HMS Ambuscade (1913)

HMS "Ambuscade" was an of the Royal Navy and was launched in 1913. She served throughout the First World War, forming part of the Grand Fleet and taking part at the Battle of Jutland, serving in the Dover Patrol and spending the latter part of the war as a convoy escort. She was sold for scrapping in 1921.
Construction.
"Ambuscade" was one of three s ordered from John Brown &amp; Company of Clydebank as part of the 1911–1912 shipbuilding programme for the Royal Navy. In all, 20 "Acasta"-class ships were ordered as part of this programme, of which 12, including "Ambuscade", were to the standard Admiralty design with the other eight ships to their builder's own designs. She was laid down, as yard number 411, on 7 March 1912 and launched on 25 January 1913. In 1912, as part of a general reorganisation of the Royal Navy's destroyers into alphabetical classes, the "Acasta"s became the K class, and in 1913, it was decided to switch to names beginning with the class letter, with "Ambuscade" being allocated the name "Keith", but this plan was abandoned for the class and "Ambuscade" completed under her original name in June 1913.
"Ambuscade" was long between perpendiculars and overall, with a beam of and a draught of . Displacement was normal and deep load. Four Yarrow boilers fed steam to direct drive Brown-Curtis steam turbines rated at and driving two shafts. This gave a speed of . The ships had a crew of 73 officers and ratings.
The ship's main gun armament consisted of three BL Mk VIII guns, with 120 rounds of ammunition carried per gun. Two torpedo tubes were fitted, while two reload torpedoes could be carried. The ship was fitted with a 2-pounder "pom-pom" anti-aircraft autocannon during the First World War, while in 1918 the torpedo tubes (and possibly one of the 4-inch guns) was removed to allow a heavy depth charge armament to be carried.
Service.
On commissioning, "Ambuscade", with her sister ships, joined the 4th Destroyer Flotilla of the Royal Navy Home Fleet, based at Portsmouth. On the outbreak of the First World War, the 4th Flotilla, including "Ambuscade", became part of the Grand Fleet.
On 15 December 1914, German battlecruisers, supported by the battleships of the main German High Seas Fleet set out on a raid against the coastal towns of Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool, with the intent of drawing out units of the British Grand Fleet, where they could be engaged by the battleships of the High Seas Fleet. The British, aware from radio intercepts that the Germans were planning a raid with their battlecruisers (but not that they were supported by the whole of the High Seas Fleet), sent out the battlecruiser squadron under Vice Admiral David Beatty with four battlecruisers and the Second Battle Squadron, commanded by Vice Admiral Sir George Warrender, with six battleships, to oppose the raid. "Ambuscade" was one of seven destroyers that sailed in support of the British battlecruiser squadron. At 05:15 on 16 December, the lead ship of the British destroyers, , spotted a German destroyer, (part of the screen of the High Seas Fleet) and set off with the other destroyers in pursuit of the German ship. In a brief exchange of fire, "V155" hit "Lynx" twice, with "Lynx" turning away due to a jammed propeller, and then hit "Ambuscade" once below the waterline, forcing her to drop out of line with heavy flooding. Clashes between the British destroyers and the destroyers and cruisers of the High Seas Fleet's screen continued, causing further serious damage to "Lynx" and to , but the encounters caused Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl, fearing that the whole Grand Fleet was at sea, to withdraw.
On 21 April 1916, the Grand Fleet sailed on a sortie where it would patrol off the Danish coast with the intention of distracting German attention from Russian minelaying operations in the Baltic Sea. Heavy fog was encountered, however, and "Ambuscade" was involved in a collision with the destroyers and "Hardy", with "Ardent" being damaged severely enough that she had to be towed stern first back to port, while collisions also occurred between the battlecruisers and , and between the battleship and a neutral merchant ship.
"Ambuscade" took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May/1 June 1916, sailing under the command of Commander Gordon A. Coles as one of 19 ships of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla in support of the Grand Fleet. During the fleet action on the evening of 31 May, the 4th Flotilla was deployed on the port side of the battleships of the Grand Fleet, on the unengaged side. During the night, the 4th Flotilla, including "Ambuscade", took part in a series of attacks against the escaping German fleet. In the first attack (at about 23:30 hr), the flotilla encountered German battleships and cruisers, with the flotilla leader being badly damaged by German shells (mainly from the battleship ) and later sinking, while collided with the German battleship and the German cruiser was rammed by the battleship , with "Elbing" later being scuttled. None of the nine torpedoes fired by the 4th Flotilla in that attack hit. Shortly afterwards (about 23:50), the flotilla, now led by again encountered the same group of battleships and cruisers. "Broke" was badly damaged by fire from the cruiser and "Westfalen", and collided with the destroyer , which was also rammed by and was later scuttled. "Rostock" was hit by a single torpedo, fired by "Ambuscade" or "Contest", and was also later scuttled. At about 00:10 hr, a third attack was made, with being sunk and being damaged, with none of the five torpedoes fired by the British destroyers, including "Ambuscade"s last, striking home. By now, the flotilla had completely split up, but was to lose a fourth ship when "Ardent", mistaking the German ships for British ships, was sunk by fire from German battleships.
The 4th Flotilla, including "Ambuscade", left the Grand Fleet and moved to the Humber in July 1916, with the role of protecting British minesweepers and deterring German minelayers off the East coast of England. Late in the year, in a response to the Battle of Dover Strait, where a raid by German torpedo boats on the Dover Strait resulted in the loss of the destroyer , several drifters, it was decided to strengthen British naval forces in the English Channel. The 4th Flotilla was transferred to Portsmouth for anti-submarine operations while "Ambuscade" was one of five destroyers that were transferred from the 4th to the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, part of the Dover Patrol, to reinforce the defences of the Dover Strait. "Ambuscade" joined the 6th Flotilla on 21 November 1916. On the night of 25/26 February 1917, German torpedo boats attempted another raid against the Dover Barrage and Allied shipping in the Dover Straits, with one flotilla attacking the Barrage and a half flotilla of torpedo boats operating off the Kent coast. "Ambuscade" was one of a group of destroyers and cruisers protecting shipping anchored in the Downs. The German force sent against the Downs was spotted near the north entrance to the Downs, prior to shelling Margate and Westgate-on-Sea. While the division of ships including "Ambuscade" sortied against this force, they did not manage to find the German force. The southern German force withdrew following an exchange of gunfire with the destroyer . "Ambuscade" was again part of the force protecting the Downs when the Germans raided again on the night of 17/18 March 1917. Again, the German plan involved multiple attacks, against the Dover Barrage and off the Kent coast. The destroyer was sunk during the German attack against the Barrage, with being torpedoed but surviving when investigating the attack. The northern German force torpedoed and sunk a merchant ship () anchored outside the entrance to the Downs, and then shelled Ramsgate and Broadstairs before withdrawing. They were spotted by the British torpedo boat which signaled for help, summoning the naval force protecting the Downs, including "Ambuscade", but again the German force managed to escape without being engaged.
On 4 April 1917 "Ambuscade" left the 6th Flotilla, rejoining the 4th Flotilla, now based at Devonport and employed on convoy escort duties. On 14 May 1918, "Ambuscade", on patrol with and , detected a possible submarine contact with her hydrophone. She and "Cockatrice" attacked with depth charges with no apparent result. "Ambuscade" was still part of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla in August 1918, but by the end of the war had joined the Northern Patrol Force based at Dundee. By June 1919, "Ambuscade" had been reduced to reserve at Devonport.
Disposal.
She was sold for scrap to Petersen &amp; Albeck of Denmark on 6 September 1921.