B class destroyer
Encyclopedia
The B class was a class
of nine destroyer
s of the British
Royal Navy
, ordered as part of the 1928 Naval Estimates, launched in 1930 and that commissioned in 1931. The class was similar to the preceding A class
, with minor modifications. They saw extensive service in the Second World War and five were sunk in combat; Blanche had the unfortunate distinction of being the first British destroyer lost during the war, when she was mined in the Thames Estuary
some 2 months after the declaration of war.
of the former in lieu of Asdic (sonar) and depth charge
s to suit them to anti-submarine
work.
Unlike the A class the flotilla leader
, Keith, was built upon the same hull as her sisters; the enlarged leader HMS Codrington
of the A class proved to be tactically incompatible with her flotilla as she was both a number of knots faster and had a much greater tactical radius. As a result, Keith was too small to accommodate the entirety of Captain (D)'s staff, and Blanche was fitted as a divisional leader to carry the surplus.
anti-aircraft
(A/A) gun - if at all. Like their contemporary older British destroyers, the B class were cascaded into convoy escort work as new vessels became available for fleet work. Modifications generally involved the aforementioned addition of the 12 pounder and striking the mainmast to improve the weapon's field of fire. 'Y' gun was landed to increase the space available for depth charge gear. The cumbersome metric wavelength Radar Type 286 was added to some ships as it became available. Based on the Royal Air Force
's ASV set, and intended to warn against surfaced submarines, it had a fixed antenna that scanned in a forward arc, requiring the ship's heading to be changed in order to alter the search direction.
The 12 pounder gun was later removed from surviving ships, extra depth charges being carried in lieu. The 2 pounder guns were also replaced by QF 20 mm Oerlikon
guns as they became available, with a further pair of the latter added in place of the searchlight position. Bulldog later received a further pair for a total of six Oerlikons. Beagle, Brilliant and Bulldog later received a much improved radar set in place of the rangefinder and director equipment; the centimetric wavelength Type 271 that combined the enormous advances of the cavity magnetron
and the plan position indicator
, resulting in a highly useful set that could detect a submarine periscope
in the correct conditions. Bulldog and Beagle lost 'A' gun, gaining a Hedgehog
ahead-throwing A/S weapon in its place. Bulldog received a QF 2 pounder Mk.VIII
gun mounted as a bow chaser in 1944, to deal with the threat posed by German E boats.
Ship class
A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....
of nine destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, ordered as part of the 1928 Naval Estimates, launched in 1930 and that commissioned in 1931. The class was similar to the preceding A class
A class destroyer
The A class was a flotilla of eight destroyers built for the Royal Navy as part of the 1927 naval programme. A ninth ship, Codrington, was built to an enlarged design to act as the flotilla leader...
, with minor modifications. They saw extensive service in the Second World War and five were sunk in combat; Blanche had the unfortunate distinction of being the first British destroyer lost during the war, when she was mined in the Thames Estuary
Thames Estuary
The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...
some 2 months after the declaration of war.
Design
The main difference between the As and the Bs was that the latter dispensed with the minesweeping gearMinesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
of the former in lieu of Asdic (sonar) and depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s to suit them to anti-submarine
Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
work.
Unlike the A class the flotilla leader
Flotilla leader
A flotilla leader was a warship suitable for commanding a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships, typically a small cruiser or a large destroyer...
, Keith, was built upon the same hull as her sisters; the enlarged leader HMS Codrington
HMS Codrington (D65)
HMS Codrington was an A-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She served as the flotilla leader during the Second World War in Home waters and off the Norwegian coast, before being bombed and sunk on 27 July 1940 whilst in dock at Dover....
of the A class proved to be tactically incompatible with her flotilla as she was both a number of knots faster and had a much greater tactical radius. As a result, Keith was too small to accommodate the entirety of Captain (D)'s staff, and Blanche was fitted as a divisional leader to carry the surplus.
Wartime modifications
The early losses likely had few modifications; restricted to replacing the after set of torpedo tubes with a QF 12 pounder12-pounder gun
12-pounder gun or 12-pdr, usually denotes a gun which fired a projectile of approximately 12 pounds.Guns of this type include:* A cannon sized for a 12 pound ball, see Naval artillery in the Age of Sail*Canon de 12 de Vallière French canon of 1732...
anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
(A/A) gun - if at all. Like their contemporary older British destroyers, the B class were cascaded into convoy escort work as new vessels became available for fleet work. Modifications generally involved the aforementioned addition of the 12 pounder and striking the mainmast to improve the weapon's field of fire. 'Y' gun was landed to increase the space available for depth charge gear. The cumbersome metric wavelength Radar Type 286 was added to some ships as it became available. Based on the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
's ASV set, and intended to warn against surfaced submarines, it had a fixed antenna that scanned in a forward arc, requiring the ship's heading to be changed in order to alter the search direction.
The 12 pounder gun was later removed from surviving ships, extra depth charges being carried in lieu. The 2 pounder guns were also replaced by QF 20 mm Oerlikon
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...
guns as they became available, with a further pair of the latter added in place of the searchlight position. Bulldog later received a further pair for a total of six Oerlikons. Beagle, Brilliant and Bulldog later received a much improved radar set in place of the rangefinder and director equipment; the centimetric wavelength Type 271 that combined the enormous advances of the cavity magnetron
Cavity magnetron
The cavity magnetron is a high-powered vacuum tube that generates microwaves using the interaction of a stream of electrons with a magnetic field. The 'resonant' cavity magnetron variant of the earlier magnetron tube was invented by John Randall and Harry Boot in 1940 at the University of...
and the plan position indicator
Plan position indicator
The plan position indicator , is the most common type of radar display. The radar antenna is usually represented in the center of the display, so the distance from it and height above ground can be drawn as concentric circles...
, resulting in a highly useful set that could detect a submarine periscope
Periscope
A periscope is an instrument for observation from a concealed position. In its simplest form it consists of a tube with mirrors at each end set parallel to each other at a 45-degree angle....
in the correct conditions. Bulldog and Beagle lost 'A' gun, gaining a Hedgehog
Hedgehog (weapon)
The Hedgehog was an anti-submarine weapon developed by the Royal Navy during World War II, that was deployed on convoy escort warships such as destroyers to supplement the depth charge. The weapon worked by firing a number of small spigot mortar bombs from spiked fittings...
ahead-throwing A/S weapon in its place. Bulldog received a QF 2 pounder Mk.VIII
QF 2 pounder naval gun
The 2-pounder gun, officially designated the QF 2-pounder and universally known as the pom-pom, was a 1.575 inch British autocannon, used famously as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy. The name came from the sound that the original models make when firing...
gun mounted as a bow chaser in 1944, to deal with the threat posed by German E boats.
Ships
- KeithHMS Keith (H06)HMS Keith was a flotilla leader built for the Royal Navy around 1930. Initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, she was placed in reserve in 1937, after repairs from a collision were completed...
(H06), built by Vickers Armstrongs, Barrow in Furness, launched on 10 July 1930, sunk by Ju 87 "Stuka"Junkers Ju 87The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka was a two-man German ground-attack aircraft...
dive-bombers off Dunkirk, France during Operation DynamoOperation DynamoThe Dunkirk evacuation, commonly known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and the early hours of 3 June 1940, because the British, French and Belgian troops were...
on 1 June 1940. - BasiliskHMS Basilisk (H11)HMS Basilisk was a of the British Royal Navy that saw early World War II service in Norway, before being sunk at Dunkirk in 1940.-Construction:...
(H11), built by John Brown & CompanyJohn Brown & CompanyJohn Brown and Company of Clydebank was a pre-eminent Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm, responsible for building many notable and world-famous ships, such as the , the , the , the , the , and the...
, ClydebankClydebankClydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton, the town with which it was combined to form West Dunbartonshire, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and...
, launched on 6 August 1930, sunk by Ju 87 dive-bombers off Dunkirk, France during Operation Dynamo on 1 June 1940. - BeagleHMS Beagle (H30)HMS Beagle was a of the British Royal Navy that saw extensive service throughout World War II; in Norway, the Atlantic, North Africa, on Russian Convoys, and in the Normandy landings.-Construction:...
(H30), built by John Brown, launched on 29 September 1930. - BlancheHMS Blanche (H47)HMS Blanche was a built for the Royal Navy around 1930. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. She was attacked, but not damaged, by Nationalist bombers...
(H47), built by Hawthorn Leslie & Company, HebburnHebburnHebburn is a small town situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in North East England, sandwiched between the towns of Jarrow and Bill Quay...
, launched on 29 May 1930, sunk by a mine on 13 November 1939. - BoadiceaHMS Boadicea (H65)HMS Boadicea was a built for the Royal Navy that saw service during World War II until sunk on 13 June 1944 while supporting the invasion of Normandy.-Construction:...
(H65), built by Hawthorn Leslie, launched on 23 September 1930, sunk by air attack off PortlandIsle of PortlandThe Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...
during Operation OverlordOperation OverlordOperation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
on 13 June 1944. - BoreasHMS Boreas (H77)HMS Boreas was a "B"-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy that saw service in the Second World War before being transferred to the Greek Royal Hellenic Navy in 1944 and renamed Salamis. In 1951, she was returned to Britain and scrapped....
(H77), built by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron CompanyPalmers Shipbuilding and Iron CompanyPalmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as Palmers, was a British shipbuilding company. The Company was based in Jarrow, in Northeast England and also had operations in Hebburn and Willington Quay on the River Tyne....
, JarrowJarrowJarrow is a town in Tyne and Wear, England, located on the River Tyne, with a population of 27,526. From the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding, and was the starting point of the Jarrow March against unemployment in 1936.-Foundation:The Angles re-occupied...
, launched on 18 July 1930, loaned to Greece in 1944 and renamed Salamis. - BrazenHMS Brazen (H80)HMS Brazen was a of the British Royal Navy that saw service early in World War II, before being sunk in June 1940.-Construction:The ship was ordered on 22 March 1929 from Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company at Hebburn under the 1928 Programme. She was laid down on 22 July 1929, and launched on...
(H80), built by Palmers, launched on 25 July 1930, sunk by air attack off DoverDoverDover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
on 20 July 1940. - BrilliantHMS Brilliant (H84)HMS Brilliant was a built for the Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War.From 1931 to 1938, she served in the Mediterranean. At the outbreak of war, Brilliant was deployed with the 19th Destroyer Flotilla at Dover and took part in Channel convoy protection and escorting...
(H84), built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, WallsendWallsendWallsend is an area in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. Wallsend derives its name as the location of the end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 42,842.-Romans:...
, launched on 9 October 1930. Broken up in 1947 - Bulldog (H91), built by Swan Hunter, launched on 6 December 1930. BU 1946