HMS Thracian (1920)

300px HMS Thracian in 1941
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Thracian (D86)
Ordered:	1915
Builder:	Hawthorn Leslie and Company Sheerness Dockyard
Laid down:	17 January 1918
Launched:	5 March 1920
Commissioned:	1 April 1922
Fate:	Agrounded on 25 December 1941 at Aberdeen, Hong Kong
General characteristics HMS Thracian
Class & type:	S-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,075 long tons (1,092 t)
Length:	276 ft (84 m) o/a
Beam:	26 ft 8 in (8.13 m)
Draught:	9 ft (2.7 m)
Installed power:	27,000 shp (20,000 kW) 3 × Yarrow boilers
Propulsion:	2 Shafts; 2 steam turbines
Speed:	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range:	2,750 nmi (5,090 km; 3,160 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	90
Armament:	3 × QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mark IV guns 1 × QF 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft gun 2 × twin 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 2 × single 18-inch (45 cm) torpedo tubes
Japan
Name:	Patrol Boat No. 101 (第101号哨戒艇, Dai-101-Gō Shōkaitei)
Builder:	Navy 2nd Construction Department at Hong Kong
Acquired:	1942
Commissioned:	1 October 1942
Decommissioned:	1945
In service:	1942-1945
Renamed:	15 March 1944 Special Training Ship No. 1 (特第1号練習艇, Toku Dai-1-Gō Renshūtei)
Reclassified:	Training ship, 15 March 1944
Reinstated:	Returned to Royal Navy in October 1945
Fate:	Scrapped, February 1946
General characteristics Patrol Boat No.101
Class & type:	Patrol boat/Training ship
Displacement:	1,150 long tons (1,168 t) standard
Length:	80.79 m (265 ft 1 in) Lpp
Beam:	8.17 m (26 ft 10 in)
Draft:	3.01 m (9 ft 11 in)
Propulsion:	2 × Brown-Curtis turbines, 3 × Yarrow water tube boilers, 2 shafts, 10,000 shp
Speed:	25 knots (29 mph; 46 km/h)
Complement:	December 1943 119 March 1944 113
Sensors and processing systems:	Mk. 23 gunfire control radar (1944)
Armament:	25 November 1942 3 × QF Mark IV guns 15 March 1944 4 × Type 92 610 mm TTs 2 × 6th Year Type 533 mm TTs 2 × Type 93 13 mm AA guns 1 × Type 94 depth charge thrower 10 × Type 95 depth charges

HMS Thracian was an S-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the First World War.

Description

The S-class destroyers were improved versions of the preceding Modified R class. They displaced 1,075 long tons (1,092 t). The ships had an overall length of 276 feet (84.1 m), a beam of 26 feet 8 inches (8.1 m) and a draught of 9 feet (2.7 m). They were powered by two Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Yarrow boilers. The turbines developed a total of 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). The ships carried a maximum of 301 long tons (306 t) of fuel oil that gave them a range of 2,750 nautical miles (5,090 km; 3,160 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ships' complement was 90 officers and ratings.

Thracian was armed with three QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mark IV guns in single mounts and a single 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft gun. The ship was fitted with two twin mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes. Two additional single mounts were positioned abreast the bridge at the break of the forecastle for 18-inch (45 cm) torpedoes. All torpedo tubes were above water and traversed to fire.

Construction and career

HMS Thracian was laid down on 17 January 1918 at Hawthorn Leslie and Company, launched on 5 March 1920 and completed at Sheerness Dockyard on 1 April 1922. The ship was run aground and scuttled at Hong Kong on 25 December 1941, later captured by the Imperial Japanese Army.

Imperial Japanese Navy service (1942 – 1945)

File:Japanese patrol boat PB101 in 1942.jpg

IJN Patrol Boat No. 101 in 1942

File:Japanese patrol boat 101 in 1945.jpg

IJN Special Training Ship No. 1 in 1945

• 1 October 1942: Registered to naval ship list in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and classification to the Special service ship (Patrol boat). Renamed

Patrol Boat No. 101.

• 25 November 1942: Repairs were completed by the Navy 2nd Construction Department, and assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District.
• (after): She spent her time on convoy escort operations in the Yokosuka Area.
• 15 August 1943: Assigned to the Torpedo warfare school (Yokosuka).
• 15 March 1944: Classification to the miscellaneous ship (Training ship), and renamed Special Training Ship No. 1. She was used for a test bed of the new weapons.
• 15 August 1945: Survived war at Yokosuka.
• October 1945: Returned to Royal Navy.
• February 1946: Scrapped at Hong Kong.

Further reading

• Rekishi Gunzō, History of Pacific War Vol.45, Truth histories of the Imperial Japanese Naval Vessels, Gakken (Japanese publisher), May 2004, ISBN 4-05-603412-5.
• Ships of the World, special issue Vol.45, Escort Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy, , (Japan), 1996.
• The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.49, "Japanese submarine chasers and patrol boats", (Japan), 1981.