H.M.S. Tilbury (1918)

H.M.S. Tilbury (1918)
Pendant Number:	G.37 (Sep 1918)^[1]
Builder:	Swan Hunter^[2]
Ordered:	Jun, 1917 (2nd Order)^[3]
Launched:	13 Jun, 1918^[4]
Completed:	17 Sep, 1918^[5]
Commissioned:	17 Sep, 1918^[6]
Sold:

H.M.S. Tilbury was one of sixty-seven "S" class destroyers built for the Royal Navy as the Great War was ending.

Service

The editor possesses a personal diary for A. W. Peake, who served with Tilbury from her commissioning.^[7]

Tilbury was commissioned at Newcastle on 17 September, 1918 and left for Portsmouth on the 20th, anchoring in Yarmouth for the night along the way. She made Portsmouth at 4 p.m. on the 21 September.

The ship spent several days testing her guns and torpedoes outside the harbour. On 1-2 October, she left for Plymouth and thence to Gibraltar, escorting a convoy for part of the journey. She arrived in Gibraltar on the 8th. On the morning of 16th, she escorted Superb, apparently bringing her into the harbour, as she left with her later that day in company with two Japanese destroyers, very likely Sendan and Kanran. Arriving at Malta at 6 p.m. on the 18th of October, Tilbury was placed into dry dock for a single day, which seems curious, given her single month in commission.

On the 19th of October, Tilbury, Superb and the two Japanese destroyers left for Mudros, arriving the 21st. This was perhaps in preparation for the signing of the Armistice of Mudros, which would take place on October 30, ending the war with Austria-Hungary.^[8] On 26 October, she left Mudros for Stavros, just 50 miles or so to the northeast, with 14 destroyers. There, she embarked 480 troops, intending to take them to "Dedeagatch",^[9] but returned to Stavros when a channel appeared to still be mined. She succeeded on the 28th in landing the troops at Dedeagatch by "R lighters".

[TO BE CONTINUED - TONE] ...

On 17 July, 1920, Tilbury departed Malta for Gibraltar. On 21 July, she left that port for England, arriving at Plymouth on the 24th and then leaving for Sheerness and Chatham on the 26th.^[10]

Tilbury was re-commissioned at Chatham on 5 August, 1920.^[11]

Tilbury was re-commissioned with reserve crew on 11 April, 1923.^[12]

Paid off into Maintenance Reserve at Rosyth on 20 February, 1928.^[13]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

Lieutenant-Commander Humphrey M. Robson, 20 August, 1918^[14]^[15] – 12 July, 1920^[16]
Lieutenant Robert B. Wilmot-Sitwell, 6 May, 1920^[17]
Lieutenant-Commander Frederick W. F. Fegen, 10 July, 1920 – 5 August, 1920
Lieutenant-Commander Gerald M. McKenna, 21 July, 1921 – 10 January, 1922
Lieutenant-Commander Alexander M. Donovan, 10 August, 1922^[18]
Lieutenant-Commander Edmund F. FitzGerald, c. March, 1929^[19] – 1 May, 1929^[20] (for passage south)

Footnotes

↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 75.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 85.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 85.
↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 75.
↑ Friedman. British Destroyers. p. 311.
↑ A. W. Peake. Personal diary. unnumbered page.
↑ A. W. Peake. Personal diary. unnumbered pages.
↑ Wikipedia article.
↑ This may be Dedeağaç, Turkey, on the Black Sea coast, though it seems quite distant and there is no mention of passing through the Dardanelles.
↑ A. W. Peake. Personal diary. unnumbered pages.
↑ The Navy List. (January, 1921). p. 875.
↑ The Navy List. (July, 1927). p. 274.
↑ The Navy List. (February, 1929). p. 275.
↑ Robson Service Records. The National Archives. ADM 196/52/55. f. 411.
↑ The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 920a.
↑ Robson Service Records. The National Archives. ADM 196/52/55. f. 411.
↑ The Navy List. (January, 1921). p. 875.
↑ The Navy List. (January, 1923). p. 821.
↑ FitzGerald Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/52/18. f. 370.
↑ FitzGerald Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/52/18. f. 370.