HMS Hydra was an Acheron-class destroyer

Acheron class destroyer

The Acheron class was a class of twenty-three destroyers of the British Royal Navy, all built under the 1910-11 Programme and completed between 1911 and 1912, which served during World War I. A further six ships were built to the same design for the Royal Australian Navy as River-class destroyers...

 of 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...

. She was launched in 1912, fought throughout World War I and was sold for breaking in 1921.

Pennant Numbers

Pennant Number	From	|To
H50	6 December 1914	|1 January 1918
H43	1 January 1918	|Early 1919
H94	Early 1919	|9 May 1921

Construction

She was built by John Brown & Company

John Brown & Company

John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a pre-eminent Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm, responsible for building many notable and world-famous ships, such as the , the , the , the , the , and the...

, Clydebank

Clydebank

Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton, the town with which it was combined to form West Dunbartonshire, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and...

 to an 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...

 design, under the 1910–11 programme. She (and her sisters Hind

HMS Hind (1911)

HMS Hind was an Acheron-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that served during World War I and was sold for breaking in 1921. She was the seventeenth Royal Navy ship to be named after the female deer.-Construction:...

 and Hornet

HMS Hornet (1911)

HMS Hornet was an Acheron-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that served during the First World War and was sold for breaking in 1921. She was the seventh Royal Navy ship to be named Hornet, after the insect of the same name.-Construction:...

) differed from the standard Admiralty I-class destroyer

Acheron class destroyer

The Acheron class was a class of twenty-three destroyers of the British Royal Navy, all built under the 1910-11 Programme and completed between 1911 and 1912, which served during World War I. A further six ships were built to the same design for the Royal Australian Navy as River-class destroyers...

 in only having two shafts instead of three. They had two Brown-Curtis type turbines, and twin boilers. Capable of 28 knots (54.9 km/h), she carried two 4 inches (101.6 mm) guns, other smaller guns and two 21 inches (533.4 mm) torpedo tubes and had a complement of 72 men. She was launched on 19 February 1912.

The Battle of Dogger Bank

Hydra was with the First Destroyer Flotilla at the Battle of Dogger Bank

Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)

The Battle of Dogger Bank was a naval battle fought near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea on 24 January 1915, during the First World War, between squadrons of the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet....

 on 24 January 1915.

The Battle of Jutland

She was present at the Battle of Jutland

Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...

 on 31 May 1916. Along with the rest of the flotilla, she was transferred to the 3rd Battle Squadron, based at Portsmouth.

Collision with a merchant vessel

She was in collision with a merchant ship on the night of 11 February 1917 in the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

. The captain of Hydra was held liable for the collision because, although the other ship showed him a light, he did not perceive that it was on a crossing course.

Mediterranean Service

From 1917 the Third Battle Squadron was deployed to the Mediterranean. Hydra was present at the entry of the Allied Fleet through the Dardanelles on 12 November 1918.

Decommissioning and fate

She was sold on 9 May 1921 to Ward of Portishead

Portishead, Somerset

Portishead is a coastal town on the Severn Estuary within the unitary authority of North Somerset, which falls within the ceremonial county of Somerset England. It has a population of 22,000, an increase of over 3,000 since the 2001 census, with a growth rate of 40 per cent, considerably in excess...

for scrap.