Admiralty type leader
Encyclopedia
The Admiralty type leader, sometimes known as the Scott class, were a class of eight destroyer leaders designed and built for the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
towards the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. They were named after Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
historical leaders. The function of a leader was to carry the flag staff of a destroyer flotilla
Flotilla
A flotilla , or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as frigates, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats, or minesweepers...
, therefore they were enlarged to carry additional crew, offices and signalling equipment, allowing a fifth gun to be carried. These ships were very similar to the Thornycroft type leader
Thornycroft type leader
The Thornycroft type leader or Shakespeare class were a class of five destroyer leaders designed by John I. Thornycroft & Company and built by them at Woolston, Southampton for the Royal Navy towards the end of World War I. They were named after historical naval leaders. Only Shakespeare and...
, but the latter had broad, slab-sided funnels characteristic of Thornycroft designs, the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
type having two narrow funnels of equal height.
All except Mackay and Malcolm were completed in time for wartime service, Scott being a war loss. The two final orders - Barrington and Hughes - were cancelled with the end of the War; these two had originally been ordered to the Thornycroft leader design. Stuart was transferred to Australia in 1933. All the remaining ships except Bruce (expended as a target ship in 1939) survived service in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, being converted to escort ships. Montrose and Stuart had Brown-Curtis steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s, giving 43000 shp for an extra ½ knot.
Ships
The prototype was ordered in April 1916 under the War Emergency Programme:- ScottHMS Scott (1917)HMS Scott was the first of a new destroyer leader class built to be flotilla leaders for the V- and W-class destroyers. She was ordered during the First World War in 1916, and the class would unofficially be named after her...
; built by Cammell LairdCammell LairdCammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...
& Company, Birkenhead, launched 18 October 1917 and completed 1918. Torpedoed by U-boatU-boatU-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
15 August 1918 in the North SeaNorth SeaIn the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
off DanishDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
coast.
Two more were ordered in December 1916:
- Bruce; built by Cammell Laird, laid down 12 May 1917, launched 26 February 1918 and completed 30 May 1918. Sunk as target off the Isle of WightIsle of WightThe Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, 22 November 1939 - Douglas; built by Cammell Laird, laid down 30 June 1917, launched 8 June 1918 and completed 2 September 1918. Convoy escort during World War II, sold for breaking up 20 March 1945.
Five more were ordered in April 1917. The second vessel was originally named Claverhouse, but was renamed Mackay 31 December 1918:
- Campbell; built by Cammell Laird, laid down 10 November 1917, launched 21 September 1918 and completed 21 December 1918. Convoy escort during World War II, sold for breaking up 18 February 1947.
- Mackay; built by Cammell Laird, launched 21 December 1918 and completed 1919. Convoy escort during World War II, sold for breaking up 18 February 1947.
- MalcolmHMS Malcolm (D19)HMS Malcolm was one of eight Admiralty-type destroyer leaders built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was the first of only two Royal Navy ships to carry the name Malcolm, although HMS Valkyrie was originally planned to bear the name...
; built by Cammell Laird, laid down 5 March 1918, launched 29 May 1919 and completed 1919. Convoy escort during World War II, sold for breaking up 25 July 1945. - MontroseHMS Montrose (D01)The first HMS Montrose was one of eight Admiralty-type destroyer leaders, sometimes known as the Scott class. They were named after figures from Scottish history and were ordered under the Wartime Emergency Construction Programme...
; built by R. & W. Hawthorn Leslie and CompanyHawthorn Leslie and CompanyR. & W. Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilding and locomotive manufacturer. The Company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982.-History:...
, Hebburn on Tyne, laid down 4 October, launched 10 June 1918 and completed 14 September 1918. Convoy escort during World War II, sold for breaking up 31 January 1946. - StuartHMAS Stuart (D-00/100)HMAS Stuart was a British Scott-class destroyer leader. The ship was built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company for the Royal Navy during World War I, and entered service at the end of 1918. The majority of the destroyer's British service was performed in the Mediterranean, and in 1933 she was...
; built by Hawthorn Leslie, laid down 18 October 1917, launched 22 August 1918 and completed 21 December 1918. Transferred to the Royal Australian NavyRoyal Australian NavyThe Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
11 October 1933, sold for breaking up 3 February 1947.
Finally, two more were ordered in April 1918, but were cancelled with the end of the War:
- Barrington, ordered from Cammell Laird, cancelled December 1918.
- Hughes, ordered from Cammell Laird, cancelled December 1918.