HMS Gala

HMS Gala was a Yarrow type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the Gala Waters in the Scottish Borders area south of Edinburgh, she was the first Royal Navy ship to carry this name. She was launched on 7 January and was accidentally sunk in a collision with the cruiser Attentive on 28 April 1908.

History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Gala
Ordered: 1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates
Builder: Yarrows, Poplar
Laid down: 1 February 1904
Launched: 7 January 1905
Commissioned: April 1905
Fate: 27 April 1908 Sunk in collision with HMS Attentive
General characteristics
Class and type: Yarrow Type River-class destroyer[1][2]
Displacement:
  • 590 t (581 long tons) standard
  • 660 t (650 long tons) full load
Length: 231 ft 4 in (70.51 m) o/a
Beam: 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m) beam
Draught: 7 ft 2.5 in (2.197 m) draught
Installed power: 7,000 shp (5,200 kW)
Propulsion:
Speed: 25.5 kn (47.2 km/h)
Range:
  • 130 tons coal
  • 1,620 nmi (3,000 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h)
Complement: 70 officers and men
Armament:
Service record
Part of: East Coast Destroyer Flotilla - 1905

Construction

Gala was laid down on 1 February 1904 at the Yarrow shipyard at Poplar and launched on 7 January 1905. She was completed in April 1905. Her original armament was to be the same as the Turtleback torpedo boat destroyers that preceded her. In 1906 the Admiralty decided to upgrade the armament by landing the five 6-pounder naval guns and shipping three 12-pounder 8 hundredweight (cwt) guns. Two would be mounted abeam at the foc'x'le break and the third gun would be mounted on the quarterdeck.

Pre-war

After commissioning she was assigned to the East Coast Destroyer Flotilla of the 1st Fleet and based at Harwich.

Loss

On the afternoon of 27 April 1908, the Eastern Destroyer Flotilla, consisting of 15 vessels, in company with the scouts Adventure and Attentive , left Harwich for the purpose of firing exercise and night manoeuvres. A little after midnight all the vessels having their lights masked, Gala collided with Attentive being struck by the latter's ram in the after part of the engine room and cut in two. Only one man was killed, Engineer Lieutenant F A Fletcher. Attentive afterwards collided with the destroyer Ribble and holed her below the waterline. She had to put into Sheerness for repairs. While it was attempted to tow the two parts of Gala to shallow water, it was unsuccessful, with both parts sinking.[3][4]

References
  1. Jane, Fred T. (1969) [1905]. Jane’s Fighting Ships 1905/6. New York: first published by Sampson Low Marston, London 1905, reprinted by ARCO Publishing Company. p. 75.
  2. Jane, Fred T. (1990) [1919]. Jane’s Fighting Ships of World War I. Jane’s Publishing. p. 76. ISBN 1 85170 378 0.
  3. "Destroyer Cut In Half". Poverty Bay Herald. 12 June 1908. p. 5.
  4. "A Naval Collision: British Destroyer Sunk". The Gympie Times. 30 April 1908. p. 3.

Bibliography
  • Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J. J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
  • Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  • Manning, T. D. (1961). The British Destroyer. London: Putnam & Co. OCLC 6470051.
  • March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.
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