HMS Phoenix (1911)
HMS Phoenix was an of the British Royal Navy. She is named for the mythical bird, and was the fifteenth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She was the only British warship ever to be sunk by the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
Pennant numbers
Design
The Acheron class was an improved version of the which had been built for the Royal Navy under the 1909–1910 shipbuilding programme. Fourteen destroyers were ordered for the Royal Navy to the standard Admiralty design, with six more as 'builder's specials', to the design of specialist destroyer shipyards, later followed by three more high-speed specials and six for Australia.
The Acherons were long overall, with a beam of and a draught of. Displacement was about legend and
Career
At the beginning of the First World War, Phoenix was part of the First Destroyer Flotilla operating in the North Sea. She and her sisters were attached to the Grand Fleet as soon as the war started.
On 16 August 1914, within days of the outbreak of war, the First Destroyer Flotilla engaged an enemy cruiser off the mouth of the Elbe, which is reported with great verve by an author writing under the pseudonym "Clinker Knocker" in 1938:
She was present with First Destroyer Flotilla on 28 August 1914 at the Battle of Heligoland Bight, led by the light cruiser Fearless. Phoenix suffered one man wounded during the action
On 24 January 1915 Phoenix took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank, and her crew shared in the Prize Money for the German armoured cruiser Blücher.
Phoenix was not present with her flotilla at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916.
HMAT ''Ballarat''
Phoenix was escorting the Australian troopship Ballarat when she was attacked by a German submarine on Anzac Day 1917 in the English Channel. Although efforts were made to tow Ballarat to shallow water, she sank off The Lizard the following morning. No people died of the 1,752 souls on board, a striking testament to the calmness and discipline of the troops.
Mediterranean Service
In September 1917, Phoenix transferred to the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla which was operating in the Mediterranean. This posting was to be her last.
Loss
At 9:18 on 14 May 1918, while patrolling the Otranto Barrage, the Phoenix was torpedoed amidships by the Austro-Hungarian submarine, at position. HMAS Warrego made an unsuccessful attempt to tow her to Valona, but she sank within sight of the port at 13:10 in position. The crew had been taken off before she capsized, and there were only two fatalities.