HMS Valhalla (1917)

HMS Valhalla was an Admiralty V-class flotilla leader built for the Royal Navy. She was named after the home of the Norse gods. She was one of 2 destroyers ordered in July 1916 from Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead under the 9th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Program of 1916–17.

Valhalla in 1921
History
United Kingdom
Name	Valhalla
Namesake	Valhalla
Owner	Royal Navy
Ordered	July 1916
Builder	Cammell Laird & Company
Laid down	8 August 1916
Launched	22 May 1917
Commissioned	31 July 1917
Stricken	1931
Fate	Sold for scrap, 17 December 1931
General characteristics
Class and type	Admiralty V-class flotilla leader
Displacement	1339 tons
Length	312 ft (95 m)
Beam	29.5 ft (9.0 m)
Draught	9 ft (2.7 m), 11.25 ft (3.43 m) under full load
Installed power	27,000 shp (20,000 kW)
Propulsion	3 Yarrow-type water tube boilers 2 Parsons geared steam turbines 2 shafts
Speed	34 knots
Range	3500 nautical miles at 15 knots
Complement	115
Armament	4 × QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk V L/45 guns 1 QF 3-inch (76.20 mm)20 cwt anti-aircraft gun 4 × 21-inch torpedo tubes

Construction

Valhalla's keel was laid on 8 August 1916 at the Cammell Laird Shipyard in Birkenhead. She was launched on 22 May 1917. She was 312 feet overall, with a beam of 29.5 feet. Her mean draught was 9 feet and would reach 11.25 feet under full load. She had a displacement of 1,339 tons.

She was propelled by three Yarrow-type water tube boilers powering Parsons geared steam turbines developing 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) and driving two screws for a maximum designed speed of 34 knots. She was oil-fired and had a bunkerage of 320 to 370 tons. This gave a range of 3,500 nautical miles at 15 knots.

She was armed with 4 QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk V L/45 guns in four single centre-line turrets. The turrets were disposed of as two forward and two aft in superimposed firing positions. She also carried one QF 3-inch (76 mm) 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun aft of the second funnel. Aft of the 3-inch gun, she carried four 21-inch torpedo tubes mounted in pairs on the centre line.

History

Valhalla was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 31 July 1917. She was deployed in home waters until the end of World War I. In reorganising the Royal Navy, she was assigned to the 6th Destroyer Flotilla assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and given the pennant number D44. In the late 1920s, she was placed in reserve at Rosyth.

Disposition

In 1931 she was stricken from the active list and scrapped.

Bibliography

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• Cocker, Maurice (1981). Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1075-7.
• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: 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. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.
• Preston, Antony (1985). "Great Britain and Empire Forces". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 1–104. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Preston, Antony (1971). 'V & W' Class Destroyers 1917–1945. London: Macdonald. OCLC 464542895.
• Raven, Alan & Roberts, John (1979). 'V' and 'W' Class Destroyers. Man o'War. Vol. 2. London: Arms & Armour. ISBN 0-85368-233-X.