HMS Bulldog was one of sixteen destroyers ordered under the 1908- 09 Naval Estimates from John Brown & Company of Clydebank. Named for the English bulldog, she was the fifth ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1782 for a 16-gun Sloop broken in 1829.[2] The destroyers of the 1908-09 program would be the last coal-fired destroyers of the Royal Navy. She and her sisters served in the First Destroyer Flotilla then were moved en masse to the Third Destroyer Flotilla and before the start of the Great War to the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla. With the advent of the convoy system they were moved to the Second Destroyer Flotilla. With the Armistice she was laid up then scrapped in 1920.
Construction and design
Laid down as Yard No 388 on 30 March 1909 at the John Brown & Company's shipyard at Clydebank she was launched on 13 November 1909. During her 8-hour trials she averaged 27 knots.[3]
Service
She was commissioned on 7 July 1910 for service with the First Destroyer Flotilla of the First Division of the Home Fleet tendered to HMS Blake.[4] In March 1911 she cruised to Norway arriving at Trondheim on 6 March. By 1 May 1912 she was assigned to the Third Destroyer Flotilla tendered to HMS Blenheim[5]
On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyer classes were to be designated by alpha characters starting with the letter ‘A’. After 30 September 1913, she was known as a G-class destroyer and had the letter ‘G’ painted on her hull below the bridge area and on her fore funnel[6]
In October 1913 as the L-class destroyers came on line the entire G-class was moved to the newly formed Fifth Destroyer Flotilla along with HMS Blenheim and sent to the Mediterranean and based at Malta[7]
On 9 August, HMS Beagle and HMS Bulldog joined the 1st Division at Port Vathi on the Island of Ithaca off the west coast of Greece. The units of the 1st Division were short of coal and were awaiting the arrival of a collier. After coaling, the ten destroyers were ordered to establish a patrol line in the Aegean Sea off the Dardanelles thereby blockading the German ships there.
In November 1914 HMS Bulldog was one of the first eight G-class destroyers recalled from the Mediterranean Fleet and assigned to the Portsmouth Local Flotilla. The destroyers, now known by their nickname the ‘Mediterranean Beagles’, were recalled with the idea of forming the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla for operations up to and including a landing on the Flanders Coast. However, with the Russians urging the British to bring pressure on the Turks and relieve the offensive in the Caucasus these eight ‘Beagles’ were returned to the Mediterranean Fleet for the Dardanelles campaign in March. By March 1915 she deployed with the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla to the Dardanelles.
On 16 April 1916 while on G Patrol off the mouth of the Dardanelles, she struck a contact mine off Gallipoli. She was badly damaged aft and suffered the loss of one officer and six men. She was towed to Mudros, then to Malta for repairs. She returned to the G Patrol on 4 December.
In mid-1917 as the convoy system was being introduced, the Admiralty began reassigning older destroyers to escort duties. She was recalled to Home Waters and assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla now based at Buncrana, Ireland on Lough Swilly in October 1917.[8] Equipped with depth charges she was employed for anti-submarine patrols and as a convoy escort for the North West Approaches to the British Isles for the remainder of the war.
Disposition
In February 1919 with the disbandment of the Second Destroyer Flotilla she was withdrawn from active service and laid up in reserve at the Nore.[9] In April 1920 she was placed on the disposal list.[10] She was sold on 21 September 1920 to Thos. W. Ward of Sheffield for breaking at Rainham, Kent, on Thames Estuary.
References
Notes
Ship Class name - Official Class designation for all Royal Navy vessels will be as listed on Navy Lists issued by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London. No class designation for any destroyer is listed on any Navy List up to and including the September 1913 Navy List. On the prior Navy Lists HMS Bulldog is simply listed as ‘Torpedo Boat Destroyer’. On the October 1913 Quarterly Navy List she is listed as a 'G' Class destroyer. Jane's Fighting Ships 1914 states that she was previously a Basilisk Class Destroyer.
On 1 April 1914 the term ‘Lieutenant & Commander’ was changed to ‘Lieutenant in Command’ to avoid confusion with the new rank of Lieutenant-Commander. All officers appointed under the old term were automatically changed to the new term on 1 April 1914. Rank stated in Commanding Officer's table will be that held on the date of the appointment.
^Jane, Fred T. (1969). Jane's Fighting Ships 1914. New York: first published by Sampson Low Marston, London 1914, Reprinted ARCO Publishing Company. p. 82.
^J.J. Colledge (2010). Ships of the Royal Navy. Casemate, Philadelphia & Newbury. p. Section B (Bulldog). ISBN978-1-61200-0275.
