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HMS Prince (1916) was a repeat M class destroyer that served with the Grand Fleet from 1916 to 1918, taking part in the anti U-boat Operation BB and mine laying operations.
The Prince was ordered under the Fifth War Programme of May 1915. She was laid down by Stephens on 27 July 1915 and launched on 26 July 1916. She was completed on 21 September 1916 by Beardmore.
1916
From September 1916 to August 1918 the Prince served with the 12th Destroyer Flotilla, Grand Fleet
1917
In June 1917 the Prince took part in Destroyer Operation B.B., an attempt to try and intercept a number of U-boats that were expected to be heading home around the northern coast of Scotland. The twelve destroyers of the 12th Flotilla were used to patrol the area west of the Hebrides, with eight at sea and four in port at Stornoway at any time. On 21 June the Prince sighted a submarine on the surface (possibly U-82 or U-61) and dropped two depth charges where the U-boat had submerged. She was later joined by the Sable but the U-boat wasn’t found again.
On 21 August 1917 the Prince was part of a squadron of four cruisers and fifteen destroyers that had taken part in a mine laying operation off White Sands. The squadron spotted Zeppelin L.23, and a Sopwith Pup piloted by Bernard A. Smart was launched from the cruiser HMS Yarmouth. Smart was able to shoot down the Zeppelin, but then struggled to find the fleet. Eventually he spotted them, and ditched close to the destroyers. He was rescued by the Prince’s whaler. A rope was attached to his Pup, which was being kept afloat by its buoyancy bags, but the aircraft wasn’t saved.
The Prince was one of the destroyers that screened the 1st Battle Squadron during the action in the Heligoland Bight on 17 November 1917. However that part of the British fleet never got into action.
1918
From November-December 1918 the Prince served with the Slow Division of the 20th Destroyer Flotilla based on the Humber.
In December 1919 she was in the charge of a Care and Maintenance Party at Devonport.
She was sold to be broken up in May 1921.
Service Record
September 1916-August 1918: 12th Destroyer Flotilla, Grand Fleet
November-December 1918: 20th Destroyer Flotilla, Humber, Slow Division
Displacement |
1,025t (Admiralty design) |
Displacement (loaded) |
1,250t |
Top Speed |
34 knots |
Engine |
3-shaft Brown-Curtis or Parsons turbines |
Range |
|
Length |
273ft 4in (Admiralty) |
Width |
26ft 8ft (Admiralty) |
Armaments |
Three 4in/ 45cal QF Mk IV |
Crew complement |
80 |
Laid down |
27 July 1915 |
Launched |
26 July 1916 |
Completed |
21 September 1916 |
Sold for break up |
May 1921 |
British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War, Norman Friedman. A very detailed look at the design of British destroyers from their earliest roots as torpedo boat destroyers, though the First World War and up to the start of the Second World War, supported by vast numbers of plans and well chosen photographs [read full review]
