Lot Essay
Although H.M.S. Zulu was simply one amongst the thirteen destroyers of the first 'Tribal' Class, since the precision of the ships was left to their builders, each vessel within the group was different, some markedly so. Zulu was built on the Tyne in 1909 by Hawthorn Leslie and, like most of the products of that yard, had their usual distinctive funnel tops, parallel to the deck and with prominent cages. Displacing 1,027 tons, she measured 280 feet in length with a 27 foot beam, and was armed with 2-4in. guns and two torpedo tubes. Fitted with Yarrow boilers, her Parsons' turbine engines produced 15,500 h.p. and she was capable of 34 knots under full power. Like her sisters, Zulu had triple screws and was oil-fired even though she only had bunker capacity for 185 tons of fuel.
The 'Tribals' were ordered as ocean-going destroyers but their small radius of action - about 1,500 miles at economical steaming - coupled with their exceptional turn of speed made them far more suitable for coastal work and most were employed in Admiral Bacon's famous 'Dover Patrols' for much of the Great War. Zulu and her consorts were kept fully employed ensuring the safety of the Dover Straits, particularly for the endless troop traffic to and from the Western Front, and some of the most daring fights of the war were fought in that vital piece of sea. Such an action took place during the night of 26/27th October 1916 and amongst the casualties was one of Zulu's sister ships Nubian. Seriously damaged over her bows, she eventually made it into Dover where, whilst awaiting a decision on her repair, news came in that Zulu herself was also in trouble having struck a mine on passage to Dunkirk on 8th November. The mine exploded directly beneath the engine room causing Zulu to break in half; although her stern sank immediately, her fore-part remained afloat and was towed into Calais by the French destroyer 'Captaine Mehl'.
The versatile Admiral Bacon then had a brilliant inspiration and, faced with separate halves of virtually identical destroyers, decided to combine the surviving portions of Zulu and Nubian thereby creating an entirely new vessel for his hard-pressed command. Thus was born H.M.S. Zubian, a hybrid of 1,050 tons, constructed in Chatham Dockyard and completed on 7th June 1917. Luckier than either of her parents, Zubian survived the War only to suffer the breakers yard after the Armistice.
The 'Tribals' were ordered as ocean-going destroyers but their small radius of action - about 1,500 miles at economical steaming - coupled with their exceptional turn of speed made them far more suitable for coastal work and most were employed in Admiral Bacon's famous 'Dover Patrols' for much of the Great War. Zulu and her consorts were kept fully employed ensuring the safety of the Dover Straits, particularly for the endless troop traffic to and from the Western Front, and some of the most daring fights of the war were fought in that vital piece of sea. Such an action took place during the night of 26/27th October 1916 and amongst the casualties was one of Zulu's sister ships Nubian. Seriously damaged over her bows, she eventually made it into Dover where, whilst awaiting a decision on her repair, news came in that Zulu herself was also in trouble having struck a mine on passage to Dunkirk on 8th November. The mine exploded directly beneath the engine room causing Zulu to break in half; although her stern sank immediately, her fore-part remained afloat and was towed into Calais by the French destroyer 'Captaine Mehl'.
The versatile Admiral Bacon then had a brilliant inspiration and, faced with separate halves of virtually identical destroyers, decided to combine the surviving portions of Zulu and Nubian thereby creating an entirely new vessel for his hard-pressed command. Thus was born H.M.S. Zubian, a hybrid of 1,050 tons, constructed in Chatham Dockyard and completed on 7th June 1917. Luckier than either of her parents, Zubian survived the War only to suffer the breakers yard after the Armistice.