HMS Leven (1898)

HMS Leven was a Fairfield "30-knotter" destroyer of the Royal Navy, later classified as part of the C class. It was built in 1898–1899, and served with the Royal Navy through to the First World War, sinking a German U-boat in 1918. Leven was sold for scrapping in 1920.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Leven.

History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Leven
Ordered1897 – 1898 Naval Estimates
BuilderFairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, Glasgow
Laid down24 January 1898
Launched28 June 1898
CommissionedJuly 1899
Out of servicePaid off, 1919
FateSold for breaking, 14 September 1920
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeFairfield "30 knotter" destroyer
Displacement
  • 370 long tons (376 t) light
  • 420 long tons (427 t) full load
Length
  • 215 ft 6 in (65.68 m) oa
  • 209 ft 9 in (63.93 m) pp
Beam21 ft 0+1⁄4 in (6.41 m)
Draught8 ft 2 in (2.5 m)
Installed power6,300 ihp (4,700 kW)
Propulsion
Speed30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement63 officers and men
Armament
Service record
Operations: World War I 1914 - 1918
Awards: Battle honour "Belgian Coast 1914–16"

Construction

HMS Leven was ordered from the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, Glasgow, as part of the British Admiralty's 1897–1898 shipbuilding programme, one of six "Thirty-Knotter" destroyers ordered in that programme, at a contract cost of £52,407.[1][2] As with other early Royal Navy destroyers, the design of Leven was left to the builder, with the Admiralty laying down only broad requirements.[3][4]

Leven's design was a near repeat of the three Thirty-Knotters (Fairey, Falcon and Gipsy) ordered as part of the previous 1896–1897 construction programme, with four Thornycroft boilers feeding a triple-expansion steam engine, and three funnels being fitted.[1][5] The ship had the standard armament of the Thirty-Knotters, i.e. a QF 12 pounder 12 cwt (3 in (76 mm) calibre) gun on a platform on the ship's conning tower (in practice the platform was also used as the ship's bridge), with a secondary armament of five 6-pounder guns, and two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.[6][7]

Leven was laid down as Yard No 405[1] on 24 January 1898 and launched on 28 June 1898. During her builder's trials the ship made its contracted speed requirement. She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in July 1898, and was the third ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1813 for a 20-gun sixth rate in service until 1848.[8][9]

Operational history

Pre-war

Leven served in British home waters for the whole of her career.[1] She was commissioned to replace HMS Bat in the Devonport instructional flotilla in March 1900, receiving that ship's crew under Commander Pennant Lloyd.[10] She participated in the 1901 British Naval Manoeuvres.[11] She served in the Devonport instructional flotilla, until replaced in March 1902.[12] Later that year, she underwent repairs to re-tube her boilers.[13]

On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyers were to be grouped into classes designated by letters based on contract speed and appearance. As a three-funneled destroyer with a contract speed of 30 knots, Leven was assigned to the C class.[14][15] The class letters were painted on the hull below the bridge area and on a funnel.[16]

World War I

From August 1914 to November 1918 Leven was deployed in the 6th Destroyer Flotilla based at Dover. While employed with the 6th Flotilla she conducted counter-mining patrols escorted merchant ships, defended the Dover Barrage and took part in operations off the Belgian Coast.

On 8 September 1915, Leven was involved in a collision with a transport in the English Channel, suffering a badly damaged bow. She was towed stern first back to Dover.[17] On 26 May 1917 Leven was escorting the monitors General Wolfe, M24 and M27 when they encountered four German torpedo boats. One of the German ships fired a torpedo at M24, which missed, and after they were engaged by Leven, the Germans broke contact.[18]

On 26 January 1918, Leven, carrying out a courier service between Dover and Dunkirk,[19] spotted the periscope of the German submarine UB-35, when UB-35 was attempting to pass through the Dover Barrage, a series of anti-submarine minefields and anti-submarine patrols.[20] Leven sank UB-35 with depth charges about 6 miles north-west of Calais,[Note 1] rescuing a single survivor, who identified that the sunken submarine was UB-35 before he died.[21][22]

In 1919 Leven was paid off and laid-up in reserve awaiting disposal. The ship was sold on 14 September 1920 to Hayes of Porthcawl for scrapping.[23] Leven was awarded the battle honour "Belgian Coast 1914–16" for her service.

Pennant numbers
Pennant number[23]FromTo
P336 December 19141 September 1915
D621 September 19151 January 1918
D511 January 191817 Mar 1921

Notes
  1. In the approximate position 51°03′N 001°46′E

References
  1. Lyon 2001, p. 89.
  2. Lyon 2001, pp. 23–24.
  3. Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 87.
  4. Manning 1961, p. 39.
  5. Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, pp. 95, 97.
  6. Lyon 2001, pp. 98–99.
  7. Friedman 2009, p. 40.
  8. Jane 1898, pp. 84–85.
  9. Moore 1990, p. 76.
  10. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36085. London. 9 March 1900. p. 12.
  11. Brassey 1902, pp. 90, 99.
  12. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36713. London. 12 March 1902. p. 7.
  13. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36767. London. 14 May 1902. p. 12.
  14. Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 18.
  15. Manning 1961, pp. 17–18.
  16. Manning 1961, p. 34.
  17. "Ships of the Royal Navy - BRITISH NAVAL VESSELS LOST, DAMAGED and ATTACKED by NAME, 1914-15, some 1916-19". Naval-History.net. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  18. Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, p. 13.
  19. Keyes 1935, p. 172.
  20. Grant 1964, pp. 74–78, 81.
  21. McCartney 2003, pp. 158–159.
  22. Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UB 35". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  23. 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
  • Brassey, T.A. (1902). The Naval Annual 1902. Portsmouth, UK: J. Griffin and Co.
  • 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.
  • Grant, Robert M. (1964). U-Boats Destroyed: the Effect of Anti-Submarine Warfare 1914–1918. London: Putnam.
  • Hepper, David; Conway, Michael S. (June 2021). "Question 18/57". Warship International. LVIII (2): 100–101. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • Jane, Fred T. (1969) [1st. pub. Sampson Low & Marston, London]. Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships 1898. New York: ARCO Publishing Company.
  • Keyes, Roger (1935). The Naval Memoirs of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes: Volume 2: Scapa Flow to the Dover Straits. Taylor & Francis.
  • Lyon, David (2001) [1996]. The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-3648.
  • 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.
  • McCartney, Innes (2003). Lost Patrols: Submarine Wrecks of the English Channel. Penzance, UK: Periscope Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-904381-04-9.
  • Monograph No. 35: Home Waters—Part IX.: 1st May, 1917 to 31st July, 1917 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XIX. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1939.
  • Lyon, David (2001). The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-3648.
  • Moore, John (1990). Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. London: Studio Editions. ISBN 1-85170-378-0.
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