HMS Lynx (1913)

HMS Lynx was one of 20 Acasta-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. Completed in 1914 she saw active service in the First World War.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Lynx.

Sister ship Midge in 1915
History
United Kingdom
Name: Lynx
Builder: London and Glasgow Shipbuilding Company, Govan
Yard number: 364[1]
Laid down: 18 January 1912
Launched: 20 March 1913
Commissioned: January 1914
Fate: Sunk by a naval mine, 9 August 1915
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type: Acasta-class destroyer
Displacement: 1,072 long tons (1,089 t) (deep load)
Length: 267 ft 6 in (81.5 m)
Beam: 27 ft (8.2 m)
Draught: 9 ft 6 in (2.9 m)
Installed power:
Propulsion: 2 shafts; 1 steam turbine
Speed: 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Range: 1,540 nmi (2,850 km; 1,770 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement: 73
Armament:
  • 3 × single 4 in (102 mm) guns
  • 2 × single 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes

Design and description

The Acasta class was based on an enlarged HMS Firedrake, a very fast Yarrow Special of the Acheron class.[2] The Acastas had an overall length of 267 feet 6 inches (82 m), a beam of 27 feet (8.2 m), and a normal draught of 9 feet 6 inches (2.9 m).[3] The ships displaced 1,072 long tons (1,089 t) at deep load and their crew numbered 73 officers and ratings.[4]

The destroyers were powered by a single Parsons steam turbine that drove two propeller shafts using steam provided by four Yarrow boilers. The engines developed a total of 24,500 shaft horsepower (18,300 kW) and were designed for a speed of 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph). Lynx reached a speed of 31.9 knots (59.1 km/h; 36.7 mph) from 26,041 shp (19,419 kW) during her sea trials.[2] The Acastas had a range of 1,540 nautical miles (2,850 km; 1,770 mi) at a cruising speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[4]

The primary armament of the ships consisted of three BL 4-inch (102 mm) Mk VIII guns in single, unprotected pivot mounts. One gun was on the forecastle and two were aft of the superstructure. The destroyers were equipped with a pair of single rotating mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes amidships and carried two reload torpedos.[5]

Construction and career

Lynx was ordered under the 1911–1912 Naval Programme from the London and Glasgow Shipbuilding Company. The ship was laid down at the company's Govan shipyard on 18 January 1912, launched on 20 March 1913 and commissioned in January 1914. She was torpedoed and sunk on 6 August 1918.[6] She was commanded from 16 December 1913 by Commander Reginald St Pierre Parry.[7]

Lynx was part of the response to the German bombardment of Scarborough on 16 December 1914. At 05:15 she sighted the German destroyer SMS V155, and summoned her destroyer squadron to investigate. The brief skirmish took place with a force of German destroyers and cruisers, and Lynx was hit several times by German shells. She sustained minor damage to a propeller, and had one man wounded.[8]

Lynx left Cromarty with two half-divisions of the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla on 15 December 1914 and she encountered a German destroyer. Lynx was hit by gunfire as she gave chase and her forward magazine was flooded. Her steering gear jammed and the rest of the force made the error of following her, thus ending the pursuit.[9]

On 9 August 1915 Lynx struck a mine off the Moray Firth by the German raider Meteor and sank. The ship was, at the time, serving in the North Scottish waters during the First World War. Seventy men were lost; four officers and twenty-two ratings survived.[10]

References
  1. "HMS Lynx". Clydebuilt Database. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2014.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  2. March, p. 125
  3. Gardiner & Gray, p. 75
  4. Friedman, p. 295
  5. Friedman, pp. 125–126, 295
  6. Friedman, p. 306
  7. 1915 Navy List. Chilmark: S&N Genealogy Supplies. 2006. p. 352. ISBN 9781847271198.
  8. "Hartlepool, Scarborough, Whitby Raid, December 1914, and minesweeping, Killed and died, Medals". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  9. Smith, Peter (1971). Hard Lying: The Birth of the Destroyer, 1893-1913. London: Kimber. p. 147. ISBN 9780718301927.
  10. Miller, David (2013). Langsdorff and the Battle of the River Plate. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-84884-490-2.

Bibliography
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  • March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.

Further reading
  • Massie, Robert (2004). Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-224-04092-8.
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