HMS Partridge (1916)

The Admiralty M class were improved and faster versions of the preceding Laforey-class destroyer.[2] They displaced 971 long tons (987 t). The ships had an overall length of 273 feet 4 inches (83.3 m), a beam of 26 feet 8 inches (8.1 m) and a draught of 9 feet 8 inches (2.9 m).[3] Partridge was powered by three Brown-Curtis direct-drive impulse steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, with geared cruising turbines, using steam provided by three Yarrow boilers.[2][4] The turbines developed a total of 25,000 shaft horsepower (19,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph). The ships carried a maximum of 237 long tons (241 t) of fuel oil that gave them a range of 2,100 nautical miles (3,900 km; 2,400 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ships' complement was 76 officers and ratings.[3]

The ships were armed with three single QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mark IV guns and two QF 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft guns. The ships were also fitted with two above water twin mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes.[3]

The outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 resulted in the Admiralty placing a series of large orders for destroyers, to the design of the existing M-class to speed production.[5] Partridge was one of 16 Admiralty M-class destroyers ordered as part of the Fourth War Construction Programme in February 1915. She was laid down at Swan Hunter's Wallsend shipyard in July 1915, launched on 4 March 1916 and completed in June that year.[6][7]

The vessel was assigned to the Fourteenth Destroyer Flotilla by July 1916.[8] On 14 February 1917, Partridge, together with the destroyers Plover, Portia and Rob Roy, was ordered to patrol between Peterhead and Aberdeen to counter the German submarine UC-44, which had been attacking trawlers. UC-44 completed her patrol unharmed.[9]

On 11 December 1917 the destroyer left from Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, along with HMS Pellew and several armed trawlers to escort six merchant ships to Bergen, in Norway.[10] The convoy was spotted by a flotilla of German destroyers and they unsuccessfully fought an engagement with the attacking destroyers, with Partridge being hit repeatedly by shells and torpedoes.[10] The destroyer subsequently sank in the North Sea on 12 December 1917.[6] Reports indicate that 97 of the crew were killed and only 24 were rescued.[10] The wreck is believed to be off the Norwegian coast.[10] One incident of reported heroism in the sinking, in which a Lieutenant Grey sacrificed a place in a life-raft for another officer resulted in the award of the Stanhope Gold Medal by the Royal Humane Society.[10]

• 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.
• Halpern, Paul G. (1995). A Naval History of World War I. London: UCL Press Limited. ISBN 1-85728-498-4.
• 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.
• McBride, Keith (1991). "British 'M' Class Destroyers of 1913–14". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Warship 1991. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 34–49. ISBN 0-85177-582-9.
• Monograph No. 34: Home Waters Part VIII: December 1916 to April 1917 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XVIII. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1933.