View source for HMS Zubian

{{Short description|1917 destroyer from Britain}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Good article}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image               = HMS Zubian.jpg
| Ship caption             = HMS ''Zubian''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header              =
| Ship country             = United Kingdom
| Ship flag                = [[Image:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|60px|RN Ensign]]
| Ship name                = HMS ''Zubian''
| Ship owner               =
| Ship namesake            =
| Ship ordered             =
| Ship builder             = [[Chatham Dockyard]]
| Ship laid down           =
| Ship launched            =
| Ship acquired            =
| Ship commissioned        = 7 June 1917
| Ship decommissioned      =
| Ship in service          =
| Ship out of service      =
| Ship struck              =
| Ship reinstated          =
| Ship honours             =
| Ship fate                = Scrapped 9 December 1919
| Ship notes               =
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header =
| Header caption =
| Ship class = {{sclass2|Tribal|destroyer (1905)|0}} [[destroyer]]
| Ship displacement = {{convert|1040|MT|abbr=on}}
| Ship length = {{convert|85.4|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|8.2|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship draught = {{convert|3|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship power =*6 [[Thornycroft boiler]]s
* {{convert|14000|shp|abbr=on|lk=in}}
| Ship propulsion = 3 [[Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company|Parsons]] [[steam turbine]]s
| Ship speed = {{convert|33|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}}
| Ship range =
| Ship complement = 68
| Ship armament =*2 × [[QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun|QF 4-inch Mk V guns]]
* 2 × [[British 18 inch torpedo|18 inch (450 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
| Ship notes =
}}
|}
'''HMS ''Zubian''''' was a [[First World War]] [[Royal Navy]] {{sclass2|Tribal|destroyer (1905)|0}} [[destroyer]] constructed from the forward end of {{HMS|Zulu|1909|6}} and the rear and mid sections of {{HMS|Nubian|1909|6}}. These two destroyers had been badly damaged in late 1916, and rather than scrapping both hulls at the height of World War I, the Admiralty ordered that they be rebuilt as the composite ''Zubian'' and put back into service. She was commissioned into the fleet in June 1917. The name ''Zubian'' is a [[portmanteau]] of the names of the original ships.<ref>Dilke, p. 714</ref>

''Zubian'' saw extensive service in the final two years of the war as part of the [[Dover Patrol]]. She sank the German [[U-boat]] {{SMU|UC-50||2}} in February 1918, while she was on patrol in the [[English Channel]]. In late April, she participated in the [[First Ostend Raid]] as an escort for the bombardment force. After the war, ''Zubian'' was sold for scrap and broken up by December 1919.

==Design==
{{main|Tribal-class destroyer (1905)}}

''Zubian'' was {{convert|85.4|m}} [[length overall|long overall]], with a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|8.2|m|abbr=on}} and a [[draft (hull)|draught]] of {{convert|3|m|abbr=on}}. She displaced {{convert|1040|LT|lk=on}}. The ship's propulsion system consisted of three [[Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company|Parsons]] [[steam turbine]]s, which were powered by six oil-fired [[Thornycroft boiler]]s. These provided {{convert|14000|shp|lk=on}} and a top speed of {{convert|33|kn|lk=in}}. She was armed with two [[QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun|QF 4-inch Mk V guns]] and two [[British 18 inch torpedo|18-inch (450 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s. One gun was mounted on the [[forecastle]] and the other on the stern, with the two torpedo tubes [[amidships]]. Her crew numbered 68&nbsp;officers and [[naval rating|ratings]].<ref name=GG71/>

==Service history==
[[File:HMSNubian.jpg|thumb|upright|left|''Nubian'' with bow blown off and aground in 1916]]
In late 1916, two British destroyers of the 6th Flotilla in the [[Dover Patrol]]—{{HMS|Nubian|1909|2}} and {{HMS|Zulu|1909|2}}—were badly damaged by German attacks in the [[English Channel]]. ''Nubian''{{'}}s bow had been destroyed by a [[torpedo]] from a German [[torpedo boat]] on 27 October in the [[Battle of Dover Strait (1916)|Battle of Dover Strait]], while ''Zulu'' had her stern blown off by a mine in the Channel on 8 November, and was towed to [[Calais]].{{sfn|Henshaw|2020|p=27}} Both wrecks were then towed to [[Chatham Dockyard]], where a complete destroyer was constructed by joining the foreparts of ''Zulu'' with the stern of ''Nubian'',<ref>Ravenscroft, p. 429</ref> and despite a {{convert|3.5|in|mm}} difference in [[beam (ship)|beam]],<ref name=GG71>Gardiner & Gray, p. 71</ref> the unique operation was successful.<ref>van der Vat, p. 91</ref> The ship was renamed ''Zubian'' by Admiral [[Reginald Bacon]], the commander of the Dover Patrol.<ref>''Sea History'', p. 61</ref> The hybrid destroyer was commissioned on 7 June 1917.<ref name=GG72/> The choice of name caused confusion among the [[German Imperial Admiralty Staff]], who knew of no such ship under construction.<ref>''The Nautical Gazette'', p. 62</ref>

''Zubian'' joined the 6th Flotilla and served there until the end of the war.<ref>Bacon, p. 13</ref> During this period, ''Zubian'' and the rest of the Flotilla rotated through nighttime patrols of the [[Dover Strait]] in groups of four, supported by [[flotilla leader]]s; these patrols were intended to catch German [[torpedo boat]]s that were conducting night bombardments of Allied positions in the Channel.<ref>Bacon, p. 45</ref> While in the Dover Strait on 4 February 1918, she encountered the mine-laying [[U-boat]] {{SMU|UC-50||2}}, which was surfaced about {{convert|400|yd}} off ''Zubian''{{'}}s port bow with her radio antennae up. ''Zubian'' attempted to ram the submarine but the Germans managed to submerge. The destroyer then dropped [[depth charge]]s over the submerged U-boat and a significant amount of oil and wreckage was observed thereafter. ''Zubian'' marked the location with a buoy and an hour later, the patrol vessel {{HMS|P12}} dropped additional depth charges there. Trawlers later located an object that divers confirmed was ''UC-50''.<ref>Messimer (2002), p. 290</ref>

''Zubian'' also participated in the [[First Ostend Raid]] two months later on the night of 23–24 April. The attack was intended to close the German-held ports of [[Ostend]] and [[Zeebrugge]], which were being used as bases for the U-boats.<ref>Carpenter, pp. 17–18</ref> ''Zubian'' was assigned to the bombardment force, and along with the destroyers {{HMS|Mentor|1914|2}} and {{HMS|Lightfoot|1915|2}}, provided the close escort for a group of six [[monitor (warship)|monitors]]. The bombardment unit was covered by the [[Harwich Force]] in the Channel.<ref>Carpenter, p. 270</ref> The bombardment force was tasked with suppressing the German coastal defences,<ref>Messimer (2001), p. 173</ref> while a pair of old cruisers attempted to steam into the harbour entrances, where they would be sunk as [[blockship]]s. The effort failed when both cruisers ran aground far outside of the harbour.<ref>Messimer (2001), p. 175</ref>

Worn out by heavy wartime use, ''Zubian'' was sold in the immediate post-war draw down and broken up for scrap by December 1919.<ref name=GG72>Gardiner & Gray, p. 72</ref>
{{clear}}

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|colwidth=25em}}

==References==
* {{cite book|last=Bacon|first=Reginald, Sir|title=The Dover Patrol 1915–1917|volume=II|publisher=George H. Doran company|location=New York|year=1919|oclc=1136826}}
* {{cite book|last=Carpenter|first=Alfred Francis Blakeney|title=The Blocking of Zeebrugge|url=https://archive.org/details/blockingofzeebru01carp|location=New York|publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]]|year=1922|oclc=648562}}
* {{cite journal|last=Dilke|first=Alexander|title=Secrets Behind the Names That Sail the Seas|journal=[[The War Illustrated]]|date=29 March 1945|volume=8|number=208|url=http://www.thewarillustrated.info/203/secrets-behind-the-names-that-sail-the-seas.asp|access-date=4 March 2008|archive-date=3 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080403094430/http://www.thewarillustrated.info/203/secrets-behind-the-names-that-sail-the-seas.asp|url-status=usurped}}
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|location=Annapolis|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0-87021-907-3 | url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_z3o0}}
*{{cite book|last=Henshaw|first=John | title = V & W Destroyers: A Developmental History|year=2020| publisher = Seaforth Publishing| isbn= 9781526774859 }}
* {{cite book|last=Messimer|first=Dwight R.|title=Find and Destroy: Antisubmarine Warfare in World War I|year=2001|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis|isbn= 1-55750-447-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Messimer|first=Dwight R.|title=Verschollen: World War I U-boat Losses|year=2002|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis|isbn=155750475X}}
* {{cite journal|editor-last=Ravenscroft|editor-first=G. M.|title=Professional Notes: Great Britain|journal=United States Naval Institute Proceedings|volume=45 |issue=193|location=Annapolis|publisher=United States Naval Institute|date=March 1919|pages=426–437}}
* {{cite journal|journal=Sea History|publisher=National Maritime Historical Society|year=1983|oclc=3064427}}
* {{cite journal|journal=The Nautical Gazette|publisher=The Gazette|location=New York|year=1944|oclc=6410316}}
* {{cite book|last=van der Vat|first=Dan|title=The Grand Scuttle: The Sinking of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow 1919|location=Edinburgh|publisher=Birlinn|year=1997|isbn=1874744823}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book|last1=Dittmar|first1=F.J.|last2=Colledge|first2=J. J.|title=British Warships 1914–1919|year=1972|publisher=Ian Allan|location=Shepperton, UK|isbn=0-7110-0380-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War|year=2009|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=978-1-84832-049-9|author-link=Norman Friedman}}
* {{cite book|last=Manning|first=T. D.|title=The British Destroyer|year=1961|publisher=Putnam & Co.|location=London|oclc= 6470051}}
* {{cite book|last=March|first=Edgar J.|title=British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans|year=1966|publisher=Seeley Service|location=London |oclc=164893555}}

{{Tribal class destroyer (1905)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zubian}}
[[Category:Tribal-class destroyers (1905)]]
[[Category:Ships built in Chatham]]
[[Category:1917 ships]]
[[Category:World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Royal Navy ship names]]