HMS Petard was an Admiralty M class

Admiralty M class destroyer

The M class, more properly known as the Admiralty M class, were a class of 85 destroyers built for the Royal Navy that saw service during World War I...

 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...

 built by Denny

William Denny and Brothers

William Denny and Brothers Limited, and often referred to simply as Denny, were a Scottish shipbuilding company.-History:The Company was founded by Peter Denny in 1840 and based in Dumbarton, on the River Clyde. Although the Denny yard was situated near the junction of the River Clyde and the River...

 for 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...

, commenced 5 July 1915 and launched on 24 March 1916. She saw service during the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. Postwar, she was sold for breaking up on 9 May 1921.

Jutland

Petard was assigned to the 13th destroyer flotilla attached to the battlecruiser squadron of the Grand Fleet during the First World War and was present at the battle of Jutland

Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...

. The first engagement of the battle was between a squadron of six 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, four battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

s and accompanying destroyers commanded by Admiral Beatty

David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty

Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO was an admiral in the Royal Navy...

 and a German squadron of five battlecruisers plus accompanying destroyers commanded by Admiral Hipper

Franz von Hipper

Franz Ritter von Hipper was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy . Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units and served as watch officer aboard several warships, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht Hohenzollern...

. Twelve British destroyers were formed into three columns of four ships taking station ahead of the battlecruisers, with the light cruiser HMS Champion

HMS Champion (1915)

HMS Champion was a C-class light cruiser of the British Royal Navy.Eight light cruisers were ordered for the Royal Navy in the 1913 budget. The six ships of the Caroline class used conventional direct drive turbine engines but two, Champion and Calliope had experimental engine designs using geared...

 assigned as lead ship. They were under orders, when an opportunity presented, to approach the enemy ships and attack using torpedoes.

At 4.15pm on 31 May 1916 the attack commenced. Each column in turn was ordered to turn towards the enemy and approach at maximum speed to a point four or five miles away to fire their torpedoes. Petard was in the third column. The German squadron reacted by sending out their own destroyers to meet and attack the approaching British ships. At approximately 6,000 yards the two destroyer squadrons had formed into approximate opposing columns and were close enough to open fire on each other. As the range reduced to 3,000 yards Petard commenced firing torpedoes. The first was directed at opposing destroyers, and an explosion in approximately the right place amongst the enemy suggested that it may have hit. The next torpedo was fired at the line of German battlecruisers, now at 9,000 yards range. Petard then turned roughly parallel to the German battlecruisers but slightly converging, so as to get ahead of the column before once more turning towards the enemy to fire the remaining two torpedoes.

Turning back towards the British ships, Petard passed , which was also returning but at reduced speed because of damage. It now became apparent that further German ships were approaching, which proved to be the main German High Seas Fleet

High Seas Fleet

The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...

. Proceeding, Petard approached an oil slick where was picking up survivors from the battlecruiser , sunk by German gunfire, and picked up one man. Approximately 20 survivors in total were rescued from the 1000 man crew. Petard then returned to her station at the head of the battlecruiser line.

NB HMS Petard is erroneously identified in some references as the ship which rammed and sank H M Submarine G 9

HMS G9

HMS G9 was a British G class submarine, one of eight Royal Navy submarines lost to friendly fire in World War I.-Construction:The second of her class built by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness, G9 was laid down on 8 December 1914...

on the night of 16 September 1917; the ship in question was the destroyer HMS Pasley.