HMS Patrol was a Pathfinder class

Pathfinder class cruiser

The Pathfinder class was a two ship class of scout cruiser serving with the Royal Navy in World War I, and consisting of the ships HMS Pathfinder and HMS Patrol....

 scout cruiser

Scout cruiser

A scout cruiser was a type of warship of the early 20th Century, which were smaller, faster, more lightly armed and armoured than protected cruisers or light cruisers, but larger than contemporary destroyers...

 which served with the 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...

 before and during the First World War. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name HMS Patrol.

Design

To save weight and increase her speed she sported a partially armoured deck, with side armour protecting the engine rooms, rather than the standard protective deck of most cruisers. Speed was the key as she was designed to work with the 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...

 flotilla

Flotilla

A flotilla , or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as frigates, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats, or minesweepers...

s. She was built at yards of Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...

, where she was laid down in October 1903 and completed in September 1905 at a cost of around £279,000. She carried a full complement of 268 officers and men. Originally armed with ten 12 pounder and eight three pounder guns with two 18inch torpedo tubes mounted above the water, she was upgraded with nine 4 inch guns and six 6 pounder guns in 1911/12.

Career

She joined the Home Fleet in October 1907 and then the 3rd Fleet at the Nore Command in 1908. In 1909 she served a short spell as leader of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla at Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

, then moved to the 3rd Flotilla and then the 1st in 1910. In 1911 she was stationed at Harwich with the 1st Flotilla under Captain Francis M Leake. In 1913-14 she was stationed at Haulbowline

Haulbowline

Haulbowline is the name of an island in Cork Harbour off the coast of Ireland. It is the main naval base and headquarters for the Irish Naval Service.-Etymology:...

, a naval base in Cork

Cork Harbour

Cork Harbour is a natural harbour and river estuary at the mouth of the River Lee in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of several which lay claim to the title of "second largest natural harbour in the world by navigational area" . Other contenders include Halifax Harbour in Canada, and Poole Harbour...

 and now the headquarters of the Irish Navy.

At the onset of the First World War Patrol was part of the 9th Destroyer Flotilla, protecting the north east coastline between the Firth of Forth

Firth of Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...

 and the Tyne

River Tyne

The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...

. On the 15th December, under the command of Captain Alan C. Bruce, she was berthed in Hartlepool

Hartlepool

Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...

 with HMS Forward

HMS Forward (1904)

HMS Forward was one of two Forward-class scout cruiser which served with the Royal Navy. She was built in the yards of Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan. She was laid down in October 1903, launched on 27 August 1904 and completed in September 1905...

, another scout cruiser, four destroyers from the 9th Flotilla (HMS Doon

HMS Doon (1904)

HMS Doon was a River-class destroyer named after the River Doon, and the only ship of the Royal Navy ever to bear the name.-Pennant Numbers:-Construction:...

, HMS Waveney

HMS Waveney (1903)

HMS Waveney was a River-class destroyer named after the River Waveney. She was the first ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.-Construction:...

, HMS Moy and HMS Test) and the submarine HMS C 9

HMS C9

HMS C9 was a British C class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow. She was laid down on 20 January 1906 and was commissioned on 18 June 1907.C9 was sold in July 1922....

.

On the 16 December, the destroyers put out to sea at 5.30 a.m. without the protection of the cruisers due to a heavy swell outside the tidal port. At 8 a.m. the flotilla sighted the German battlecruiser

Battlecruiser

Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...

s Seydlitz

SMS Seydlitz

SMS Seydlitz"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German. was a 25,000-metric ton battlecruiserAdmiral Alfred von Tirpitz referred to the ship as a large cruiser in his annual budgets in an attempt to reduce opposition from the Reichstag; the ship was not referred...

 and Moltke and the cruiser Blücher

SMS Blücher

SMS Blücher was the last armored cruiser to be built by the German Imperial Navy . She was designed to match what German intelligence incorrectly believed to be the specifications of the British s...

, intent on a raid on Hartlepool. The heavy German ships chased off the hopelessly outgunned destroyers and opened fire on Hartlepool's two gun batteries, which mounted three six inch guns, before bombarding the port and harbour entrance.

Captain Bruce attempted to dash out to sea but was sighted by the Blücher and hit by two heavy shells at around a quarter to nine. Four men were killed and seven wounded and the ship ran aground on the entrance to the Tees. She was saved from destruction by the German ships breaking off the raid to make back to the open sea. Badly holed and taking on water, the Patrol was lying too low to return to Hartlepool but was able to struggle into Middlesbrough docks.

After undergoing extensive repairs she joined the 7th Destroyer Flotilla in the Humber

Humber

The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...

 in 1915. She was transferred to the Irish Sea

Irish Sea

The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...

 in 1918 and then back to the 9th Destroyer Flotilla at the Nore. Surplus to requirements after the end of the war, she was paid off in 1919 and sold for scrap on 21 April 1920 to Machinehandel, of Holland.