HMS Douglas
HMS Douglas was an Admiralty type flotilla leader (also known as the Scott-class) of the British Royal Navy. Built by Cammell Laird, Douglas commissioned in 1918, just before the end of the First World War. During the Second World War, Douglas served with Force H out of Gibraltar and as a convoy escort. She was sold for scrap in March 1945. Design and construction In December 1916, the British Admiralty placed orders for two large flotilla leaders, and Douglas from Cammell Laird as a follow on to the prototype of the class, , which had been ordered in April that year. The ship was long between perpendiculars and overall, with a beam of and a draught of . Design displacement was normal and full load. The ship's machinery consisted of four Yarrow boilers that fed steam at to two sets of Parsons single-reduction geared-steam turbines, rated at . This gave a design speed of light, which corresponded to about at full load. Douglas main gun armament consisted of five 4.7 in (120 mm)/45 calibre BL Mark I guns, on CP VI mountings capable of elevating to 30 degrees. These guns could fire a shell to at a rate of 5–6 rounds per minute per gun. 120 rounds per gun were carried. Anti-aircraft armament consisted of a single 3 inch (76 mm) 20 cwt gun. Torpedo armament consisted of six 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes in two triple mounts. Douglas was laid down at Cammell Laird's Birkenhead shipyard on 30 June 1917, launched on 8 June 1918 and commissioned on 30 August 1918. Modifications While Douglas had only limited modifications between the wars, an early change during the Second World War was the replacement of the amidships 4.7-inch gun by two 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom" autocannon, with the aft funnel shortened to improve the field of fire for the 3 inch anti-aircraft gun. Three Oerlikon 20 mm cannon later supplemented the short-range anti-aircraft armament, while a further two Oerlikons finally replaced the 2-pounders. Radar (Type 286, later replaced by Type 290 and Type 271) was fitted during the war, as was HF/DF radio direction-finding gear. Conversion to a short-range escort involved removal of two more 4.7 inch guns and a bank of torpedo tubes, with the forward gun replaced by a Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar, and the aft gun and tubes removed to allow a heavy depth charge armament of 70 charges. Service history On commissioning Douglas joined the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, part of the Dover Patrol, as leader. On 16 September 1918, Douglas boats helped to pick up survivors from the monitor , which was scuttled in Dover harbour following a magazine fire and explosion. In October, Douglas was employed escorting monitors off the Belgian coast, taking part in the bombardment of Ostend on 17 October 1918 and rescuing survivors from when the monitor was mined and sunk off Ostend on 20 October. On 25 October that year Douglas transferred to the Grand Fleet, joining the 11th Destroyer Flotilla at