HMS Badger (1911)

HMS Badger was an Acheron-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that served during the First World War and was sold for breaking in 1921. She was the eighth Royal Navy ship to be named Badger, after the mammal of the same name.

Construction
She was built under the 1910-11 shipbuilding programme by William Denny & Brothers of Dumbarton and was launched on 11 July 1911. She and her sister-ship Beaver were completed with geared steam turbines for evaluation purposes and were known as "Parsons Specials".

Pre-war
Badger served with the First Destroyer Flotilla from 1911 and, with her flotilla, joined the British Grand Fleet in 1914 on the outbreak of the First World War.

The Battle of Heligoland Bight
She was present on 28 August 1914 at the Battle of Heligoland Bight, detached from the First Destroyer Flotilla along with Jackal, Beaver and Sandfly. She shared in the prize money for the engagement.

The Ramming of U-19
On 24 October 1914 she became the first Allied ship to successfully attack a German Navy U-boat when she rammed SMU U-19 (Germany) off the Dutch coast. U-19 was severely damaged but managed to return to port, was repaired and survived the war.

The Battle of Jutland
The 1st Destroyer Flotilla served at Jutland; it was Badger's distressing duty to rescue the crew of HMS Invincible (1907), which had blown up after a German salvo penetrated the magazines. Of the crew of 1,021, only two officers and four crew were rescued. Badger's commanding officer at the time of the battle was Commander C A Fremantle.

SS Lanfranc
On 17 April 1917 at 1930 hrs, SS Lanfranc was torpedoed four miles northeast of Le Havre by SMU UB-40 while bound for Southampton. At the time she had 387 patients, of which 167 were German prisoners of war, and of these patients, 326 were cot-bound. Approximately 570 survivors were picked up by Badger and HMS Jackal (1911), aided by HMS P47 (1917) and the French patrol boat Roitelet, and taken to Portsmouth.

Service off Durazzo
Lieutenant Commander Geoffrey Corlett received the Italian Naval Decoration for service off Durazzo in Albania while serving as the captain of HMS Badger.

SS Tuscania
At 0700 hrs on 4 February 1918, Badger joined convoy HX-20 along with seven other Royal Navy destroyers from Lough Swilly, Northern Ireland. At 1845 the next day, while transiting the North Channel, SS Tuscania of 14,348 GRT was torpedoed by SMU UB-77. The ship was packed with United States soldiers, and 210 people died in the sinking.

Post-war
In common with most of her class, she was laid up after the First World War and in May 1921 she was sold for breaking.