Tribal class destroyer (1936)
| | Tribal class | |
|---|
| General Characteristics |
|---|
| Displacement: | 1,850 tons (standard), 2,520 tons (full) |
| Length: | 377 ft o/a |
| Beam: | 36 ft 6 in |
| Draught: | 9 ft |
| Propulsion: | 3 x Admiralty 3-drum boilers, steam turbines, 2 shafts, 44,000 shp |
| Speed: | 36 kt |
| Range: | 524 tons oil, 5,700 nm at 15 kt |
| Complement: | 190 (219 as leader) |
| Armament (as built): |
4 x twin 4.7 in L/45 QF Mark XII, mounting CP Mk.XIX
1 x quad 2 pdr "pom-pom" mount Mk.VII
2 x quad Vickers 0.5 in MG AA
1 x quad tubes for 21 in torpedoes Mk.IX
1 x rack, 2 x throwers for depth charges |
| Armament (war modifications): |
3 x twin 4.7 in L/45 QF Mk.XII, mounting CP Mk.XIX
1 x twin 4 in L/45 QF Mk.XVI, mounting HA Mk.XIX
1 x quad 2 pdr "pom-pom" mount Mk.VII
Up to 4 x single and twin 20 mm Oerlikon guns
1 x quad tubes for 21 in torpedoes Mk.IX
1 x rack, 2 x throwers for depth charges |
| Armament (Cayuga, Athabaskan as built): |
4 x twin 4 in L/45 QF Mk.XVI, mounting HA Mk.XIX
1 x twin 40 mm Bofors mount Mk.V
4 x single 40 mm Bofors mount Mk.III
1 x tubes for 21 in torpedoes Mk.IX
1 x rack, 2 x throwers for depth charges |
The
Tribal class, or
Afridi class, were a large
group of
destroyers built for the
Royal Navy,
Royal Canadian Navy and
Royal Australian Navy that saw action in
World War II.
From
1926 all Royal Navy destroyers had descended from a common lineage based upon the prototypes
Amazon and
Ambuscade. Little advance had been made in the way of armament or machinery and by the mid-1930s it was obvious that the "interwar standard" type - as it was known - was being eclipsed by foreign designs that were potential adversaries. In light of this view, it was decided that a new design of large destroyers were needed, with an emphasis on gunnery over torpedoes. The original design called for 5 twin 4.7 in guns, 36
knots, an endurance of 5,500
nm on 1,850
tons.
By August 1935, after much debate, the design had evolved into one armed with 4 twin 4.7 in QF Mark XII on mountings CP Mark XIX controlled by a low-angle (LA) director and high-angle / low-angle (HA/LA) rangefinder director on the bridge. However, the main armament was only capable of 40° elevation, therefore they main armament was limited to long-range
anti-aircraft use only. The anti-aircraft armament consisting of a quadruple
2 pdr "pom pom" mounting Mark VII and 2 quadruple
Vickers 0.5 in
machine guns and a quadruple bank of
torpedo tubes. They were handsome ships with a clipper bow and twin, raked funnels and masts and are remembered with great affection to this day.
The
Tribals were so much larger and sufficiently different than the rest of the British destroyers in service that some consideration was given to ressurecting the classification of
corvette and applying it to them. However this idea was dropped and the term would later be applied to small, mass-produced anti-submarine escorts such as the
"Flower" class of World War Two.
Two flotillas of 8 ships each were ordered for the Royal Navy in 1936, with a flotilla ordered each by the
Royal Australian Navy (three ships completed out of an initial plan for 7) and the
Royal Canadian Navy. The
Canadian order was for four ships from
British yards in 1940 (completed in 1942 and 1943) and another four from domestic yards at
Halifax in 1942. The latter were not completed until after the war. Altogether, between 1937 and 1945, twenty-seven "Tribals" were built.
Early wartime experience showed the alarming lack of anti-aircraft firepower, the main armament proving useless at short ranges, especially against
dive bombers. After the loss of
Afridi and
Gurkha, they were taken in hand to improve the situation. "X" 4.7 in mounting was landed and replaced by a twin 4 in gun QF Mark XVI on the mounting HA Mark XIX. The mainmast was cut down and the rear funnel was lowered to improve the arcs of fire for the anti-aircraft weapons. As they became available,
20 mm Oerlikon guns were added, at first supplanting and eventually replacing the useless 0.5 in machine guns. By 1944 the four surviving ships were give a tall lattice foremast to carry Radar Type 293 target indication and Type 291 air warning, with Radar Type 285 added to the rangefinder-director.
As some of the Royal Navy's most modern and powerful escorts, they were widely deployed in World War II, and served with great distinction in nearly all theatres of war. As a result, losses were heavy and twelve out of the sixteen Royal Navy "Tribals" were sunk, as was one Canadian ship was also lost.
Gurkha has the rare and unfortunate distinction of being the name of two ships that were sunk in World War II; the
"L" class destroyer Larne being renamed to honour the lost "Tribal" class ship, and was herself lost in 1942.
1940
Cossack earned fame early on in the war, when on
6 February 1940, commanded by the famed
Captain Philip Vian, she pursued and then boarded the
German ship
Altmark in neutral
Norwegian waters; the
Altmark Incident. This was the last occasion when a naval boarding action took place with bayonets fixed.
Gurkha was an early loss, being sunk by German
bombers off of Stavanger, with
Afridi lost soon afterwards to
dive bombers while evacuating troops from
Namsos.
Bedouin,
Punjabi,
Eskimo and
Cossack took part in the
Second Battle of Narvik, where
Eskimo had her bows blown off.
1941
In May 1941,
Somali boarded the German weathership
München, retrieving vital
Enigma cypher codebooks. In the same month,
Zulu,
Sikh,
Cossack and
Maori were in action against the
German battleship Bismarck, with
Mashona being sunk by German aircraft during these operations. In the Mediterranean,
Mohawk was lost as part of "Force K", torpedoed by the Italian destroyer
Tarigo in April.
Cossack was torpedoed by U-563 in October while escorting convoy HG74 in the Atlantic, west of Gibraltar, sinking later under tow.
Maori and
Sikh were amongst the victors at the
Battle of Cape Bon in December.
1942
In 1942,
Matabele was torpedoed and sunk in the
Barents Sea and
Maori was hit in the engine room by a bomb whilst lying in
Grand Harbour,
Valetta, in February, catching fire and later blowing up where she lay.
Punjabi was tragically rammed and sunk by the battleship
King George V whilst performing close escort in thick weather in May. In July,
Bedouin was disabled in action with the
Regia Marina during
Operation Harpoon. Although later taken in tow by
Partridge the tow had to be cast when aircraft attacked and she was sunk. In September, the final 2 "Tribals" lost in the
Battle of the Mediterranean were sunk;
Sikh and
Zulu during a disastrous raid on Tobruk. Also that month,
Somali was torpedoed by U-703 covering convoy QP14 during the
Russian convoys. Although taken under tow by
Tartar, she sank 4 days later after heavy weather broke her back. This was the last Royal Navy Tribal to be sunk during the war.
1943
The four remaining ships,
Ashanti,
Eskimo,
Nubian and
Tartar were back in the Mediterannean covering the
"Avalanche'' landings at
Salerno.
1944
Eskimo,
Nubian and
Tartar saw extensive action in the
English Channel before and after
Operation Overlord. In April,
Athabaskan was lost in the Channel, a subsequent Canadian "Tribal" being renamed in her honour. With the end of the naval war in the west,
Eskimo,
Nubian and
Tartar were sent east. They saw action with Japanese forced off of
Malaya, but having been fitted out for Arctic service, they were extremelly unpleasant in tropical climes.
Post war
Post war, the remaining Royal Navy ships, worn out after 6 years of service, were scrapped. The Australian and Canadian ships, with the exception of
Micmac, served at Korea, with
Bataan at one point escorting a
United States aircraft carrier with the same name.
Royal Navy
| Name | Pennant | Builder | Laid Down | Launched | Commissioned!Fate | | Afridi | F07 | Vickers Armstrong, Newcastle upon Tyne | June 9 1936 | June 8 1937 | May 3 1938 | lost 3 May 1940 to aircraft attack off Namsos, Norway |
| Ashanti | F51 | William Denny & Bros, Dumbarton | November 23 1936 | November 5 1937 | December 21 1938 | Sold for scrapping, April 12 1949 |
| Bedouin | F67 | William Denny & Bros, Dumbarton | January ? 1937 | December 21 1937 | March 15 1939 | lost 15 June 1942 to aircraft attack after being disabled by Italian Cruisers Montecuccoli and Eugenio di Savoia south of Pantellaria, Mediterranean Sea |
| Cossack | F03 | Vickers Armstrong, Newcastle upon Tyne | June 9 1936 | June 8 1937 | June 7 1938 | lost 24 October 1941, torpedoed by U-563 west of Gibraltar) |
| Eskimo | F75 | Vickers Armstrong, Newcastle upon Tyne | August 5 1936 | September 3 1937 | December 30 1938 | Sold for scrapping, June 27 1949 |
| Gurkha | F20 | Fairfield Shipbuilding, Govan | July 6 1936 | July 7 1937 | October 21 1938 | lost 9 April 1940, to aircraft attack off Stavanger, Norway |
| Maori | F24 | Fairfield Shipbuilding, Govan | July 6 1936 | September 2 1937 | January 2 1939 | lost 12 February 1942 to aircraft in Grand Harbour, Valetta, Malta |
| Mashona | F59 | Vickers Armstrong, Newcastle upon Tyne | August 5 1936 | September 3 1937 | March 28 1939 | lost 28 May 1941 to aircraft attack, southwest of Ireland during the Bismark chase |
| Matabele | F26 | Scotts Shipbuilding, Greenock | October 1 1936 | October 6 1937 | January 25 1939 | lost 17 January 1942, torpedoed by U-454 in Barents Sea |
| Mohawk | F31 | J I Thornycroft, Woolston | July 16 1936 | October 15 1937 | September 7 1938 | lost 16 April 1941, torpedoed by Italian destroyer Tarigo |
| Nubian | F36 | J I Thornycroft, Woolston | August 10 1936 | December 21 1937 | December 6 1938 | Sold for scrapping, June 11 1949 |
| Punjabi | F21 | Scotts Shipbuilding, Greenock | October 1 1936 | December 18 1937 | March 29 1939 | lost 1 May 1942, rammed by King George V in Atlantic |
| Sikh | F82 | Alex Stephens, Govan | September 24 1936 | December 17 1937 | October 12 1938 | lost 14 September 1942 to shore batteries off Tobruk |
| Somali | F33 | Swan Hunter, Wallsend | August 26 1936 | August 24 1937 | December 12 1939 | lost 20 September 1942, torpedoed by U-703, sank under while under tow in Arctic Ocean |
| Tartar | F43 | Swan Hunter, Wallsend | August 26 1936 | October 21 1937 | March 10 1939 | Sold for scrapping, January 6 1948 |
| Zulu | F82 | Alex Stephens, Govan | August 10 1936 | September 23 1937 | September 7 1938 | lost 14 September 1942 to aircraft off Tobruk |
Royal Canadian Navy
| Name | Pennant | Builder | Laid Down | Launched | Commissioned!Fate | | Iroquois (ex-Athabaskan) | G89 | Vickers Armstrong, Newcastle upon Tyne | September 19 1940 | September 23 1941 | December 10 1942 | sold for scrapping, 1966 |
| Athabaskan (i) (ex-Iroquois) | G07 | Vickers Armstrong, Newcastle upon Tyne | October 31 1940 | November 18 1941 | February 15 1943 | lost April 29 1944, torpedoed by German torpedo boat T.24 north of Ile de Bas |
| Huron | G24 | Vickers Armstrong, Newcastle upon Tyne | July 15 1941 | June 25 1942 | July 28 1943 | sold for scrapping, 1965 |
| Haida | G63 | Vickers Armstrong, Newcastle upon Tyne | September 29 1941 | August 25 1942 | September 18 1943 | Preserved as museum ship, Hamilton, 1964 |
| Micmac | R10 | Halifax Shipyards, Nova Scotia | May 20 1942 | September 18 1943 | September 14 1945 | sold for scrapping, 1964 |
| Nootka (ii) | R96 | Halifax Shipyards, Nova Scotia | May 20 1942 | April 26 1944 | August 9 1946 | sold for scrapping, 1964 |
| Cayuga | R04 | Halifax Shipyards, Nova Scotia | October 7 1943 | July 28 1945 | October 20 1947 | sold for scrapping, 1964 |
| Athabaskan (ii) | R79 | Halifax Shipyards, Nova Scotia | May 15 1944 | May 4 1945 | January 12 1947 | sold for scrapping, 1969 |
Royal Australian Navy
*
Haida, the only surviving Tribal, has been restored and preserved as a museum in the harbour of
Hamilton, Ontario Canada.
* The bow of
Maori lies in 13 m (43 feet) of water in
Marsamaxett Harbour,
Valletta, Malta where she was sunk during World War II. It is a well-known
scuba diving site.
The fictional
Missinabi was created by the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for a
radio serial during the
Second World War using a fictional Indian tribe mentioned by
Stephen Leacock in
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town.
*
Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981, Maurice Cocker, Ian Allan, ISBN 0711010757
*
Royal Navy Destroyers since 1945, Leo Marriot, Ian Allan, ISBN 0711018170
*
British and Empire Warships of the Second World War, H T Lenton, Greenhill Books, ISBN 1853672777
*
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946, Ed. Robert Gardiner, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0870219138
*
Destroyers of World War II, An International Encyclopedia, M. J. Whiteley, Arms and Armour Press, 1988, ISBN 1845095218
*
HMCS Haida
: Battle Ensign Flying, Barry M Gough, Vanwell, 2001, ISBN 1551250586
*
Tribal Class Destroyers, Peter Hodges, Almark, 1971, ISBN 0855240474
The Tribals, Martin H Brice, Ian Allan, 1971, ISBN 0711002452
Unlucky Lady: The Life and Death of HHCS Athabaskan
1940-44, Len Burrow & Emile Beudoin, Canada's Wings, 1983, ISBN 0920002137
*
HMCS Haida web site*
Canadian Tribal Destroyer Association*
Specifications for each of the ships
*
Tribal class destroyer (1905)*
Tribal class frigate
