HMS Rifleman (1910)

HMS Rifleman was an Acorn-class destroyer built by J. Samuel White & Company, Cowes, completed on 4 November 1910 and sold for breaking up on 9 May 1921.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Rifleman.
Rifleman on 1 January 1917 during the rescue of troops from Ivernia
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Rifleman
Builder: J. Samuel White & Company, Cowes
Launched: 22 August 1910
Fate:
  • Sold on 9 May 1921
  • Scrapped in 1923
General characteristics
Displacement: 772 tons
Length: 246 ft (75.0 m)
Beam: 25.2 ft (7.7 m)
Draught: 8.5 ft (2.6 m)
Propulsion: 4 Yarrow boilers, Parsons turbines, 13,500 shp
Speed: 27 knots
Complement: 72
Armament:
  • 2 × BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) L/40 Mark VIII guns, mounting P Mark V
  • 2 × QF 12 pdr 12 cwt Mark I mounting P Mark I
  • 2 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Notes:

Construction and design

The British Admiralty ordered 20 Acorn-class destroyers as part of the 1909–1910 shipbuilding programme for the Royal Navy.[1] Three of the class, Rifleman, Redpole and Ruby, were to be built by J. Samuel White.[2]

Rifleman was 240 ft 0 in (73.15 m) long between perpendiculars and 246 ft 0 in (74.98 m) overall, with a beam of 25 ft 3 in (7.70 m) and a draught of between 7 ft 4 1⁄2 in (2.248 m) and 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m) depending on load. Displacement was 760 long tons (770 t) normal and 855 long tons (869 t) full load.[3] The ship's machinery consisted of four White-Forster boilers feeding steam to Parsons steam turbines which drove three propeller shafts. The machinery was rated at 13,500 shaft horsepower (10,100 kW) giving a design speed of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph).[1][4] The ship had a crew of 72 officers and enlisted.[4]

Gun armament consisted of two 4-inch (102 mm) BL Mk VIII guns,[lower-alpha 1] one on the ship's forecastle and one aft, and two 12-pounder (76 mm) QF 12 cwt guns[lower-alpha 2] carried in the waist position between the first two funnels. Torpedo armament consisted of two 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, with two reload torpedoes carried. The torpedo tubes were aft of the funnels, mounted singly with a searchlight position between them.[1][4] By 1918, a 3-pounder (47 mm) anti aircraft gun was fitted, and depth charges were carried.[4]

Rifleman was laid down at White's Cowes, Isle of Wight shipyard on 21 December 1909 and launched on 22 August 1910.[2] Rifleman reached a speed of 28.6 kn (32.9 mph; 53.0 km/h) during sea trials[5] and was completed in March 1911.[2]

Service

On commissioning, Rifleman joined the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet, and was joined by her sister ships as they commissioned.[4] She was one of seven destroyers that suffered problems when steaming at full speed off the coast of Ireland during the 1911 Naval Manoeuvres, with serious leaks of water through hull rivets into the ships' oil tanks, requiring that they put into Portland Harbour for repairs.[6] Rifleman was still part of the 2nd Flotilla in August 1914, on the eve of the outbreak of the First World War.[7]

First World War

On the outbreak of the First World War, the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, including Rifleman joined the newly established Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow.[8][9] On 23 August 1914, Rifleman collided with the destroyer Comet, with Comet receiving significant damage.[10] On 12–13 November 1914, Rifleman and sister ship Larne were ordered to investigate sightings of submarines off the Outer Hebrides. Although they reported that there was "indisputable evidence" of submarine activity, the sightings were in fact imaginary.[11]

In early February 1915, Rifleman was one of four destroyers of the 2nd Flotilla[lower-alpha 3] ordered to the Irish sea to join a large force of destroyers searching for the German submarine U-21, with Rifleman's division, led by Cameleon, operating out of Barrow-in-Furness. No sign was found of U-21, which had left for Germany before any of the destroyers started search and patrol operations.[12] After these operations finished, Rifleman's division escorted the battleship Conqueror to Liverpool, arriving on 14 February, before setting off for Scapa Flow. Leaks forced Rifleman to dock at Greenock for repairs, however, with Rifleman not reaching Scapa until 28 February.[lower-alpha 4][13] On 22 May 1915, Rifleman ran aground in fog, forcing her to be docked for repairs.[14]

By January 1916, Rifleman had left the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, moving to the Mediterranean and joining the 5th Destroyer Flotilla.[15] On 1 January 1917 the German U-boat UB-47 torpedoed the Cunard liner RMS Ivernia off Cape Matapan, Greece. She was en route to Alexandria with 2,400 Scottish troops aboard; of these 85 drowned, together with 36 crew. Rifleman, the escorting destroyer, took off 650 and armed trawlers towed the remainder of the survivors in their lifeboats to Crete.[16]

On 15 April 1917 the SS Cameronia was en route from Marseilles to Alexandria, Egypt, when the German U-boat U-33 torpedoed her 150 miles east of Malta. Cameronia was a 10,963-ton passenger liner that had been converted to a troopship in January 1917. She was carrying 2,650 troops and the exact number of deaths is unknown, though the number is likely to be 11 crew members and 129 troops. The Chatby Memorial in Egypt lists the names of 127 soldiers as having been lost with Cameronia. The vessel that carried the survivors to Suda was likely the Rifleman.

On 20 January 1918, Rifleman was listed as under refit at Gibraltar.[17] Rifleman was still a member of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla at the end of the war on 11 November 1918.[18]

Disposal

Following the end of the war, pre-war destroyers like the Acorns were quickly laid up into reserve.[19] Rifleman had been ordered home by March 1919,[20] and was in reserve at Portsmouth by May 1919.[21] She was sold on 9 May 1921 to Ward for scrapping at their Briton Ferry, South Wales yard.[22]

Pennant Numbers
Pennant Number[22] Date
H821914
H97January 1918
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References
  1. The abbreviation BL stood for Breech Loading. In British use it also indicated that the gun used a bagged charge, with QF (Quick Firing) meaning that the gun used a charge enclosed in a metal cartridge case.
  2. "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
  3. Cameleon, Larne, Rifleman and Ruby.[12]
  4. Ruby and Cameleon also had to stop at Greenock for repairs, with Ruby also suffering leaks, while Cameleon collided with the berth wall at Greenock.[13]
  1. Friedman 2009, p. 122
  2. Friedman 2009, p. 306
  3. Friedman 2009, p. 295
  4. Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 74
  5. Moore 1990, p. 74
  6. "Stern Mimic Naval War: Seven Destroyers Crippled but Triumphant: Thrilling Sea Fight". Geelong Advertiser. Geelong, Australia. 9 August 1911. p. 3. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  7. "Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad: Flotilla of the First Fleet". The Navy List. August 1914. p. 269a. Retrieved 28 July 2019 – via National Library of Scotland.
  8. Jellicoe 1919, p. 9
  9. Manning 1961, pp. 25–26
  10. Jellicoe 1919, p. 109
  11. Naval Staff Monograph No. 28 1925, p. 48
  12. Naval Staff Monograph No. 29 1925, pp. 15–16
  13. Naval Staff Monograph No. 29 1925, p. 57
  14. Jellicoe 1919, p. 219
  15. "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands, &c.: IX.—Mediterranean Fleet". The Navy List. January 1916. p. 20. Retrieved 28 July 2019 – via National Library of Scotland.
  16. North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P.Bonsor, vol.1, p.155; Merchant Fleets by Duncan Haws, vol.12, Cunard Line.
  17. Newbolt 1931, p. 87
  18. "Ships of the Royal Navy - Location/Action Data, 1914–1918: Admiralty "Pink Lists", 11 November 1918". Naval-history.net. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  19. Manning 1961, p. 28
  20. "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands, &c.: VIII.—Vessels in Miscellaneous Service". The Navy List. March 1919. p. 21. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  21. "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands, &c.: IV.—Vessels in Reserve at Home Ports and Other Bases". The Navy List. May 1919. p. 16. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  22. Dittmar & Colledge 1972, p. 61
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