"V" Class Flotilla Leader (1917)

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The five flotilla leaders of the "V" Class were completed in 1917 and boasted a higher speed so they could keep pace with the very fast "S" class destroyers.

Overview of 5 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name Builder Laid Down Launched Completed Fate
Vampire J. Samuel White 21 May, 1917 Sunk 9 Apr, 1942
Valentine Cammell Laird 24 Mar, 1917 Stranded 15 May, 1940
Valhalla Cammell Laird 22 May, 1917 17 Dec, 1931
Valorous William Denny & Brothers 8 May, 1917 4 Mar, 1947
Valkyrie William Denny & Brothers 13 Mar, 1917 Handed over 24 Aug, 1936

Machinery

Generators

In 1916, it was stated that flotilla leaders have two 26.25 kw dynamos arranged in parallel with an additional 9 kw oil-fired set for emergency use.[1] However, another source indicates the ships carried a single 36.5 kw set.[2]

Armament

In 1918, it was ordered that those destroyers with director installations were to additionally receive:[3]

  • a voice pipe from T.S. to director
  • a fire gong at director worked from existing push in T.S.
  • a fire gong push on fore bridge to be added, wired in parallel to that in the T.S.
  • the repeat receivers on the fore bridge were to be positioned so as to be visible to the director sightsetter.

4-in Guns

  • Four 4-in H.V. Q.F. Mark V guns on C.P. II mountings, recoiling 20 inches, elevating 30 degrees with sights etched to 13,600 yards.[4]

The mounting may have been P. IX with 25 degree elevation in initial planning. There were 120 rounds per gun.[5]

Other Guns

Initially:

  • Two 2-pdr with 100 rounds per gun

Eventually altered to:

  • one 3-in 20 cwt H.A. Mark III with 100 rounds

In 1918, it was ordered that the Scott class flotilla leaders and destroyers of "V" and "W" classes should have range and deflection receivers for their 3-in H.A. guns and fire gongs worked off the firing key used for the ships' L.A. weaponry.[6]

Torpedoes

Vampire had a different scheme.[7]

Vampire:

  • Two Triple Revolving 21-in torpedo tubes

Others:

  • Two Double Revolving 21-in torpedo tubes

Rangefinders

A photo of Valkyrie in 1918 or afterward shows her with a 9- or 12-foot rangefinder on her bridge.[8]

By 1921, all R.N. destroyer leaders mounted a 9ft F.Q. 2 on an M.Q. 1, M.Q. 9 or M.Q. 12 mount on their fore bridge.[9]

Fire Control

These ships had electric fire control systems as did the earlier flotilla leaders, but also had the light training director system.[10]

Directors

Firing Circuits[11]
Training and Slewing Circuits[12]

In 1917, it was approved that all flotilla leaders except Swift and Abdiel should receive installations of the British Destroyer Director Firing System,[13] but none of these installations were completed before 1918.[14]

However, the Director Firing Handbook, 1917 reports that they were to receive Small Type Training Receivers of pattern number 20 on #1, #2 guns, and pattern number 21 on #3 and #4.[15]

Dreyer Table

These ships had no fire control tables.[16]

Torpedo Control

Torpedo Control Circuits in Vampire[17]

The arrangements were said to be similar to those portrayed in Plate 82.

Alterations

By November 1918, Valorous and Valentine (only), operating with the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla and Thirteenth Destroyer Flotilla, respectively, were fitted to carry 40 "H" and "M" type mines. The torpedo tubes and guns removed when the mines were shipped could be placed back aboard with enough notice.[18]

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916. p. 120.
  2. ↑ March. British Destroyers. pp. 205-206.
  3. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1918. p. 376. (C.I.O. 1081/18, G. 24486/15).
  4. ↑ The Technical History and Index, Vol. 4, Part 34. p. 17.
  5. ↑ March. British Destroyers. p. 194.
  6. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1918. p. 376. (C.I.O. 11/18, G. 39278/17).
  7. ↑ March. British Destroyers. p. 194.
  8. ↑ March. British Destroyers. Photo 24/1.
  9. ↑ Handbook for Naval Range-Finders and Mountings, Book I. p. 168.
  10. ↑ The Technical History and Index, Vol. 4, Part 34. p. 17.
  11. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1917. Plate100.
  12. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1917. Plate101.
  13. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1917. p. 229.
  14. ↑ Progress in Naval Gunnery, 1914-1918. p. 37.
  15. ↑ The Director Firing Handbook. p. 146.
  16. ↑ absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
  17. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1917. p. 210. Plate 82.
  18. ↑ Admiralty. Annual Report of the Torpedo School Mining Appendix, 1917-1918, p. 11. Plate 7.

Bibliography

  • Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1910). Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909. Copy No. 173 is Ja 345a at Admiralty Library, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
  • Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1918). Handbook of Captain F. C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, 1918. C.B. 1456. Copy No. 10 at Admiralty Library, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.


"V" Class Flotilla Leader
Vampire Valentine Valhalla Valorous Valkyrie
<– Parker Class Destroyer Leaders (UK) Shakespeare Class –>



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