HMS Tirade

HMS Tirade was a modified Admiralty R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. The vessel was launched in 1917 at Greenock in Scotland and served with the Grand Fleet during World War I, sinking the minelaying submarine UC-55.

Sistership HMS Tower during sea trials
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Tirade
Ordered:	March 1916
Builder:	Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock
Yard number:	478
Laid down:	1 May 1916
Launched:	21 April 1917
Commissioned:	30 June 1917
Decommissioned:	15 November 1921
Fate:	Sold for scrapping
General characteristics
Class and type:	Modified Admiralty R-class destroyer
Displacement:	(1,076 long tons (1,093 t)
Length:	276 ft (84.1 m)
Beam:	27 ft (8.2 m)
Draught:	11 ft (3.4 m)
Propulsion:	3 Yarrow boilers 2 geared Brown-Curtis steam turbines, 27,000 shp (20,000 kW)
Speed:	36 knots (41.4 mph; 66.7 km/h)
Range:	3,450 nmi (6,390 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Complement:	82
Armament:	3 × QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mark IV guns, mounting P Mk. IX 1 × single 2-pounder (40-mm) "pom-pom" Mk. II anti-aircraft gun 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2×2)

Design

Tirade was 276 feet (84.12 m) long overall, with a beam of 27 feet (8.2 m) and a draught of 11 feet (3.35 m).[1] Displacement was 1,076 long tons (1,093 t).[2] Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding two Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines rated at 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) and driving two shafts, to give a design speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph).[1] Two funnels were fitted, two boilers exhausting through the forward funnel. 296 long tons (301 t) of oil were carried, giving a design range of 3,450 nautical miles (6,390 km; 3,970 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[3]

Armament consisted of three 4 in (102 mm) Mk IV QF guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised platform and one between the funnels. A single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom anti-aircraft gun was carried, while torpedo armament consisted of two twin mounts for 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes.[1] Fire control included a single Dumaresq and a Vickers range clock.[4] The ship had a complement of 82 officers and ratings.[2]

Service

Tirade was one of eleven modified R-class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in March 1916 as part of the Eighth War Construction Programme. The ship was built by Scotts at Greenock and was launched in April 1917.[3] On commissioning, Tirade joined the Fifteenth Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet.[5]

Tirade initially served from Lough Swilly, Ireland, on convoy escort duty.[6] The destroyer first saw action alongside Rapid in August 1917 when the vessel unsuccessfully attacked a fleeing submarine with depth charges.[7] After relocating to Scapa Flow to escort convoys from Norway, Tirade achieved its only kill on 29 September. At 14:15, the armed trawler HMS Moravia identified the submarine minelayer UC-55 surfaced, suffering from a lack of rudder control and failing batteries and attempting to scuttle.[8] Tirade attacked and fired her forward 4 in (102 mm) gun from 3,400 yards (3,100 m). The third shell struck the submarine’s conning tower, killing the commander, and the fifth holed the hull below the waterline. The destroyer delivered the coup de grace with two depth charges, which blew up the submarine. The destroyer rescued two of the nineteen survivors from the water.[9]

On 21 October 1917, the destroyer accidentally collided with Marmion while escorting a convoy off Lerwick. Tirade received little damage but Marmion foundered and sank.[10]

At the end of World War I, Tirade was still part of the Fifteenth Destroyer Flotilla under the flotilla leader Campbell.[11] The vessel was transferred to the 5th Destroyer Flotilla under the flag of King George V when the Home Fleet was formed,[12] but was reduced to C & M Party on 28 November 1919.[13] The destroyer was sold to Cashmore of Newport, Wales, on 15 November 1921 and broken up.[14]

Pennant numbers

Pennant Number	Date
F81	1917[15]
G80	1918[15]

References

Notes

1. Gardiner & Gray, 1985, p.81
2. Parkes & Prendegast, 1918, p.107
3. Friedman, 2009, p.310
4. "Fire Control in H.M. Ships". The Technical History and Index: Alteration in Armaments of H.M. Ships during the War. 3 (23): 31. 1919.
5. "Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet". Supplement to The Monthly Navy List: 12. October 1917. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
6. Williams, 1997, p.150
7. Williams, 1997, p.151
8. Williams, 1997, p.153
9. Williams, 1997, p.153-157
10. "Sinking of H.M.S. MARMION in collision with H.M.S. TIRADE". Retrieved 29 August 2018.
11. "Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet". Supplement to The Monthly Navy List: 12. January 1919. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
12. "II. Home Fleet". Supplement to The Monthly Navy List: 12. July 1919. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
13. "Tirade". Supplement to The Monthly Navy List: 875. January 1921. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
14. Colledge & Warlow, 2006, p.327
15. Dittmar & Colledge, 1972, p.70

Bibliography

• Colledge, J.J.; Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. London: Chatham Press. ISBN 1-86176-281-X.
• Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the First World War. Barnsley: 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.
• Parkes, Oscar; Prendegast, Maurice (1918). Jane’s Fighting Ships. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd.
• Williams, M. W. (1997). "HMS Tirade and the sinking of UC-55". In Mclean, David; Preston, Antony (eds.). Warship 1997-1998. London: Conway Maritime. ISBN 978-0-85177-722-1.