HMS Leda (1892)

HMS Leda was a Alarm-class torpedo gunboat of the British Royal Navy. She was built by Sheerness Dockyard from 1891–1893. She was converted to a minesweeper in 1908–1909 and continued these duties during the First World War. Leda was scrapped in 1922.

History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Leda
Builder: Sheerness Dockyard
Laid down: 25 June 1891
Launched: 13 September 1891
Completed: November 1893
Fate: Scrapped 1922
General characteristics
Class and type: Alarm-class torpedo gunboat
Displacement: 810 long tons (820 t)
Length: 230 ft 0 in (70.10 m) pp
Beam: 27 ft 0 in (8.23 m)
Draught: 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
Installed power: 3,500 ihp (2,600 kW)
Propulsion:
Speed: 18.7 kn (21.5 mph; 34.6 km/h)
Complement: 91
Armament:
  • 2 × 4.7 in (120 mm) QF guns
  • 4 × 3-pounder (47 mm ) guns
  • 1 × Gardiner machine gun
  • 5 × 14 inch torpedo tubes

Design and construction

Leda was one of 11 Alarm-class torpedo gunboats ordered for the Royal Navy under the 1889 Naval Defence Act, which authorised the shipbuilding programme for the next five years, and also included the last two torpedo-gunboats of the Sharpshooter-class and the five torpedo-gunboats of the Dryad-class. The Alarms were slightly modified versions of the previous Sharpshooter-class, with modified engines to improve reliability.[1]

Leda was 230 feet (70.10 m) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 27 feet (8.23 m) and a draught of 12 feet (3.66 m). Displacement was 810 long tons (820 t). Two triple-expansion steam engines, fed by four locomotive boilers, drove two propeller shafts. The machinery was heavier than that installed in the Sharpshooters, and was slightly downrated (from 3,600 indicated horsepower (2,700 kW) to 3,500 indicated horsepower (2,600 kW)) to improve reliability. This gave a speed of 18.7 knots (21.5 mph; 34.6 km/h).[2][3][4]

The ship was armed with two 4.7 inch (120 mm) QF guns mounted fore and aft on the ships centreline, backed up by four 3-pounder (47 mm) guns (two in single mounts on the ship's beam and two in casemates forward) and a single Gardner machine gun. Five 14-inch torpedo tubes were fitted (one fixed in the ship's bow and two twin mounts), with three reload torpedoes carried.[2][5] The ship had a crew of 91.[2]

Leda was laid down at Sheerness Dockyard on 25 June 1891 and launched on 13 September 1892. She was completed in November 1893 at a cost of £62,145.[2][6]

Service

In August 1894 Leda took part in that year's Naval Manoeuvres,[7] and in July 1896 again took part in the Manoeuvres,[8] On 26 June 1897 Leda was present at the Jubilee Fleet Review at Spithead.[9]

Leda took part in the 1900 Naval Manoeuvres in July that year,[10] and in the 1901 Manoeuvres, where she was judged by the umpires to have been captured by the opposing force.[11]

By 1905 Leda had her obsolete locomotive boilers replaced by water-tube boilers, greatly increasing the power and reliability of the ship's machinery, which delivered 5,800 indicated horsepower (4,300 kW) during sea trials, giving a speed of 21.8 knots (25.1 mph; 40.4 km/h). Despite these improvements, she was still too slow for effective use against much faster torpedo boats and destroyers,[12][13] and was employed as a drillship for Royal Navy Reserve training in the Clyde until 1906.[14]

In 1907 Leda was assigned to coast-guard duties.[14] On 8 February 1908, Leda collided with the old cruiser Andromache in Harwich harbour. Leda was badly holed and had to be beached to avoid sinking. She went under repair at Sheerness Dockyard.[15] Repairs were completed by the end of March that year, allowing Leda to resume her coast-guard duties at Harwich.[16]

She was converted to a minesweeper in 1909,[14] which involved removing the torpedo tubes,[17] but continued on coast-guard and fishery protection operations.[18][19] On 3 February 1914 Leda was towing the coastguard cutter Snipe off Gunfleet in the Thames estuary when Snipe foundered and sunk. One of Leda's crew drowned when Snipe sank.[20]

On the outbreak of the First World War Leda, reverting to the role of minesweeper, joined the newly established Grand Fleet.[21] In August 1914, the minesweepers attached to the Grand Fleet, including Leda were employed on carrying out daily sweeps of the Pentland Firth.[22]

On 16 October 1914, Leda sighted a suspected periscope inside the fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys.[23] On 22 October 1914, as a result of this and other suspected sightings of submarines, the 1st and 4th Battle Squadrons of the Grand Fleet moved to Lough Swilly on the east coast of Northern Ireland, which was considered more secure against submarine attack.[24][25] On 27 October, the battleship Audacious struck a mine off Tory Island, north-west of Lough Swilly, and despite efforts to tow her to safety, sank later that day.[26][27] Leda, which along with sister ship Circe was already at Lough Swilly, was used to clear a safe channel through the minefield.[28]

Leda was a member of the Second Fleet Sweeping Flotilla, based at Scapa Flow as part of the Grand Fleet, in July 1917.[29]

Leda was sold for scrap on 14 July 1920 to Cardiff Marine Stores. She was broken up in Germany in 1922.[30]

Pennant numbers
Pennant number[30]FromTo
N2819141918
N69January 1918-

References
    1. Friedman 2009, p. 33
    2. Chesneau & Kolesnik 1979, p. 89
    3. Friedman 2009, pp. 33, 288
    4. Moore 1990, p. 67
    5. Friedman 2009, pp. 27, 32
    6. Brassey 1895, p. 209
    7. Brassey 1895, pp. 62–63, 67
    8. Brassey 1897, pp. 148–158
    9. Brassey 1898, pp. facing page 12, 15
    10. Leyland 1901, pp. 90–91
    11. Brassey 1902, pp. 90–91, 106
    12. Brassey 1905, p. 246
    13. Friedman 2009, pp. 27, 33
    14. Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 20
    15. "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective: Sheerness Dockyard". The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 30. March 1908. p. 321.
    16. "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective: Sheerness Dockyard". The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 30. May 1908. p. 402.
    17. Friedman 2009, p. 27
    18. "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective: Sheerness Dockyard". The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 32. February 1910. p. 271.
    19. "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective: Sheerness Dockyard". The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 32. March 1910. p. 308.
    20. "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective: Sheerness Dockyard". The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 36. March 1914. p. 292.
    21. Jellicoe 1919, pp. 7–9
    22. Naval Staff Monograph No. 23 1924, p. 53
    23. Jellicoe 1919, p. 144
    24. Jellicoe 1919, p. 147
    25. Massie 2007, p. 139
    26. Naval Staff Monograph No. 24 1924, pp. 131–133
    27. Massie 2007, pp. 141–142
    28. Naval Staff Monograph No. 24 1924, pp. 133–134
    29. Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, pp. 292–294
    30. Dittmar & Colledge 1972, p. 107
    • Brassey, T. A., ed. (1895). The Naval Annual 1895. Portsmouth, UK: J Griffin and Co.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Brassey, T. A., ed. (1897). The Naval Annual 1897. Portsmouth, UK: J Griffin and Co.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Brassey, T. A., ed. (1898). The Naval Annual 1898. Portsmouth, UK: J Griffin and Co.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Brassey, T. A., ed. (1902). The Naval Annual 1902. Portsmouth, UK: J Griffin and Co.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Brassey, T. A., ed. (1905). The Naval Annual 1905. Portsmouth, UK: J Griffin and Co.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006). ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 9781861762818.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Dittmar, F. J.; Colledge, J. J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Jellicoe, John (1919). The Grand Fleet 1914–1916: Its Creation, Development and Work. London: Cassell & Company.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Leyland, John, ed. (1901). The Naval Annual 1901. Portsmouth, UK: J Griffin and Co.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Massie, Robert K. (2007). Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. London: Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-099-52378-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Monograph No. 23: Home Waters Part I: From the Outbreak of War to 27 August 1914 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). X. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1924.
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