Faulknor class destroyer (1914)

United Kingdom (1914-1920): HMS Faulknor, Broke, Botha, Tiperrary.

The Faulknor class destroyer were requitioned ex-Chilean ships (Almirante Lynch class) which saw action as destroyer leaders at Jutland and in other momentous action of the first world war. When launched they were among the largest of their kind ever built. Faulknor, the class namesake, was also the first completed in August 1914 just as she was rquisitioned when the war broke out, the other being HMS Broke, HMS Botha and HMS Tipperary. The last was the only one snk at the battle of Jutland. The remainder three were returned to Chile postwar and had a second, long career. A complement to the Almirante Lynch post of Feb.27, 2026.

HMS Broke in 1918 (IA colors)

Development

The “Almirante” class destroyers were part initially of a class of six vessels ordered in Britain, from J. Samuel White in 1911, derived from his own private venture design. He proposed to the Chileans a destroyer than would have a significant advantage over other standard destroyers in the Pacific, as they were significantly larger and heavier armed. They were also enormous by European standards. Their silhouette was characteristic, with four funnels showing a tall and narrow fore funnel plus three equally spaced broader and shorter ones. The Yard previously never built such large destroyers and the Chilean order obliged the White Yard to expand its drydocks and purchase of a 80 ton hammerhead crane from Babcock & Wilcox.

Only two were about to be delivered just as WWI broke up, Almirante Lynch, commissioned in 1913 and Almirante Condell in January 1914, so they were effectively dellivered and entered the Chilean Navy, doing neutrality patrols until 1918 and remaining active until 1945. The others four, less advanced, were requsitioned on slip by the RN. All four ended in British service as HMS Botha, Broke, Faulknor and Tiperrary. They were al named after British nineteenth century naval officers which had a role in the Napoleonic wars. The delays which resulted in a requisition were due to limited capacity at White, they only had four slips for these ships. But as many other constructions and orders given to British Yards, the busiest in the world at that time, the war surprised everybody.

The launch of Almirante Lynch at White in 1913

They were initially armed with six single QF 4 inch guns arranged with four on the forecastle paired sided in front of the wheelhouse, two sided abreast and the remaining pair paired on the quarterdeck and of a brand new Elswick design specifically for for the Chileans. They were rearmed, replaced standard RN models. As rearmed in 1918, they carried a BL 4.7 in gun on the forecastle, another on a bandstand, between the aft funnel pair but they retained a pair of 4 inch guns abreast the wheelhouse, plus two QF 2 pounder pom-poms were added as aviation was a concern already. This armament was seen as much more balanced, notably for stability’s sake, and British standards and logistics. This forced however the change of all Spanish-written badges to British-language ones. The four ships were officially purchased by the British Government and funds sent to the Chilean National Bank.

Design of the class

Almirante Lynch as completed, not the four funnels are at the same height.

Hull and general design

Apart the armament, there were not many changes compared to the original White design. The Almirante class were very large destroyers when planned in 1911-12, at 1,430 long tons (1,453 t) standard, 1,850 long tons (1,880 t) fully loaded. They had an overall length of 101 m (331 ft 4 in) and 97.5 m (320 feet) between perpendiculars, for a beam of 9.9 m (32 ft 6 in) and a draught of 3.35 m (11 ft). Albeit in British service it was rated at 11 feet 8+1⁄2 inches (3.57 m). Their four funnels and silhouette could somewhat be compared to the Tribals, but they had much long forecastles, and a tall freeboard fir for the Pacific. They were much larger than the standard British destroyers, the Laforey class at 965–1,010 long tons, 81 meters long (268 ft) bt were closer to the Greek-ordered, requsitioned Medea class for the Greek Navy at 1,040 long tons (1,060 t), 83 meters. Only Fisher’s HMS Swift could sustain the comparison, albeit she was more akin a scout cruiser than a destroyer.

The forecastle continued by a lower deck with a mid-way size, just to avoid making a flush-deck hull. This allowed to create a tall aft freeboard, and remained unique to this design. The three aft main funnels were of equal size and raked, and there was a fourth forward, smaller one. The prow was straight, the poop was rounded and cruiser-style.

The Faulknor class proved exceptioonally resilient, taking a lot of punishment in action and ramming, as HM Broke at Jutland (here). She managed to get back home at slow pace in this state, called “the revenant” as she arrived three days after the battle. Note that the mushed metal had the crew patched as much s possible to stop water ingress, limited to the forward compartments. Her good seaworthiness was also a factor. The only one in class that did not survived was HMS Tiperrary, decimated in three minutes by the a deluge of 6-in shells at point blank range by the German battleships SMS Westfalen and Nassau. And even after taking perhaps a hundred hits she still stayed afloat for hours afterwards.

This mid-height forecastle was an idea of White, and a feature that was never repeated, making however for exceptional habitability. The long forecastle in proportion with the restwas preculiar and overall, thay had a comfortable buoyancy forward to support the four main guns. The bridge was well developed aslo, comprising a map room at weather deck level, plus a semi-enclosed bridge rounded by canvas topped by an open bridge on which was mounted a barr & stoud rangefinder. By eliminating forward pair, for a single 4.7 inches gun that was lighter than the two guns combined, this made the prow even less susceptible to plough in heavy weather, so this made thiese ships amongst the less “wet” in harsh conditions.

They also had a searchlight projector on a platform on the foremast and composed 2-part raked masts for and aft originally but after requistion the aft one was reduced and simplified. Their role remained the same. As the war progressed, the bridge was considerably beefed up. The enclosed bridge was completely enclosed and the one above received extra protection. The torpedo tubes were originally located between the 3rd and 4th funnels and behind of the aft mast, four single 45 cm initially, but replaced in the final design by two twin tubes in the centerline. They had six boats under davits but the crew grew from 160 officers and ratings to 197 in British service. In WW2 the Chilean vessels had a crew approaching c205 men given their capacity for armament additions.

Powerplant

No change was made for the powerplant: They kept the original six White-Forster boilers using mixed fuel oil- and coal-firing to produce steam at 220 pounds per square inch (1,500 kPa), to Parsons steam turbines, driving three shafts. This powerplant was rated at 30,000 shaft horsepower (22,000 kW), producing a top speed of 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph). After sea trials, the forward funnel was raised by 6 feet (1.8 m) to avoid smoe interference with the bridge. The Faulknor class destroyer carried 403 tons of coal, 83 tons of oil, for a range of 4,205 nautical miles (7,788 km; 4,839 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) in cruise speed. Photo: HMS Broke on post-commission sea trials. Note she had her forefunnel raised to avoid smoke interference with the bridge, but still her initial artillery (four forecastle 4-in guns, shielded). It was changed in 1918.

Armament

2x 4.7 in/45 (1918)

In 1918, the ships were rearmed with a single 4.7-in/45, a brand new gun developed in 1917-18, eliminating the pairs fore and aft, replaced by one of these each.

⚙ specs. QF 4.7-in/45 Mark I

Full mass, barrel and mount 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg). Barrel length 213 inches (5.4 m) 45 calibres.
Shell: 50 pounds (22.7 kg) 4.724 inches (120 mm).
Breech: Welin breech block, mounted elevation -9.5° to +30° and -120°/+120° traverse
Rate of fire: 5-6 RPM, MV 2,670 fps (814 m/s), rage 15,800 yards (14,450 m) at 30°.

2x BL 4-inch Mark VIII naval guns

The BL 4-inch Mark VIII naval gun was a medium-velocity (2,287 feet per second (697 m/s)) wire-wound model introduced in 1908 to deal with torpedo boats and light enough for destroyer decks incompatible with the more powerful Mk VII gun. It weighted 2,912 pounds (1,320 kg) barrel & breech with a shield in some cases, for a 4 inches (101.6 mm) barrel length of 159.2 inches (4.044 m) bore (40 calibres) and fired up to 6-8 tpm, a 31 pounds (14.06 kg) Common pointed, Common lyddite HE shell using a Welin, single-motion screw breech on a -10° to +20° mount allowing a max range of 10,210 yards (9,340 m). The ships had four of these on the forecastle, one pair abaft the bridge, another further forward on deck.

2x 2-pdr (40 mm (1.6 in)) AA gun

This was a famous scaled up version of Harold Maxim’s famous “devil’s painbrush”. The QF 1-pdr Mark I, first “pom-pom” of the name was deployed during WWI as a prime AA gun, notably installed on trucks and became the go-to light AA gun in the RN outside the 75 mm DP.

⚙ specs. QF 1-pounder pom-pom Mark I

Weight 410 pounds (186.0 kg) (gun & breech)
Barrel lenght 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)/barrel 3 ft 7 in (1.09 m) (bore) L/29
Elevation/Traverse
Loading system Action: Automatic recoil/feed
Muzzle velocity 1,800 ft/s (550 m/s)
Range 4,500 yards (4,110 m)
Round 37 x 94R Common Shell 1 lb (0.45 kg) 37 mm (1.457 in) 270 grains (17 g) black powder
Rate of Fire ~300 rpm (cyclic)

2×2 21-in TTs

Since the 18-in caliber was already on the way out in 1912, 21 inches or 533 mm torpedo tubes were chosen for this class. The two twin banks were located between the 3rd and 4th funnels. They were equipped likely with the rhe new RGF Mk II 21-in torpedo with the Hardcastle heater. This torpedo ran at 50 kts (93 km/h; 58 mph) over 1000yds (910 m) or 12,000yds (11,000 m) at 30kts (56 km/h; 35 mph). It is unknown if spare torpedoes were carried. They could have been fitted with the Mark II* was adopted for the Laforeys or the Mark II**/II** SL but other sources states it was the Mark IV, albeit it could have been installed in 1918.

⚙ specifications Mark IV* (1914)

Mass 1,454 kgs. Length 6.90 m, warhead 234 kg. Range setting 7.3 km at 35 kts.

⚙ specs. 1918
Displacement	1,430 long tons (1,453 t) standard, 1,850 long tons (1,880 t) full load
Dimensions	101 x 9.9 x 3.35 (331 ft 4 in x 32 ft 6 in x 11 ft)
Propulsion	3 shaft Parsons 6× White-Forster boilers: 30,000 hp (22,371 kW)
Speed	31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph)
Range	4,205 nautical miles (7,788 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Armament	2× 4.7 in, 2× 4 in, 2× 2-pdr 40 mm AA, 2×2 21-in TTs
Crew	197

HMS Faulknor (1913)

Note the Faulknor class but the later Chilean DD Almirante Lynch

HMS Faulnor was completed and commissioned on August 1914 just after she was requisitioned, but she needed time to be standarized and then worked up, trials and fixes. HMS Faulknor was mobilized to sweep the mouth of the River Ems on 25 October 1914 led by the cruiser Fearless and 10 destroyers as a diversion for a planned air raid from HMS Engadine and Riviera which sortied earlier with the Harwich Force on Cuxhaven. Poor weather however led to cancellation. The six aircraft were unable to take off. On 5–7 November, 9–11 November she patrolled off the Dutch coast with the Harwich Force as par to of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla, Grand Fleet. By February 1915, she conducted ASW sweeps in the Irish Sea. U-21 sank three small steamers on 30 January and she escorted troopships of the 1st Canadian Division to St Nazaire in France. By March 1915 she wa sin the 4th DF. On 12 March she patrolled in the Irish Sea after U-20 and U-27 were spotted. Recalled on 15 March they returned off Rosyth. On 1 July U-25 was signalled off Noss Head near Wick but Faulknor could not find her.

Faulknor on 24 April 1916 became leader of the 12th DF, Grand Fleet based, Scapa Flow and later took part in the Battle of Jutland. At 19:15 hr she tried to counted German torpedo-boat attacks against the battle line, fire was exhanged with the 3rd TBF, Faulknor hit V48, finished off by Obedient, Mindful, Marvel and Onslaught. At 01:43 hr GMT, 1 June, Faulknor spotted German battleships, manoeuvred for a torpedo attack, fired two, claimed one, but achieved nothing, albeit she nearly hit Grosser Kurfürst. Pommern was hit however. On 2 November U-30 engines broke down, surfaced, 25 miles (40 km) west of Bergen and her distress call to U-30 were picked up so Faulknor departed Cromarty with her Flotilla on 3 November but recalled as message arrived that U-30 was underway albeit she would run aground off Denmark and U-20 could was scuttled.

Faulknor joined the Dover Patrol in the English Channel with her sister Broke as reinforcement on 31 December 1916, 6th DF. On the night of 25/26 February 1917 she was anchored off Deal, Downs and she sallied firth when a raid on the Dover Barrage against shipping in the Channel was signalled. A second group shelled Margate and Westgate-on-Sea and Faulknor, formed a patrol line but saw nothing. On 17/18 March 1917, new attack on the Dover barrage, notably the the 2nd Zeebrugge Half Flotilla on the Downs and Faulknor departed after it was signalled they already sank SS Greypoint at the entrance to the Downs and shelled Ramsgate and Broadstairs. TB 4 spotted them and communicated its positon to Faulknor, but again the Germans escaped. On 12 May 1917, she was tasked to escort the monitors Erebus, Terror, Marshal Soult, Sir John Moore, M24 and M26 for a shalling of Zeebrugge, but damage was light. On 2 June 1917, Erebus and Terror shelled Ostend, Faulknor in escort. On 25 July the Dover Patrol teamed with the Harwich Force to escort minelayers for a large barrage off the Belgian coast from Nieuport to Zeebrugge. Faulknor’s flotilla spotted and exchanged long range gunfire with four German TBs. On 25 September 1917, Faulknor and Nugent were hit British mines. She needed repairs.

On 22 April 1918, she escorted new raids on Zeebrugge and Ostend, part of the supporting force and as flagship of Commodore Hubert Lynes, Ostend operation. She supported the small craft but the operation was a failure. Another attempt was made on 9/10 May 1918, Faulknor was then Roger Keyes’ flagship. New failure as Vindictive did not blocked entirely the main shipping channel. Faulknor remained in the Dover patrol until V-Day but returned in overhaul. With Broke and Botha, she was sold back to Chile in April–May 1920, renamed Almirante Riveros.

HMS Broke (1913)

HMS Broke (ex-Almirante Goni) was acquired in August 1914 and completed in November 1914. When commissioned she joined the 4th DF under Captain Charles Wintour (flagship HMS Tipperary). Her late commission meant she only saw action at Jutland: The 31 May 1916 night, her flotilla was underway north of the Grand Fleet, to guard against a possible German attack from there, then headed south when at 23:15 the Torpedoman Cox on board HMS Garland sighted 3 unknown ships approaching. Battle stations were ordered and a challenge signal sent, immediately answered by heavy fire from just 600 yards by the cruisers SMS Stuttgart, SMS Hamburg, SMS Rostock and SMS Elbing. SMS Westfalen and SMS Nassau fired with their secondary armament as the van of the German High Seas Fleet, was passing behind the British fleet.

Tipperary, HMS Spitfire, Sparrowhawk, Garland, Contest and Broke fired torpedoes before turning away but confusion persisted so Broke’s captain ordered no more torpedoes to be fired until he could positively identify them. There were standing orders to conserve torpedoes, and they managed still to hit Elbing in the dark. The German ships turned away to avoid more torpedoes, Elbing being rammed by SMS Posen. Tipperary was hit in the duel, sank around 02:00 the following morning. Elbing was abandoned and sank around 03:40. Spitfire was almost rammed by Nassau, but still collided side to side and she limpedback home. The remaining 4th DF vessels formed up behind HMS Broke (Cdr Walter Allen) now a half-flotilla leader. At 23:40 large ships were sighted again, and the 4th went forward in attack. Westfalen sent a challenged to the British, turned on searchlights, so Broke attempted to fire torpedoes, being just 150 yards (140 m) close and she was blastered by secondary guns in 2 minutes, 50 crew killed, 30 injured, all guns disabled, helmsman killed at the wheel while turning so she veered to turn ram HMS Sparrowhawk. The otherrs turned to port and prepared to fire torpedoes.

Sub Lt. Percy Wood saw Broke coming for Sparrowhawk at 28 knots, shouted warnings to get clear, knocked over by the impact, projected to the deck of Broke as two other men from Sparrowhawk. They returned to Sparrowhawk, crossing Capt. Sydney Hopkins, that went the other side as well. 20 men from Sparrowhawk were evacuated to Broke, 15 crossed back to Sparrowhawk. HMS Contest steamed into Sparrowhawk as well, destroying 6 feet (1.8 m) of her stern. Contest was the only one unharmed and evacuated the area. Broke and Sparrowhawk remained wedged for 30 min. before they could be separated. Broke got underway with 30 men of Sparrowhawk aboard. At 01:30 while underway she met German destroyers, and she managed to fire one shot before separating, proceeding towards Britain at slow pace. At 06:00 on 2 June high seas further damaged the bow so she had to turn back towards Heligoland until the seas abated and later proceeded to Tyne, almots 3 days after the battle as a “revenant”.

Her last engagement was the Dover Strait engagement. After long repairs and various missions, HMS Broke on 20–21 April 1917, and the very large HMS Swift took part in the Battle resulted from a clash with a flotilla of six German TBs from Zeebrugge for the Dover Barrage. Broke rammed SMS G42, and they became locked together. So both crews went for the magzaines to fetch all weapons available, transforming the clash into a napoleonic style boarding. Hand-to-hand fighting between crews until Broke got free. There were at the tome many German sailors aboard when G42 sank. They were made prisoners. Badly damaged, Broke was towed back to Dover having 21 killed and 36 wounded, many due to the close-in firefight. Commander Edward Evans, was later awarded the DSO, dispatched and gained the press moniker “Evans of the Broke”. HMS Broke had another long refit in March 1918, rearmed like her sisters with 4.7-inch gun. Later with HMS Moorsom, she attacked a suspected U-boat which revealed to be HMS E33 (escaped without damage). This was her last combat action. She was resold to Chile in May 1920 as Almirante Uribe.

HMS Botha (1914)

Botha in 1918

HMS Botha was built at Samula White, East Cowed when requisitoned by September 1914 and completed, then commissioned in March 1915. She took some time for a workup and training, post-trials fixes. Her full logs had not been published yet (in research). She had many pennants during her service, H.5C in 1914, G.60 by Febueary 1917, F.61 in Apr 1917, F.50 in Jan. 1918 and D.80 in Sep. 1918. She was initially assigned to the Grand Fleet, but was transferred in 1917 to the Dover Patrol and then she rejoined the Grand Fleet after the war. Her first captain was Arthur B. S. Dutton, until 26 January 1916, then Charles D. Roper on 6 July, 1916, Captain (D), Fourth Destroyer Flotilla. She did not took part in the battle of Jutland. By then she was leading the 1st DF as leader with HMS Jackal, HMS Archer and HMS Tigress. Post-battle she was under command of Captain Walter L. Allen until 5 August, Brien M. Money until April, 1917, Graham R. L. Edwards until 20 December, Roger L’E. M. Rede, until 28 May 1918, Robert H. B. Hammond-Chambers until 20 March, 1919 as temporary captain as she wa sin reserve and Cdr Leveson G. B. A. Campbell until 22 October 1919.

She was however damaged in the action of 21 March 1918. On the night of 18-19 March, a British motor launch spotted four German destroyers near a light buoy close to the Zuidcoote Pass off the Belgian coast. The next night German TBs departed to take a bombardment position at the northeast end of the Nieuport Bank and Smal Bank.
On 20th-21st, The Dunkirk Commodore sent Swift, Matchless, North Star Myngs to the East Barrage Patrol, Dover Straits. Botha and Morris stands in high alert to depart in Dunkirk Roads with French destroyers Magon and Bouclier, monitor General Craufurd as a backup. Monitors M.25, Terror ere escorted by French destroyer Oriflamme were stationed near la Panne. North of the Traepegeer No. 1 buoy three motor boats were sent out to investigate at 3.45am, gunfire from the seaward side led Botha to fire star-shells to identify the source. It was then directed toward the Outer Ratel Bank and illuminated 3-4 large destroyers.

So Botha and Morris and French DDs left Dunkirk Roads as Terror opened fire and then at 4.05. Eventually C.M.B. 20 off Ostend found a division of five destroyers and two TBs. Botha was hit in her stokehold after a 10 min. exhange and the Germans appeared to abandon the TBs, so Botha fired two torpedoes and rammed A19 then unsuccessfully tried to ram A7, circling back. She however “caught” a French torpedo while circling, destined to the German TB. A smoke screen was laid and damage crippled her electrical circuit, she lost her projectors. Captain de Parseval (French DD Captaine Mehl), fearful of such accidents, reverted to gunfire and managed to hit a German DD in the aft boiler room. Botha was saw the French destroyers then finished off A 7 with gunfire. HMS Morris towed Botha home with the French destroyers screening them in cover.

Lt. Willett of C.M.B. 20 hit a 4th destroyer and laid smokescreen while its vigorous gunfire protected the withdrawal. He was awarded the D.S.C. It was discovered postwar Botha had been in fact torpedoed by error by the French DD Captain Mehl. It was always assumed from a German destoryer. Botha was repaired but saw little action until the end of the war. She was resold to Chilean Navy in May 1920 as Almirante Williams Rebolledo.

HMS Tiperrary (1915)

The ex-Almirante Riversos she was requisitioned in Sept. 1914 and completed in June 1915. She was Commissioned under Captain Barry Domvil and initially became the second flotilla leader of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, Harwich Force. She became leader of a detachment from the 2nd Flotilla, and by March 1916, she ws assigned to the Harwich Force, 5th Light Cruiser Squadron. By May 1916, she was the leader of the 4th Flotilla, in support of the Grand Fleet. So she took also part in the battle jutland: On 21:58 GMT, 31 May 1916, she led the 4th DF, searching for the German High Seas Fleet retiring from the battle when she stumbled upon German 7th Flotilla, which launched torpedoes nut none hit. The 7th Flotilla turned away. Jellicoe later reported the following:

“Between 23:15 and 23:20 a lookout [on HMS Garland] … saw what he thought were enemy ships on the starboard quarter”.

Tipperary flashed a recognition signal when she was caught by searchlights of three German battleships, three light cruisers. From 23:30 and over four minutes, she was blasted off by around a hundered and fifty 5.9-inch shells from SMS Westfalen and Nassau using their secondary battery at such a close range. She was badly beaten and on fire, her bridge gutted and officers almost all killed, including Captain Wintour. She was left burning by the Germans that resumed their return to the Jade Bay. At 02:00 GMT on 1 June 1916, despite frantic effort by the crew to save her, she was abandoned and sank. 150 died during the 2-3 min. of absolute hell, and many more wounded, and of the 197 of her crew, not all survived, just twelve, rescued at dawn by the Imperial German Navy, ending the war as POWs in Germany. Stoker David Eunson also described the sinking in vidid terms:

“As we floated away on that awful night, many died of sheer exhaustion and suffering. After drifting for well nigh 5 hours we were picked up at dawn. I saw the Tipperary, a mass of flames, keel over”.