HMS ''Fortune'' was an , and the twenty-first ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She was launched in 1913 and was sunk at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.

Design and description

The ''Acasta''s were larger and heavier armed than the preceding H and I classes ( and , respectively), displacing about 25% more and with the mixed calibre armament replaced with a uniform fit of QF 4-inch guns, which the ''Acasta''s introduced. Previous weapons had been of the breech-loading ( BL) type. The guns were shipped one each on the

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

and either side abreast the after torpedo tube (or amidships before and after the tube in some ships.) All ships had three funnels, the foremost being tall and narrow, the second short and wide and the third level with the second but narrower. The foremost torpedo tube was sited between the second and third funnels, a distinctive feature of this class. There were twelve 'standard' vessels built to a common Admiralty design, and eight builders' specials that (except for ''Garland'') had a shorter, less beamy hull; five of the latter were from

Thornycroft Thornycroft was an English vehicle manufacturer which built coaches, buses, and trucks from 1896 until 1977. History In 1896, naval engineer John Isaac Thornycroft formed the Thornycroft Steam Carriage and Van Company which built its firs ...

with (one of Thornycroft's ships, , was planned to

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

cruising motors, but these were not ready in time and ''Hardy'' was completed with Thornycroft's standard machinery).Friedman 2009, pp. 126–129. One by

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...

() had semi-geared turbinesFriedman 2009, p. 127. giving a speed of on trials, with a seventh from

Fairfields Fairfields is a district and civil parish that covers a large new development area on the western flank of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. As the first tier of Local Government, the parish council is responsible for the people who l ...

had a clipper bow. The eighth 'special' was by William Denny, Dumbarton, which was built using

longitudinal framing Longitudinal framing (also called the Isherwood system after British naval architect Sir Joseph Isherwood, who patented it in 1906) is a method of ship construction in which large, widely spaced transverse frames are used in conjunction with l ...

rather than conventional transverse framing. While ''Ardent'' novel construction seems to have been a success, no more destroyers were built for the Royal Navy using longitudinal framing until the J-class destroyers in the 1930s.Brown 2010, pp. 70–71. ''Fortune'' displaced with a length of , a beam of and a draught of . The destroyer had a complement of 73.Gardiner and Gray, p. 75 The ship was powered by four Yarrow-type water-tube boilers which fed

steam turbines rated at , which drove two shafts, giving the destroyer a maximum speed of . ''Fortune'' was given an experimental clipper bow ''Fortune'' was armed with three QF L/40 Mark IV guns on P Mk. IX mountings. However, ''Fortune'' was a "Builders' Special", and the second 4-inch gun was mounted on a platform between the no.2 and 3 funnels. The ship one QF 2 pdr pom-pom Mk. II gun. The destroyer was also equipped with two single

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s for four 21 inch (533 mm)

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

es.

Construction and career

''Fortune'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

under the 1911–1912 construction programme by

Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited was a Scottish shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Navy ...

and launched on 17 March 1913. She was temporarily renamed HMS ''Kismet'' in October 1913, but this was reverted shortly afterwards. She joined the

4th Destroyer Flotilla The British 4th Destroyer Flotilla , or Fourth Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from August 1909 to July 1951. History In 1907 the Home Fleet had a large formation of destroyers called the Home Fleet Flotilla of destr ...

on completion and served with the

Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from the F ...

on the outbreak of

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 ...

Battle of Jutland and loss

During the evening of 31 May 1916, the 4th Flotilla was screening the rear of the Grand Fleet in the Battle of Jutland, against the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Kaise ...

High Seas Fleet The High Seas Fleet (''Hochseeflotte'') was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (''Heimatflotte'') was renamed as the High Seas ...

. At 11:20 pm, the 4th Flotilla encountered unknown ships off their starboard quarter. Believing them to be British, the

flotilla leader A flotilla leader was a warship of late 19th century and early 20th century navies suitable for commanding a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships, typically a small cruiser or a large destroyer (known as a destroyer leader). The flotil ...

flashed a challenge. Six opposing ships, comprising the battleships , and and three cruisers, turned on their floodlights and opened up with their secondary armament. Most aimed for ''Tipperary'' which was soon ablaze. The destroyers began to return fire and launched a torpedo attack, which led to a collision among the Germans. During this first attack, ''Fortune'' and were separated from the rest of the flotilla. They began to look for the German ships which had disengaged after battering their way through the 4th Flotilla.Massie, p. 644 About 11:30 pm they eventually found four large ships and engaged them. Both ''Ardent'' and ''Fortune'' were sunk in the ensuing firefight. The last anyone saw of ''Fortune'' was the ship afire but still firing as the destroyer was sinking. There were seven survivors, the other 67 crewmen were killed or missing. The wrecksite is designated as a ''protected place'', under the

Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

Pennant numbers

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Brown, David K. (2010) ''The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906–1922''. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. . * Friedman, Norman. (2009) ''British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War'', Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. . * Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. . * Massie, Robert K. (2003). ''Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea.'' New York: Ballantine Books.

External links

Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project - HMS ''Fortune'' Crew List
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune 1913 Acasta-class destroyers World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1916 Ships sunk at the Battle of Jutland Protected Wrecks of the United Kingdom 1913 ships