HMS Ouse

HMS Ouse was a Laird type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Ouse in north east England near the city of York, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

History
United Kingdom
Name:	Ouse
Ordered:	1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates
Builder:	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
Laid down:	22 March 1904
Launched:	7 January 1905
Commissioned:	September 1905
Out of service:	Laid up in reserve 1919
Fate:	22 October 1919 sold to J.H. Lee for breaking
General characteristics
Class and type:	Laird-type River-class destroyer[1][2]
Displacement:	550 long tons (559 t) standard 625 long tons (635 t) full load
Length:	226 ft 6 in (69.04 m) o/a
Beam:	23 ft 9 in (7.24 m)
Draught:	7 ft 9 in (2.36 m)
Propulsion:	4 × Yarrow type water tube boilers 2 × vertical triple-expansion steam engines driving 2 shafts producing 7,000 shp (5,200 kW) average
Speed:	25.5 kn (47.2 km/h)
Range:	140 tons coal 1,870 nmi (3,460 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h)
Complement:	70 officers and men
Armament:	1 × QF 12-pounder 12 cwt Mark I, mounting P Mark I 3 × QF 12-pounder 8-cwt Mk I naval gun, mounting G Mark I (added in 1906) 5 × QF 6-pdr 8 cwt naval gun (removed in 1906) 2 × single tubes for 18-inch (450 mm) torpedoes
Service record
Part of:	East Coast Destroyer Flotilla - 1905 3rd Destroyer Flotilla - Apr 1909 5th Destroyer Flotilla - 1912 Assigned E Class - Aug 1912 - Oct 1913 9th Destroyer Flotilla - 1914 7th Destroyer Flotilla - Aug 1915
Operations:	World War I 1914 - 1918
Victories:	UC-70 – 28 Aug 1918 UB-115 – 29 Sep 1918

Construction

She was laid down on 22 March 1904 at the Cammell Laird shipyard at Birkenhead and launched on 7 January 1905. She was completed in September 1905.[3] As built, Ouse's armament was the same as the turtleback destroyers that preceded the Rivers, i.e. a gun armament of a single 12-pounder gun and five 6-pounder guns, and two 18-in torpedo tubes. Unlike some of the early River-class destroyers, Ouse's forward two six-pounders were mounted on the forecastle along with the 12-pounder, rather than on sponsons projecting over the ship's sides, which kept them out of spray and made them easier to operate.[4][5] In 1906, as a result of Japanese experience during the Russo-Japanese War, the Admiralty decided to upgrade the armament of the Rivers by replacing the five 6-pounder naval guns with three lightweight 12-pounder 8 hundredweight (cwt) guns. Two would be mounted abeam at the foc'sle break and the third gun would be mounted on the quarterdeck. The class was refitted with the new armament during 1908.[4][6]

Pre-War

After commissioning she was assigned to the East Coast Destroyer Flotilla of the 1st Fleet and based at Harwich.

On 27 April 1908 the Eastern Flotilla departed Harwich for live fire and night manoeuvres. During these exercises HMS Attentive rammed and sank HMS Gala then damaged HMS Ribble.

In April 1909 she was assigned to the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla on its formation at Harwich. She remained until displaced by a Basilisk-class destroyer by May 1912. She went into reserve assigned to the 5th Destroyer Flotilla of the 2nd Fleet with a nucleus crew.

On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyer classes were to be designated by letters starting with the letter 'A'. The ships of the River Class were assigned to the E Class.[7]

World War I

In early 1914 when displaced by G Class destroyers she joined the 9th Destroyer Flotilla based at Chatham tendered to HMS St George. The 9th Flotilla was a patrol flotilla tasked with anti-submarine and countermining patrols in the Firth of Forth area.[8]

In August 1915 with the amalgamation of the 9th and 7th Flotillas[9] she was deployed to the 7th Destroyer Flotilla based on the River Humber. She remained employed on the Humber Patrol participating in counter-mining operations and anti-submarine patrols for the remainder of the war.

On 3 May 1917, Ouse and the destroyer Bat opened fire on the British submarine C10 off Blyth, Northumberland. Although one man was killed and a second was wounded, the submarine survived.[10]

On 28 August 1918 she depth charged the German submarine UC-70, which had been spotted and damaged by a Blackburn Kangaroo patrol aircraft of No. 246 Squadron RAF near Runswick Bay off the Yorkshire coast. UC-70 sank at position 54°32'N, 00°40'W with the loss of 31 officers and men.[11][12]

On 29 September 1918, Ouse in conjunction with the destroyer Star depth charged the German submarine UB-115 to destruction off Sunderland. UB-115 sank at position 55°13'N 01°22'E with the loss of 39 officers and men.[13]

Fate

In 1919 Ouse was paid off then laid up in reserve awaiting disposal. On 22 October 1919 she was sold to J.H. Lee for breaking at Dover.[14]

Pennant numbers

Pennant number[14]	From	To
N69	6 Dec 1914	1 Sep 1915
D28	1 Sep 1915	1 Jan 1918
D66	1 Jan 1918	13 Sep 1918
H80	13 Sep 1918	22 Oct 1919

References

1. Jane, Fred T. (1969) [1905]. Jane’s Fighting Ships 1905/6. New York: first published by Sampson Low Marston, London 1905, Reprinted ARCO Publishing Company. p. 75.
2. Jane, Fred T. (1990) [1919]. Jane’s Fighting Ships of World War I (reprint ed.). Jane’s Publishing. p. 76. ISBN 1 85170 378 0.
3. Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 100.
4. Manning 1961, p. 49.
5. Friedman 2009, pp. 89, 91.
6. Friedman 2009, pp. 96–97.
7. Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1906 to 1922. Conway Maritime Press. 2006 [1985]. pp. 17–19. ISBN 0 85177 245 5.
8. "Naval Database".
9. Sir Julian S Corbett (1921), "Chapter XIII, Loss of Argyl and Natal", History of the Great War, Naval Operations, London: Longmans, Green, III, Spring 1915 to June 1916, retrieved 1 June 2013
10. Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, p. 115
11. Jackson Aeroplane Monthly August 1979, p. 397.
12. "U-Boat UC-70 data from U-Boat.net". Retrieved 1 June 2013.
13. "U-Boat UB-115 data from U-Boat.net". Retrieved 1 June 2013.
14. Arrowsmith, Jack (27 January 1997). ""Arrowsmith" List – Part 1 Destroyer Prototypes through "River" Class". The World War I Document Archive. Retrieved 1 June 2013.

Bibliography

• 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.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J. J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
• 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.
• Jackson, A. J. (August 1979). "Blackburn's Marsupial". Aeroplane Monthly. Vol. 7 no. 8. London: IPC. pp. 396–402.
• Manning, T. D. (1961). The British Destroyer. London: Putnam & Co. OCLC 6470051.
• March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.
• Monograph No. 35: Home Waters—Part IX: 1st May 1917 to 31st July 1917 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). XIX. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1939.