Admiralty M-class destroyer explained

The M class, more properly known as the Admiralty M class, were a class of 85 destroyers built for the Royal Navy of United Kingdom that saw service during World War I. All ships were built to an identical – Admiralty – design, hence the class name. 18 other vessels which were officially included within the 'M' class were built to variant designs by three specialist builders – 10 by Yarrow, 6 by Thornycroft (who also built another 6 to the standard Admiralty design), and 2 by Hawthorn Leslie; these are covered in other articles.

The Admiralty design was based on the preceding L class but modified to produce an increase in speed by approximately 6kn. All ships built to the Admiralty design had three identical narrow, circular funnels (this did not apply to the 18 ships built by the specialist yards).

Ships of the pre-war (1913–14) Programme

An original intention to order 20 destroyers in this year's Programme was reduced to 16 vessels. Three destroyers already under construction were purchased from Yarrow, two from Thornycroft and two from Hawthorn Leslie to these builders' individual designs, and these are listed in separate articles. Three further ships had been projected under the Programme – and named Marksman, Menace and Monitor; however these three ships were cancelled before being contracted to any specific builder (although J. Samuel White & Company, at Cowes were the intended builder), in favour of two Marksman-class leaders. Thus just six vessels were built to the Admiralty design under the 1913–14 Naval Programme. These differed from the wartime vessels by being 1,010 tons full load, with slightly smaller dimensions.

Name	Ship Builder	Laid down^[1]	Launched	Completed	Fate
	Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend on Tyne	8 November 1913	5 October 1914	December 1914	Sold for scrapping on 26 October 1921.
	Palmers Shipbuilding & Iron Company, Hebburn on Tyne	4 December 1913	8 August 1914	December 1914	Sold for scrapping on 9 May 1921.
	Palmers, Hebburn on Tyne	31 December 1913	24 September 1914	February 1915	Sold for scrapping on 9 May 1921.
	John Brown & Company, Clydebank	18 December 1913	5 October 1914	December 1914	Sold for scrapping on 22 September 1921.
	John Brown, Clydebank	20 January 1914	19 November 1914	December 1914	Sold for scrapping on 8 November 1921.
	John Brown, Clydebank	15 January 1914	21 December 1914	February 1915	Sold for scrapping on 8 November 1921.

Ships of the Emergency War Construction Programme

All the following vessels were ordered in five batches as part of the War Emergency Programme. Wartime builds omitted the cruising turbines originally specified and carried by the pre-war sub-group. The funnel heights were also raised compared with the pre-war vessels, and the second 4 in gun was mounted on a bandstand, as with the earlier L-class destroyers. Partridge, Norman, Maenad, Ophelia and Observer were later fitted to carry a kite balloon.

1st War Programme

Sixteen vessels were ordered in September 1914 (as well as four of the Yarrow M class), but part of their cost was met by the provision in the 1914–15 Programme for ten destroyers.

Ship Builder	Begun	Launched	Completed	Fate
John Brown	30 September 1914	1 May 1915	July 1915	Sold for breaking up 8 November 1921.
John Brown	30 September 1913	29 May 1915	August 1916	Sold for breaking up 29 September 1921.
	October 1914	19 May 1915	August 1915	Sold for breaking up 22 September 1921.
Thornycroft	November 1914	12 July 1915	October 1915	Sold for breaking up 22 September 1921.
Thornycroft	November 1914	11 September 1915	November 1915	Sold for breaking up 8 November 1921.
Thornycroft	November 1914	24 November 1915	January 1916	Sold for breaking up 15 November 1921.
	27 October 1914	20 June 1915	11 November 1915	Sold for breaking up 8 November 1921.
Denny	10 November 1914	10 August 1915	12 November 1915	Sold for breaking up 22 September 1921.
	1 January 1915	10 September 1915	8 January 1916	Sold for breaking up 22 September 1921.
White	14 January 1915	20 November 1915	7 April 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
		27 April 1915	13 August 1915	Sold for breaking up 22 September 1921.
Fairfield		15 June 1915	21 September 1915	Sold for breaking up 26 October 1921.
Swan Hunter		28 May 1915		Sunk after collision with on 21 October 1917 off Lerwick.
Swan Hunter	October 1914	1 July 1915	October 1915	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
Swan Hunter		8 October 1915		Sunk on 17 October 1917 by German cruisers and off the Norwegian coast.
Swan Hunter	September 1914	9 November 1915	April 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.

2nd War Programme

Nine further vessels were ordered in early November 1914 (as well as one further Yarrow M class).

Ship Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
John Brown	23 December 1914	14 August 1915	October 1915	Sold for breaking up 22 September 1921.
Denny	11 January 1915	7 October 1915	28 December 1915	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
Fairfield		24 August 1915	10 November 1915	Sold for breaking up 22 September 1921.
Fairfield		12 October 1915	16 December 1915	Sold for breaking up 8 November 1921.
Palmers		7 December 1915	February 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
Palmers		8 March 1915		Sunk after colliding with in the North Sea on 21 December 1916;depth charges from Hoste exploded and blew out the Negros hull plating.
Thornycroft	February 1915	22 January 1916	March 1916	Sold for breaking up 15 November 1921.
Thornycroft	March 1915	24 February 1916	May 1916	Sold for breaking up 15 November 1921.
Swan Hunter		24 August 1915		Sunk after colliding with in the North Sea on 8 September 1916.

3rd War Programme

Twenty-two further vessels were ordered in late November 1914.

Ship Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Swan Hunter		22 December 1915		Sunk on 31 May 1916 at the Battle of Jutland.
	6 February 1915	22 December 1915	15 February 1916	Sold for breaking up 8 November 1921.
Stephen		7 February 1916		Sunk on 31 May 1916 at the Battle of Jutland.
Stephen	11 February 1915	7 February 1916	by William Beardmore & Company, Dalmuir, 29 June 1916	Sold for breaking up 8 November 1921.
Stephen	24 February 1915	7 February 1916	28 June 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
Palmers		20 March 1916	August 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
Palmers		5 July 1916	October 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
Palmers		9 November 1916		Sunk on 23 April 1918 at Zeebrugge.
Palmers		9 November 1916	April 1917	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
		6 November 1916	February 1917	Sold for breaking up 25 November 1921.
Scotts		21 November 1916	March 1917	Sold for breaking up 15 November 1921.
Scotts		21 November 1916		Sold for breaking up 30 October 1921. Some sources claimed that she torpedoed and sank the pre-dreadnought battleship SMS Pommern, while others claimed that sank her.
Fairfield		15 February 1916	15 April 1916	Sold for breaking up 26 October 1921.
		11 September 1915		Wrecked off Scapa Flow with on 12 January 1918 (one survivor).
Doxford		13 October 1915	May 1916	Sold for breaking up 8 November 1921.
Doxford		20 November 1915	June 1916	Sold for breaking up 7 December 1923.
Doxford		23 December 1915	August 1916	Sold for breaking up 31 October 1921.
Doxford		21 March 1916	June 1916	Sold for breaking up 31 October 1921.
Doxford		19 April 1916	December 1916	Sold for breaking up 1 November 1921.
Doxford		17 June 1916	September 1916	Sold for breaking up 31 October 1921.
Doxford		21 June 1916	November 1916	Sold for breaking up 5 November 1921.
John Brown	23 December 1914	9 October 1915	November 1915	Sold for breaking up 8 November 1921.

4th War Programme

Sixteen further vessels were ordered in February 1915 (as well as two more of the Thornycroft M class). The eight last-named below of these were of the Repeat M subgroup with raking stems compared with the straight stems of the previous sub-group, and the bows were more flared to improve seakeeping qualities.

Ship Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
John Brown	24 March 1915	27 November 1915	January 1916	Sold for breaking up 8 November 1921.
John Brown	May 1915	2 March 1916		Wrecked off Scapa Flow (with) on 12 January 1918 (no survivors).
Denny	21 April 1915	3 February 1916	3 March 1916	Collided with another vessel in 1919 and broken up in 1920 at Devonport Dockyard.
Denny	21 April 1915	3 February 1916	15 April 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
Doxford		15 August 1916	November 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
Doxford		29 September 1916	December 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
Fairfield	1 June 1915	1 May 1916	15 June 1916	Sold for breaking up 30 October 1921.
Fairfield	6 July 1915	7 June 1916	31 July 1916	Sold for breaking up 30 October 1921.
Fairfield	24 June 1915	26 July 1916	29 September 1916	Sold for breaking up 31 October 1921.
Palmers		31 July 1916	November 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
Palmers		28 September 1916	December 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
Scotts	May 1915	27 March 1916	May 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
Scotts	July 1915	3 July 1916	September 1916	Sold for breaking up 8 November 1921.
Swan Hunter	July 1915	4 March 1916	December 1916	Sunk on 12 December 1917 by gunfire from the German destroyers G 101, G 103, G 104, and V 100 off Norwegian coast.
Swan Hunter	July 1915	15 April 1916	July 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.

5th War Programme

Eighteen final vessels were ordered in May 1915 (as well as two of the Thornycroft M class and two of the Yarrow M class). However, two of the eighteen were fitted with geared turbines and became the prototypes for the Admiralty R class destroyers (these were the Radstock and Raider, and are listed with the R class). The other sixteen were all to the Admiralty design were of the Repeat M subgroup with raking stems apart from the two ships ordered from White as Redmill and Redwing, which were completed to the earlier 'M' Class design and were renamed Medina and Medway while building.

Name	Ship Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
(ex-Redmill)	White	23 September 1915	8 March 1916	30 June 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
(ex-Medora, ex-Redwing)	White	2 November 1915	19 April 1916	2 August 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
		25 June 1915	18 March 1916	1 May 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
	Beardmore	28 June 1915	8 May 1916	30 June 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
	John Brown	9 June 1915	8 April 1916	May 1916	Sold for breaking up 31 October 1921.
	John Brown	9 June 1915	29 May 1916	July 1916	Sold for breaking up 15 November 1921.
	Denny	5 July 1915	24 March 1916	23 May 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
	Denny	12 July 1915	2 May 1916	29 June 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
	Fairfield		23 October 1916		Mined on 1 March 1917 off the Orkney Islands.
	Fairfield	20 November 1916		28 December 1916	Sold for breaking up 15 November 1921.
		14 July 1915	3 March 1916	2 June 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
	Hawthorn Leslie	30 July 1915	3 March 1916	30 June 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
	Scotts	21 April 1916		July 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
	Scotts	10 August 1916		October 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
	Stephen	27 July 1915	26 July 1916	21 September 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.
	Stephen	27 July 1915	28 September 1916	by Beardmore 30 December 1916	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.

Bibliography

Book: Cocker, Maurice. Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981. 1983. Ian Allan. 0-7110-1075-7.
- Book: Dittmar. Fred. Colledge. Jim. British Warships 1914–1919. 1972. Ian Allan. 0-7110-0380-7.
Book: Friedman, Norman. British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the First World War. 2009. Seaforth Publishing. Barnsley, UK. 978-1-84832-049-9.
Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919, Jane's Publishing.

Notes and References

Friedman 2009, p. 308.