HMS Rosalind (1916)

Rosalind was the first of three R-class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty from John I. Thornycroft & Company in July 1915 as part of the Sixth War Construction Programme.[1] The ships differed from the six preceding Thornycroft M-class built by the yard in having all geared turbines and the aft gun being raised on a bandstand.[2]

Rosalind had a long overall of 274 feet (84 m), with a beam of 27 feet 6 inches (8.38 m) and a draught of 11 feet (3.4 m).[3] Displacement was 1,037 long tons (1,054 t) normal and 1,208 long tons (1,227 t) full load.[4] Three Yarrow boilers fed steam to two sets of Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines rated at 29,000 shp (22,000 kW) and driving two shafts, giving a design speed of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph), although the ship reached 37.09 knots (68.69 km/h; 42.68 mph) during trials.[2] Three funnels were fitted. A total of 296 long tons (301 t) of fuel oil was carried, giving a design range of 3,450 nautical miles (6,390 km; 3,970 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).[5]

Armament consisted of three QF 4in Mk IV guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised bandstand and one between the second and third funnels.[2] A single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom anti-aircraft gun was carried, along with four 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes in two twin rotating mounts.[4] The vessel had a complement of 82 officers and ratings.[5]

Rosalind was laid down in October 1915 and launched on 14 October 1916.[4] On commissioning in December 1916, the ship joined the Grand Fleet, initially joining the Thirteenth Destroyer Flotilla.[6] However, within a month, Rosalind had moved and served until the end of the war as part of the Fifteenth Destroyer Flotilla.[7] Between 15 and 24 June 1917, the flotilla took part in anti-submarine patrols east of the Shetland Islands. Rosalind did not sight any submarines, but out of the 117 ships that sailed the route to and from Scandinavia, four were sunk during the operation.[8] On 2 August, the destroyer escorted the armoured cruisers Duke of Edinburgh and HMS Shannon off the coast of Scotland.[9] Rosalind was transferred to form part of the defence of the Irish Coast during December, serving in that capacity into 1918.[3]

Having been paid off earlier in the year, the vessel was re-commissioned on 15 December 1919, with a reduced complement.[10][11] Rosalind subsequently formed part of the local defence flotilla for Portsmouth under the cruiser Dido.[12] However, in 1923, the Navy decided to systematically scrap many of the older destroyers in preparation for the introduction of newer and larger vessels.[13] Rosalind was one of those deemed to have reached the end of life and so was sold to King of Garston, Liverpool, to be broken up on 13 July 1926.[14]

Rosalind was the prototype for not only three similar R class destroyers built by Thornycroft, but also the five S-class destroyers built by the same yard, including two that served with the Royal Canadian Navy.[15] These were termed Modified Rosalinds.[16] The name Rosalind was reused by the Shakespearian-class trawler HMT Rosalind that was a founding member of the Royal East African Navy.[17]