HMS Walrus (D24)

History
United Kingdom
Class and type:	Admiralty W-class destroyer
Name:	HMS Walrus
Namesake:	The walrus
Ordered:	December 1916[1]
Builder:	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, Scotland[1][2]
Laid down:	February 1917
Launched:	27 December 1917[1][2]
Completed:	1918
Commissioned:	8 March 1918
Decommissioned:	30 November 1932[2][3]
Fate:	Wrecked 12 February 1938[2] Sold 5 March 1938 for scrapping[3] Scrapped October 1938[2]
General characteristics
Displacement:	1,100 tons
Length:	300 ft (91 m) o/a, 312 ft (95 m)p/p
Beam:	26.75 ft (8.15 m)
Draught:	9 ft (2.7 m) standard, 11.25 ft (3.43 m) in deep
Propulsion:	3 Yarrow type Water-tube boilers Brown-Curtis steam turbines 2 shafts 27,000 shp (20,000 kW)
Speed:	34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range:	320-370 tons oil, 3,500 nmi (6,500 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph), 900 nmi (1,700 km) at 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Complement:	110
Armament:	4 × QF 4 in Mk.V (102mm L/45), mount P Mk.I 2 × QF 2 pdr Mk.II "pom-pom" (40 mm L/39) or; 1 × QF 3 inch 20 cwt (76 mm), mount HA Mk.II 6 (2x3) tubes for 21 in torpedoes

The first HMS Walrus (D24) was a W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the final months of World War I.

Construction and commissioning

Walrus was ordered in December 1916^[1] and was laid down by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Govan, Scotland,^[1] in February 1917. She was launched on 27 December 1917^[1] and commissioned on 8 March 1918. She was assigned the pennant number G17 in April 1918,^[1] but it was changed to D24 during the interwar period.

Service history

All of the V- and W-class destroyers, Walrus among them, were assigned to the Grand Fleet or Harwich Force for the rest of World War I,^[1] which ended with the armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918.

Walrus was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet in 1921 as part of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, which also included the destroyer leader HMS Malcolm (D19) and destroyers HMS Vanity (D28), HMS Vendetta (D69), HMS Vivacious (D36), HMS Voyager (D31), HMS Waterhen (D22), HMS Wrestler (D35), and HMS Wryneck (D21).^[4] On 6 June 1924, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet along with the rest of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, which in 1925 was redesignated the 1st Destroyer Flotilla.^[5] She entered dockyard hands at Sheerness in England on 15 November 1926 for a refit, and returned to duty with the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean on 5 April 1927. She was decommissioned on 30 November 1932, transferred to the Reserve Fleet, and placed in reserve at Devonport. In 1934 she was moved to Rosyth, Scotland, where she remained in reserve.^[3]

The Royal Navy decided to convert Walrus into an antiaircraft escort, and in February 1938 a tug took her under tow from Rosyth with a skeleton crew of four men aboard bound for Chatham Dockyard, where she was to undergo the conversion. During the voyage, however, a powerful storm struck the North Sea, and on 12 February 1938 her towline broke in high winds and heavy seas and she was driven ashore in Filey Bay north of Scarborough, Yorkshire. The four men aboard Walrus made it to shore safely in one of her boats.^[3][6]

Final disposition

Deemed beyond economical repair, Walrus was sold to Round Brothers of Sunderland, England, on 5 March 1938 for scrapping. She was refloated on 29 March 1938 and scrapped in October 1938.^[2][3]

References

Bibliography

• Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4. 
• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7. 
• 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. OCLC 67375475. 
• Cocker, Maurice; Allan, Ian. Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981. ISBN 0-7110-1075-7. 
• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-081-8. 
• Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5. 
• Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-048-7. 
• 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. 
• Preston, Antony (1971). 'V & W' Class Destroyers 1917-1945. London: Macdonald. OCLC 464542895. 
• Raven, Alan & Roberts, John (1979). 'V' and 'W' Class Destroyers. Man o'War. 2. London: Arms & Armour. ISBN 0-85368-233-X. 
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2. 
• Whinney, Bob (2000). The U-boat Peril: A Fight for Survival. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35132-6. 
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1. 
• Winser, John de D. (1999). B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-91-6. 

External links

• Photo of HMS Walrus prior to 1924
• Photo of HMS Walrus wrecked in February 1938

V- and W- class destroyers
Admiralty	V class leaders  Royal Navy Malcolm / Valkyrie Bruce / Valentine Montrose / Valorous Wallace / Vampire Douglas / Valhalla  Royal Australian Navy Vampire V class  Royal Navy Vanoc Vimiera Vehement Vanquisher Verdun Vega Violent Vendetta Vectis Venturous Verulam Vortigern Venetia Vittoria Versatile Vivacious Velox Vesper Vancouver / Vimy Vivien Vidette Vanessa Vanity  Royal Australian Navy Vendetta W class  Royal Navy Completed Westminster Wakeful Watchman Walker Whirlwind Winchelsea Walrus Warwick Winchester Walpole Westcott Wrestler Wessex Wolfhound Waterhen Whitby / Whitley Voyager Wryneck Windsor Cancelled Wayfarer Woodpecker  Royal Australian Navy Voyager Waterhen Modified W class Completed Venom / Venomous Witherington Whitshed Verity Wivern Vansittart Volunteer Veteran Wanderer Wild Swan Wolverine Whitehall Worcester / Yeoman Wren Cancelled Vantage / Vimy Vashon Vengeful Vigo Vigorous / Wistful Virulent Volage Volcano Votary Wager Wake Waldegrave Walton Warren Watson Wave Weazel Welcome Welfare Wellesley Werewolf Westphal Westward Ho Willoughby Wheeler Whelp Whip Whippet Whitaker White Bear Whitehead Winter Wrangler Wye Yeoman Zealous Zebra Zodiac
Thornycroft	V class Viceroy Viscount W class Wolsey Woolston Modified W class Wishart Witch
Preceded by: S class Followed by: Scott class
List of destroyers of the Royal Navy

Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1938
Shipwrecks	31 Jan: Alba 12 Feb: HMS Walrus 19 Feb: USS Swallow 6 Mar: Baleares 19 Jul: Amiral Sénès 24 Oct: Zhongshan 2 Nov: Cantabria 11 Dec: Patterson 18 Dec: USS S-19 19 Dec: Stockholm
Other incidents	24 Mar: Black Osprey 9 Jun: Port Nicholson 2 Jul: Ascania 15 Aug: Noemijulia 22 Sep: USS Henley 26 Sep: Westport
1937 1939 January 1939