'Medea'-class destroyer
Class overview
Builders
Operators Royal Navy
Built1914–1915
In commission1915–1921
Completed4
Lost1
General characteristics
TypeDestroyer
Displacement1,040 long tons (1,060 t)
Length273 ft 6 in (83.4 m)
Beam26 ft 6 in (8.1 m)
Draught10 ft 6 in (3.2 m)
Installed power
Propulsion3 shafts; steam turbines
Speed32 kn (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Complement80
Armament

The Medea class were a class of destroyers that were being built for the Greek Navy at the outbreak of World War I but were taken over and completed for the Royal Navy for wartime service. All were named after characters from Greek mythology as result of their Greek heritage.

The Medeas were a private design roughly similar to their various Royal Navy M-class contemporaries. They had three funnels, the foremost of which was taller, and unusually, the mainmast was taller than the foremast, giving rise to a distinctive appearance. They shipped three single QF 4 inch guns, one on the forecastle, one between the first two funnels and the third on the quarterdeck.

Ships

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Name Ship Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate
Medea (ex-Kriti) John Brown & Company, Clydebank 8 April 1914 30 January 1915 May 1915 Sold for breaking up, 9 May 1921
Medusa (ex-Lesbos) John Brown, Clydebank 1914 27 March 1915 1915 Rammed and sunk by HMS Laverock off of Schleswig, 25 March 1916
Melampus (ex-Chios) Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan 1914 16 December 1914 29 June 1915 Sold for breaking up, 22 September 1921
Melpomene (ex-Samos) Fairfield, Govan 1914 1 February 1915 16 August 1915, Sold for breaking up, 9 May 1921

Bibliography

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  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben & Bush, Steve (2020). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (5th revised and updated ed.). Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-9327-0.
  • Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-081-8.
  • March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.
  • Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981, Maurice Cocker, 1983, Ian Allan ISBN 0-7110-1075-7
  • Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919, Jane's Publishing
  • Preston, Antony (1985). "Great Britain and Empire Forces". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Naval Institute Press. pp. 1–104. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.