Medea-class destroyer

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.

'Medea'-class destroyer
Class overview
Builders	John Brown & Company Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
Operators	Royal Navy
Built	1914–1915
In commission	1915–1921
Completed	4
Lost	1
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	1,040 long tons (1,060 t)
Length	273 ft 6 in (83.36 m)
Beam	26 ft 6 in (8.08 m)
Draught	10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Propulsion	Yarrow-type water-tube boilers Brown-Curtis steam turbines 3 shafts 25,000 shp
Speed	32 knots (37 mph; 59 km/h)
Endurance	270 tons oil
Complement	80
Armament	3 × QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mark IV guns, single mounting P Mk. IX 1 × QF 2 pdr Mk.II, single mounting HA Mk.I 2 × twin 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

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

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)	Fairfields, Govan	1914	1 February 1915	16 August 1915,	Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921.

Bibliography

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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