HMS Archer (1911)

HMS Archer
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Archer
Builder	Yarrow & Company, Scotstoun
Yard number	1296
Launched	21 October 1911
Fate	Sold 1921
General characteristics
Class and type	Acheron-class destroyer
Displacement	770 tons
Length	75 m (246 ft)
Beam	7.9 m (26 ft)
Draught	2.6 m (8.5 ft)
Propulsion	Brown-Curtis turbines Three Yarrow boilers (oil fired) 16,000 shp
Speed	31 kn (57 km/h)
Complement	70
Armament	2 × BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) L/40 Mark VIII guns, mounting P Mark V 2 × QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun, mounting P Mark I 2 × single tubes for 21 inch (533 mm) torpedoes

Destroyers of the Harwich Flotilla

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Archer.

HMS Archer was an Acheron-class destroyer built in 1911, which served during the First World War and was sold in 1921. She was the fourth ship of the name to serve in the Royal Navy.

Construction

She was laid down at the Yarrow & Company yard in Scotstoun, Glasgow, and was launched on 21 October 1911.

Archer and Attack used steam at higher pressures than the other Acheron-class destroyers and consequently were faster than the standard Admiralty-designed members of their class. Achieving 31 knots (57 km/h) on trials, she carried two 4-inch (102 mm) guns, other smaller guns and 21-inch (530 mm) torpedo tubes and had a complement of 70 men.

Pennant numbers

Pennant Number	From	To
H10	6 December 1914	1 September 1915
H29	1 September 1915	1 January 1918
H06	1 January 1918	Sold 9 May 1921

Career

As part of the First Destroyer Flotilla, she was attached to the Grand Fleet in August 1914, and then to the Third Battle Squadron from the spring of 1916.

Battle of Heligoland Bight

As part of the Harwich Force, the First Destroyer Flotilla took part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914.

Mediterranean service

From 1917 the Third Battle Squadron was deployed to the Mediterranean. Archer was present at the entry of the Allied fleet through the Dardanelles on 12 November 1918.

Disposal

She was sold to Ward on 9 May 1921 for breaking.

HMS Archer in fiction

In Out of Time, a J D Stanton Mystery by Alton Gansky, the First World War Archer forms the scene of an adventure in which three adults and five teenagers find themselves lost in time after a storm at sea.

References

• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• 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. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)