroyers she joined 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 countermining patrols in the Firth of Forth area. By August she had been redeployed to Scapa Flow Local Flotilla under the command of Commander-in-Chief Home Fleets and tendered to . Here she provided anti-submarine and counter mining patrols in defence of the main fleet anchorage. With the amalgamation of the 7th and 9th Flotillas in August 1915, she was redeployed to the North Channel Patrol based at Larne, Northern Ireland. Here she was employed in escorting merchant ships, anti-submarine patrols and counter smuggling patrols following the Easter Uprising in Dublin in 1916. In November 1916, she was assigned to the

1st 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 ...

when it was redeployed to Portsmouth. She was equipped 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 for employment in anti-submarine patrols, escorting of merchant ships and defending the Dover Barrage. In the spring of 1917 as the convoy system was being introduced the 1st Flotilla was employed in convoy escort duties for the English Channel for the remainder of the war

Disposition

In 1919 she was paid off and laid up in reserve awaiting disposal. On 27 May 1919 she was sold to TR Sales for breaking. She was not awarded a Battle Honour for her service.

Pennant Numbers

References

Bibliography

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