View source for HMS Walrus (D24)

{{short description|Destroyer of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Walrus}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = HMS Walrus.jpg
| Ship caption = HMS ''Walrus'' during the First World War
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship country = [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
| Ship class = [[V and W-class destroyer|Admiralty W-class]] [[destroyer]]
| Ship name = HMS ''Walrus''
| Ship namesake = The [[walrus]]
| Ship ordered = December 1916<ref name="navalhistory">[http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritishShips-Dittmar2.htm Naval History: SHIPS OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1914-1919 - in ALPHABETICAL ORDER (Part 2 of 2)]</ref>
| Ship awarded = 
| Ship builder = [[Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company]], [[Govan]]<ref name="navalhistory"/><ref name="colledge">Colledge, J. J., ''Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of the Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy From the Fifteenth Century to the Present Day'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987, {{ISBN|0-87021-652-X}}, p. 374.</ref>
| Ship laid down = February 1917
| Ship launched = 27 December 1917<ref name="navalhistory"/><ref name="colledge"/>
| Ship christened = 
| Ship acquired = 
| Ship completed = 1918
| Ship commissioned = 8 March 1918
| Ship decommissioned = 30 November 1932<ref name="colledge"/><ref name="preston57-58">Preston, Antony, ''V and W class Destroyers 1917-1945'', London: MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd, 1971, pp. 57-58.</ref>
| Ship in service = 
| Ship out of service = 
| Ship renamed = 
| Ship reclassified = 
| Ship refit = 
| Ship captured = 
| Ship struck = 
| Ship reinstated = 
| Ship fate = *Wrecked 12 February 1938<ref name="colledge"/>
*Sold 5 March 1938 for scrapping<ref name="preston57-58"/>
*Scrapped October 1938<ref name="colledge"/>
| Ship homeport = 
| Ship motto = 
| Ship nickname = 
| Ship honours = 
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}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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| Header caption = 
| Ship displacement = 1,100&nbsp;tons
| Ship length = {{convert|300|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|o/a]], {{convert|312|ft|m|abbr=on}}[[Length between perpendiculars|p/p]]
| Ship beam = {{convert|26.75|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship draught = {{convert|9|ft|m|abbr=on}} standard, {{convert|11.25|ft|m|abbr=on}} in deep
| Ship propulsion = *3 Yarrow type Water-tube boilers
*Brown-Curtis steam turbines
*2 shafts
*{{convert|27,000|shp|abbr=on}}
| Ship speed = {{convert|34|kn|lk=in}}
| Ship range = 320-370&nbsp;tons oil, {{convert|3500|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn|lk=in}}, {{convert|900|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|32|kn|lk=in}}
| Ship complement = 110
| Ship armament = * 4 × [[QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun|QF 4 in Mk.V (102mm L/45)]], mount P Mk.I
* 2 × [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|QF 2 pdr Mk.II "pom-pom" (40 mm L/39)]] or;
** 1 × [[QF 3 inch 20 cwt]] (76 mm), mount HA Mk.II
* 6 (2x3) tubes for 21 in [[torpedo]]es
| Ship badge = 
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}
The first '''HMS ''Walrus'' (D24)'''  was a [[V and W class destroyer|W-class]] [[destroyer]] of the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Royal Navy]] that saw service in the final months of [[World War I]].

==Construction and commissioning==
''Walrus'' was ordered in December 1916<ref name="navalhistory"/> and was [[Keel laying|laid down]] by the [[Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company]] at [[Govan]], [[Scotland]],<ref name="navalhistory"/> in February 1917. She was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 27 December 1917<ref name="navalhistory"/> and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 8 March 1918. She was assigned the [[pennant number]] G17 in April 1918,<ref name="navalhistory"/> but it was changed to D24 during the interwar period.

==Service history==
All of the [[V and W class destroyer|V- and W-class]] destroyers, ''Walrus'' among them, were assigned to the [[Grand Fleet]] or [[Harwich Force]] for the rest of World War I,<ref name="navalhistory"/> which ended with the [[armistice with Germany]] on 11 November 1918.

''Walrus'' was assigned to the [[Atlantic Fleet (United Kingdom)|Atlantic Fleet]] in 1921 as part of the [[5th Destroyer Flotilla]], which also included the [[Flotilla leader|destroyer leader]] {{HMS|Malcolm|D19|2}} and destroyers {{HMS|Vanity|D28|2}}, {{HMS|Vendetta|D69|2}}, {{HMS|Vivacious|D36|2}}, {{HMS|Voyager|D31|2}}, {{HMS|Waterhen|D22|2}}, {{HMS|Wrestler|D35|2}}, and {{HMS|Wryneck|D21|2}}.<ref>Preston, Antony, ''V and W class Destroyers 1917-1945'', London: MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd, 1971, pp. 35-36.</ref>

On 6 June 1924, ''Walrus'' was recommissioned at [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport]] for service in the [[Mediterranean Fleet]]<ref>''The Navy List'', April 1925, p. 287.</ref> along with the rest of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, which in 1925 was redesignated the [[1st Destroyer Flotilla]].<ref>Preston, Antony, ''V and W class Destroyers 1917-1945'', London: MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd, 1971, p. 46.</ref> She entered dockyard hands at [[Sheerness]]<ref>"Flotilla Items," ''The Times'' (London, England), Issue 44417, November 1, 1926, p. 24.</ref> in [[England]] on 15 November 1926 for a refit, and recommissioned on 5 April 1927 to resume duty with the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean.<ref>''The Navy List'', February, 1929, p. 286.</ref> She re-commissioned at Devonport on 11 June 1929 for continued service with the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean.<ref>''The Navy List'', July 1931, p. 286.</ref>

''Walrus'' was recommissioned in reserve on 30 November 1932 and transferred to the [[Reserve Fleet (United Kingdom)|Reserve Fleet]], and placed in [[Reserve fleet|reserve]] at Devonport. In 1934 she was moved to [[Rosyth]], Scotland, where she remained in reserve.<ref name="preston57-58"/><ref>''The Navy List'', July 1937, p. 290.</ref>

==Loss==
The Royal Navy decided to convert ''Walrus'' into an [[antiaircraft]] escort, and in February 1938 a [[Tugboat|tug]] took her under tow from Rosyth with a skeleton crew of four men aboard bound for [[Chatham Dockyard]], where she was to undergo the conversion. During the voyage, however, a powerful storm struck the [[North Sea]], and on 12 February 1938 her towline broke in high winds and heavy seas and she was driven ashore on the [[Mascus Rocks]] in North Bay off [[Scarborough, North Yorkshire|Scarborough]], [[England]]. The four men aboard ''Walrus'' made it to shore safely in one of her boats.<ref name="preston57-58"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.teesmouthlifeboat.org.uk/html/jwa_services.html |title=Teesmouth LifeboatSupporters Association: Services of The J.W. Archer at Teesmouth Lifeboat Station |access-date=11 May 2013 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071529/http://www.teesmouthlifeboat.org.uk/html/jwa_services.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Final disposition==
Deemed beyond economical repair, ''Walrus'' was sold to [[Round Brothers]] of [[Sunderland, Tyne and Wear|Sunderland]], England, on 5 March 1938 for scrapping. She was refloated on 29 March 1938 and scrapped in October 1938.<ref name="colledge"/><ref name="preston57-58"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last=Campbell|first=John|title=Naval Weapons of World War II|year=1985|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=0-87021-459-4}}
* {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book |first1=Maurice |last1=Cocker |publisher=Ian Allan |title=Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981 |isbn=0-7110-1075-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2009|isbn=978-1-59114-081-8}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0-85177-245-5|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book|last=Lenton|first=H. T.|author-link=Henry Trevor Lenton|title=British & Empire Warships of the Second World War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1998|isbn=1-55750-048-7}}
* {{cite book|last=March|first=Edgar J.|title=British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans|year=1966|publisher=Seeley Service|location=London |oclc=164893555}}
* {{cite book |last=Preston |first=Antony |title='V & W' Class Destroyers 1917–1945 |publisher=Macdonald |location=London |year=1971 |oclc=464542895}}
* {{cite book |last1=Raven |first1=Alan |last2=Roberts|first2=John |title='V' and 'W' Class Destroyers |publisher=Arms & Armour |location=London |year=1979 |series=Man o'War |volume=2 |isbn=0-85368-233-X|name-list-style=amp }}
* {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Whinney |first=Bob |title=The U-boat Peril: A Fight for Survival |publisher=Cassell |year=2000 |isbn=0-304-35132-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/uboatperilfightf0000whin }}
* {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War 2|publisher=Naval Institute Press|date=1988|isbn=0-87021-326-1|location=Annapolis, Maryland}}
* {{cite book|last=Winser|first=John de D.|title=B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Gravesend, Kent|year=1999|isbn=0-905617-91-6}}

==External links==
* [https://archive.today/20130616101822/http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/items/248796/lantern-slide-w-class-destroyer-hms-walrus-circa-1924 Photo of HMS ''Walrus'' prior to 1924]
* [http://www.the-weatherings.co.uk/pccship0380.htm Photo of HMS ''Walrus'' wrecked in February 1938]

{{V and W class destroyer}}
{{1938 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walrus (D24)}}
[[Category:V and W-class destroyers of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:1917 ships]]
[[Category:World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1938]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of England]]