HMS Michael (1915)

Sister ship Minion
History
United Kingdom
Name	Michael
Ordered	September 1914
Builder	Thornycroft, Woolston, Southampton
Laid down	October 1914
Launched	19 May 1915
Completed	August 1915
Out of service	22 September 1921
Fate	Sold to be broken up
General characteristics
Class and type	Admiralty M-class destroyer
Displacement	985 long tons (1,001 t) (normal)
Length	273 ft 4 in (83.3 m) (o/a) 265 feet (80.8 m) (p.p.)
Beam	26 ft 8 in (8.1 m)
Draught	8 ft 11 in (2.7 m)
Installed power	3 Yarrow boilers, 25,000 shp (19,000 kW)
Propulsion	Parsons steam turbines, 3 shafts
Speed	34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range	2,530 nmi (4,690 km; 2,910 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	80
Armament	3 × single QF 4-inch (102 mm) guns 2 × single 1-pdr 37 mm (1.5 in) AA guns 2 × twin 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes

HMS Michael was an Admiralty M-class destroyer which served in the Royal Navy during the First World War. The M class was an improvement on those of the preceding L class, capable of higher speed. The destroyer was launched in 1915 and joined the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet. In 1916, Michael responded with the Grand Fleet to the bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft and fought in the Battle of Jutland. During the following year, the warship was transferred to Buncrana to operate under the Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Ireland, and, for the remainder of the war, the destroyer escorted convoys that were arriving and departing ports on the Clyde and Mersey to cross the Atlantic Ocean. After the 1918 Armistice that ended the war, Michael was placed in reserve before being sold to be broken up in 1921.

Design and development

Main article: M-class destroyer

Michael was one of the sixteen Admiralty M-class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in September 1914 as part of the First War Programme.[1] The M class was an improved version of the earlier L class, required to reach a higher speed in order to counter rumoured new German fast destroyers. The remit was to have a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) and, although ultimately the destroyers fell short of that ambition in service, the extra performance that was achieved was valued by the navy. It transpired that the rumoured German warships did not exist.[2]

The destroyer had a length of 265 ft (80.8 m) between perpendiculars and 273 ft 4 in (83.3 m) overall, with a beam of 26 ft 8 in (8.1 m) and draught of 8 ft 11 in (2.7 m).[3] Normal displacement was 985 long tons (1,001 t).[4] Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding Parsons steam turbines rated at 25,000 shaft horsepower (19,000 kW), driving three shafts and exhausting through three funnels.[5] Design speed was 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph), but Michael managed 33.54 knots (62.12 km/h; 38.60 mph) on 24,500 shp (18,300 kW) during trials.[6] A total of 228 long tons (232 t) of oil was carried, which gave a design range of 2,530 nautical miles (4,690 km; 2,910 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[3] The ship had a complement of 80 officers and ratings.[7]

Michael had a main armament consisting of three single QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk IV guns on the centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised platform and one between the middle and aft funnels. Torpedo armament consisted of two twin torpedo tubes for 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes located aft of the funnels.[8][4] Two single 1-pounder 37 mm (1.5 in) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft guns were carried.[7] The anti-aircraft guns were later replaced by single 2-pdr 40 mm (1.6 in) "pom-pom" guns.[3] The destroyer was fitted with racks and storage for depth charges.[9] Initially, only two depth charges were carried but the number increased in service and by 1918, the vessel was carrying between 30 and 50 depth charges.[10]

Construction and career

Michael was laid down by John I. Thornycroft & Company at their yard in Woolston, Southampton in October 1914, was launched on 19 May the following year and was completed three months later in August 1915.[11] Unlike others built by the shipyard, the destroyer was built to an Admiralty specification.[7] The vessel was the third to serve with the Royal Navy with the name.[12]

Michael was deployed as part of the Grand Fleet, joining the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla.[13] On 26 and 27 February 1916, the flotilla took part in a large naval exercise east of Shetland, involving four flotillas of destroyers, as well as all the operational battlecruisers, battleships and cruisers of the Grand Fleet. The exercise was deemed a success.[14] On 27 March, during a set of Grand Fleet manoeuvres, the warship was seriously damaged due to poor weather.[15] On 24 April, the destroyer was based at Cromarty on the east coast of Scotland.[16] The flotilla formed part of the support for the Grand Fleet in their response to the German bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft which took place on that day. However, the slower speed of the destroyers in the choppy seas meant that they were left behind and they did not encounter the German fleet.[17]

During the following month, the destroyer sailed back to Cromarty along with eight other destroyers from the flotilla and the flotilla leader Kempenfelt to meet with the Second Battle Squadron. The ships sortied to rendezvous with the remainder of the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla under the light cruiser Castor on 31 May.[18] They then sailed along with the rest of the Grand Fleet to confront the German High Seas Fleet in the Battle of Jutland. As the two fleets converged, the flotilla briefly was called away hunt for imaginary submarines.[19] Before they met, the flotilla was formed close to the dreadnought battleship King George V, which was leading at the head of the Second Battle Squadron.[20][21] At 21:00, the destroyers encountered heavy German units and very nearly attacked, but broke off due to fears they were British battlecruisers. According to John Campbell, ""the powerful 11th Flotilla missed a fine opportunity...of inflicting serious damage".[22] As the German fleet withdrew during the night, the destroyers, led by Castor, is believed to have come under fire from SMS König at 23:45.[23] They attacked the German light cruisers of the Fourth Scouting Group, although Michael again was not able to achieve any hits.[24] The engagement led them away from the battle, opening the way for the German fleet to escape.[25] In the action, Michael took no hits. After the battle ended, the vessel returned to Scapa Flow with the remainder of the flotilla, arriving on 2 June.[26]

The destroyer remained part of the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla on 19 August, based at Scapa Flow.[27] During the following year, Michael was transferred to the Northern Division of the Coast of Ireland Station based at Buncrana.[28] The destroyer was part of the escort service provided to convoys travelling across the Atlantic Ocean. The destroyers at Buncrana assisted convoys travelling across the Atlantic Ocean to and from the American industrial complex at Hampton Roads and via Sydney, Nova Scotia, arriving and departing ports on the Clyde and Mersey.[29] The division also provided three escorts every eight days to protect fast convoys travelling to and from Halifax, Nova Scotia.[30] The convoy escort role continued into 1918.[31][32]

After the Armistice that ended the war on 11 November 1918, the Royal Navy returned to a peacetime level of strength and both the number of ships and personnel needed to be reduced to save money.[33] Along nearly two dozen other members of the class, the destroyer was transferred to reserve at Devonport.[34] However, the harsh conditions of wartime operations, particularly the combination of high speed and the poor weather that is typical of the North Sea, exacerbated by the fact that the hull was not galvanised, meant that the ship was already worn out.[35] Michael was declared superfluous to operational requirements and retired. On 22 September 1921, the destroyer was sold to Cohen and broken up in Germany.[12]

Pennant numbers

Pennant number	Date
HC5	August 1915[36]
G07	January 1917[37]
HA1	January 1918[38]
H41	January 1919[39]

References

Citations

1. McBride 1991, p. 45.
2. Friedman 2009, p. 132.
3. Friedman 2009, p. 296.
4. March 1966, p. 174.
5. Parkes & Prendergast 1969, p. 109.
6. McBride 1991, p. 44.
7. Preston 1985, p. 76.
8. Preston 1985, pp. 76, 80.
9. Friedman 2009, p. 151.
10. Friedman 2009, p. 152.
11. Friedman 2009, p. 308.
12. Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 225.
13. "Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet". Supplement to the Monthly Navy List: 12. January 1916. Retrieved 27 December 2024 – via National Library of Scotland.
14. Naval Staff Monograph No. 31 1926, p. 83.
15. Jellicoe 1919, p. 280.
16. Naval Staff Monograph No. 32 1927, p. 44.
17. Naval Staff Monograph No. 32 1927, p. 33.
18. Brooks 2016, pp. 154–155.
19. Campbell 1998, p. 164.
20. Brooks 2016, p. 270.
21. Corbett 1920, p. 428.
22. Campbell 1998, p. 258.
23. Campbell 1998, p. 288.
24. Brooks 2016, p. 386.
25. Campbell 1998, pp. 274–275.
26. Newbolt 1928, p. 1.
27. Naval Staff Monograph No. 33 1927, p. 259.
28. "VII. Coast of Ireland Station". Supplement to the Monthly Navy List: 17. July 1917. Retrieved 27 December 2024 – via National Library of Scotland.
29. Newbolt 1931, p. 103.
30. Newbolt 1928, p. 106.
31. Newbolt 1931, p. 335.
32. "IX Coast of Ireland Station". Supplement to the Monthly Navy List: 18. July 1918. Retrieved 27 December 2024 – via National Library of Scotland.
33. Moretz 2002, p. 79.
34. "V Vessels in Reserve at Home Ports and Other Bases". The Supplement to the Monthly Navy List: 17. July 1919. Retrieved 27 December 2024 – via National Library of Scotland.
35. Preston 1985, p. 80.
36. Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 79.
37. Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 61.
38. Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 78.
39. Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 73.

Bibliography

• Brooks, John (2016). The Battle of Jutland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-15014-0.
• Bush, Steve; Warlow, Ben (2021). Pendant Numbers of the Royal Navy: A Complete History of the Allocation of Pendant Numbers to Royal Navy Warships & Auxiliaries. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-526793-78-2.
• Campbell, John (1998). Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-750-4.
• Colledge, James Joseph; Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. London: Chatham Press. ISBN 978-1-93514-907-1.
• Corbett, Julian S. (1920). Naval Operations: Volume III. History of the Great War. London: Longmans, Green and Co. OCLC 1049894619.
• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the First World War. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
• Jellicoe, John (1919). The Grand Fleet 1914–1916: Its Creation, Development and Work. London: Cassell and Company, Ltd.
• 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.
• McBride, Keith (1991). "British 'M' Class Destroyers of 1913–14". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Warship 1991. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 34–49. ISBN 978-0-85177-582-1.
• Monograph No. 31: Home Waters Part VI: From October 1915 to May 1916 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XV. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1926.
• Monograph No. 32: Lowestoft Raid: 24th – 25th April, 1916 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XVI. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1927.
• Monograph No. 33: Home Waters: Part VII: From June 1916 to November 1916 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XVII. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1927.
• Moretz, Joseph (2002). The Royal Navy and the Capital Ship in the Interwar Period. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-71465-196-5.
• Newbolt, Henry (1928). Naval Operations: Volume IV. History of the Great War. London: Longmans, Green and Co. OCLC 1049894132.
• Newbolt, Henry (1931). Naval Operations: Volume V. History of the Great War. London: Longmans, Green and Co. OCLC 220475309.
• Parkes, Oscar; Prendergast, Maurice (1969). Jane's Fighting Ships 1919. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. OCLC 907574860.
• Preston, Antony (1985). "Great Britain and Empire Forces". In Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 1–104. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.