The M class, more properly known as the Admiralty M class, were a class of 85 destroyers built for the

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that saw service during

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 ...

. All ships were built to an identical – Admiralty – design, hence the class name. 18 other vessels which were officially included within the 'M' class were built to variant designs by three specialist builders – 10 by

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

, 6 by Thornycroft (who also built another 6 to the standard Admiralty design), and 2 by

Hawthorn Leslie R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilder and locomotive manufacturer. The company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982. History The company was form ...

; these are covered in other articles. The Admiralty design was based on the preceding L class but modified to produce an increase in speed by approximately . All ships built to the Admiralty design had three identical narrow, circular funnels (this did not apply to the 18 ships built by the specialist yards).

Ships of the pre-war (1913–14) Programme

Six vessels were built under the 1913–14 Naval Programme. These differed from the wartime vessels by being 1,010 tons full load, with slightly smaller dimensions. Besides the above six vessels,

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destroyers already under construction were purchased from Yarrow,

two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

from Thornycroft and

from Hawthorn Leslie to these builders' individual designs, and these are listed in separate articles. Three further ships had been projected under the 1913–14 Naval Programme – and named ''Marksman'', ''Menace'' and ''Monitor''; however these three ships were cancelled before being contracted to any specific builder, in favour of two ''Marksman''-class leaders.

Ships of the Emergency War Construction Programme

All the following vessels were ordered in five batches as part of the War Emergency Programme. Wartime builds omitted the cruising turbines originally specified and carried by the pre-war sub-group. The funnel heights were also raised compared with the pre-war vessels, and the second 4 in gun was mounted on a bandstand, as with the earlier L-class destroyers. ''Partridge'', ''Norman'', ''Maenad'', ''Ophelia'' and ''Observer'' were later fitted to carry a

kite balloon A kite balloon is a tethered balloon which is shaped to help make it stable in low and moderate winds and to increase its lift. It typically comprises a streamlined envelope with stabilising features and a harness or yoke connecting it to the mai ...

1st War Programme

Sixteen vessels were ordered in September 1914 (as well as four of the Yarrow M class), but part of their cost was met by the provision in the 1914–15 Programme for ten destroyers.

2nd War Programme

Nine further vessels were ordered in early November 1914 (as well as one further Yarrow M class).

3rd War Programme

Twenty-two further vessels were ordered in late November 1914.

4th War Programme

Sixteen further vessels were ordered in February 1915 (as well as two more of the Thornycroft M class). The eight last-named below of these were of the Repeat M subgroup with raking stems compared with the straight stems of the previous sub-group, and the bows were more flared to improve seakeeping qualities.

5th War Programme

Eighteen final vessels were ordered in May 1915 (as well as two of the Thornycroft M class and two of the Yarrow M class). However, two of the eighteen were fitted with geared turbines and became the prototypes for the Admiralty R class destroyers (these were the ''Radstock'' and ''Raider'', and are listed with the R class). The other sixteen were all to the Admiralty design were of the Repeat M subgroup with raking stems apart from the two ships ordered from White as ''Redmill'' and ''Redwing'', which were completed to the earlier 'M' Class design and were renamed ''Medina'' and ''Medway'' while building.

Notes

Bibliography

* * ''Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981'', Maurice Cocker, 1983, Ian Allan * ''Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919'', Jane's Publishing. * ''British Warships 1914–1919'', Fred Dittmar & Jim Colledge, 1972, Ian Allan SBN 7110 0380 7. {{WWI British ships M class destroyer Admiralty Ship classes of the Royal Navy