HMS Sturdy was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy. Launched on 26 June 1919, the destroyer spent most of the next two decades in the Reserve Fleet. However, for the 1935 Naval Review before George V and Queen Mary, Sturdy was divested of armament and equipped with a single davit to rescue ditched aircraft, and acted as plane guard to the aircraft carrier Courageous. Re-armed as a minelayer, the destroyer was recommissioned the following year and reactivated at the start of the Second World War. Sturdy was then employed escorting convoys in the Atlantic Ocean, but soon into the conflict ran aground off the coast off the Inner Hebrides island at Tiree on 30 October 1940. The vessel was split in two by the waves. The crew evacuated, apart from three sailors who died, and the destroyer was lost.

Sister ship Strenuous in 1918
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Sturdy
Ordered	June 1917
Builder	Scotts, Greenock
Yard number	495
Laid down	April 1918
Launched	26 June 1919
Commissioned	8 October 1919
Out of service	30 October 1940
Fate	Grounded off the island Tiree
General characteristics
Class and type	S-class destroyer
Displacement	1,075 long tons (1,092 t) normal 1,220 long tons (1,240 t) deep load
Length	265 ft (80.8 m) p.p.
Beam	26 ft 8 in (8.13 m)
Draught	9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) mean
Propulsion	3 Yarrow boilers 2 geared Brown-Curtis steam turbines, 27,000 shp
Speed	36 knots (41.4 mph; 66.7 km/h)
Range	2,750 nmi (5,090 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Complement	90
Armament	3 × QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mark IV guns, mounting P Mk. IX 1 × single 2-pounder (40-mm) "pom-pom" Mk. II anti-aircraft gun 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2×2)

Design and development

Sturdy was one of thirty-three Admiralty S class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in June 1917 as part of the Twelfth War Construction Programme. The design was a development of the R class introduced as a cheaper and faster alternative to the V and W class.[1] Differences with the R class were minor, such as having the searchlight moved aft.[2]

Sturdy had an overall length of 276 ft (84 m) and a length of 265 ft (81 m) between perpendiculars. Beam was 26 ft 8 in (8.13 m) and draught 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m). Displacement was 1,075 long tons (1,092 t) normal and 1,220 long tons (1,240 t) deep load.[3] Three Yarrow boilers fed steam to two sets of Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines rated at 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) and driving two shafts, giving a design speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) at normal loading and 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph) at deep load. Two funnels were fitted. The vessel carried 301 long tons (306 t) of fuel oil, giving a design range of 2,750 nautical miles (5,090 km; 3,160 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[4]

Armament consisted of three QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk IV guns on the ship's centreline. One was mounted raised on the forecastle, one between the funnels and one aft.[5] The ship also mounted a single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom anti-aircraft gun for air defence. Four 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes were fitted in two twin rotating mounts aft.[4] The ship was designed to mount two 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes either side of the superstructure but this addition required the forecastle plating to be cut away, making the vessel very wet, so they were not fitted.[2] The weight saved enabled the heavier Mark V 21-inch torpedo to be carried.[1] The complement was 90 officers and ratings.[6]

Construction and career

Laid down in April 1918 by Scotts in Greenock with the yard number 495, Sturdy was launched on 26 June 1919.[1][7] The vessel was the first of the name.[8] Commissioned on 8 October 1919, the ship was placed in the Reserve Fleet at Portsmouth under the dreadnought King George V and acted as tender to HMS Columbine, the depot at Port Edgar.[9][10]

Sturdy remained in reserve throughout the following decades. In April 1932, it was announced that Sturdy and sister ship Tenedos, based at Cobh and Berehaven in the Republic of Ireland, would be replaced at the Irish station by Amazon and Ambuscade, with Sturdy and Tenedos transferring to the reserves.[11] On 16 July 1935, the destroyer took part in a naval review in front of the George V and Queen Mary, having been taken out of reserve and re-equipped as an attendant to the aircraft carrier Courageous.[12] For the role, all armament was removed to lighten the ship, and thus maximise speed, and a davit was installed on a forecastle to enable ditched aircraft to be recovered.[13] The vessel did not spend long in this configuration and was re-commissioned to reserve with armament restored on 5 December 1936.[14]

At the start of the Second World War, the destroyer served under the command of Lieutenant-commander George Cooper, who had been appointed on 31 July 1939.[15] The ship was configured as a minelayer, capable of carrying up to forty mines instead of the aft guns and torpedo tubes.[16] However, the vessel did not use this capacity, instead being deployed to escort convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic. The destroyer was one of the escorts for Convoy HX 79 which, on 19 October, suffered heavily under U-boat wolfpack, losing twelve ships in a torpedo attack that lasted six hours.[17] On 26 October 1940, Sturdy accompanied sister ship Shikari on an outbound voyage to meet the convoy SC 8 sailing from the United States. Poor weather meant that the ship lost sight of the other destroyer and on 29 October, the captain decided to head instead to Derry.[15] Early the following morning, the destroyer was grounded by the bow at 56 29'N, 06 59'W, off the Inner Hebrides island at Tiree near to the west coast of Scotland.[18] The force of the waves broke the ship in half, the stern detaching and swinging round. Sturdy could not be released. and instead was evacuated. Three sailors died, but the remainder escaped to shore. The wreck was then left to be dispersed by the sea.[15]

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