HMS Kempenfelt (1915)

HMS Kempenfelt was a Marksman-class flotilla leader  of the British Royal Navy. She was built by the Cammell Laird at their Birkenhead shipyard, with construction starting in 1914 and completed in August 1915. She served through the remainder of the First World War. She was sold for scrap in 1921.

Construction and design
The British Admiralty issued requests for tenders for two flotilla leaders of the Marksman-class flotilla leader, HMS Nimrod (1915) and Kempenfelt, in April 1914 as part of the 1914–1915 Naval Estimates, as a follow-on to the orders placed for the two ships of the class in the 1913–1914 Estimates. Flotilla Leaders were large destroyer-type vessels intended to lead flotillas of smaller destroyers in action.

The Marksman-class ships were 324 ft long overall, 324 ft at the waterline and 315 ft between perpendiculars. They had a beam of 31 ft and a draught of 12 ft. The design displacement was 1440 LT normal and 1700 LT full load, with a displacement of 1607 LT stated for Nimrod in 1919. Three sets of Brown-Curtis steam turbines were fed by four Yarrow three-drum boilers, rated at 36000 shp, which gave a speed of 34 kn. Cruising turbines were fitted to the outer shafts. Four funnels were fitted. Up to 515 tons of oil fuel could be carried, giving a range of 4290 nmi at 15 kn.

The ship's main gun armament consisted of four QF 4 in Mk IV guns mounted on the ships centreline, with two of the guns positioned between the ship's funnels. An anti-aircraft armament of two 1-pounder (37 mm) "pom-pom" autocannons was planned, but during construction the 1-pounder pom-poms were diverted to the British Expeditionary Force when it deployed to France at the start of the First World War, and the ship completed with two 2-pounder (40-mm) "pom-pom"s instead. Torpedo armament consisted of two twin 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. In August 1915 Kempenfelt was selected for conversion to a fast minelayer, but owing to problems during sea trials, sister ship HMS Abdiel (1915) was selected instead. In 1916, Kempenfelt was fitted with an explosive anti-submarine sweep, but this was removed in July that year. The ship's crew was 104 officers and men.

Kempenfelt was laid down at Cammell Laird's Birkenhead shipyard on 2 October 1914 and was launched on 1 May 1915. During sea trials, the ships machinery was heavily forced, producing over 37000 shp with speeds of almost 35 kn. The ship was completed on 20 August 1915.

Service
On 14 August 1915, while undergoing sea trials in Liverpool Bay, Kempenfelt reported sighted the periscope of an unknown submarine, possibly SM U-38. On 21 August 1915, following commissioning Kempenfelt joined the newly established 11th Destroyer Flotilla at Scapa Flow, part of the Grand Fleet, as leader. On 6 January 1916, the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS King Edward VII, which was travelling alone because the severe weather prevented destroyers from keeping pace, struck a mine near Cape Wrath. When reports of the mining reached Scapa Flow, Kempenfelt and 12 destroyers were despatched to assist and to protect the stricken battleship from enemy submarines. (It was thought at first that King Edward VII had been torpedoed). Kempenfelt and a tug took King Edward VII but the towline parted and the battleship was abandoned, with her crew being taken off by the destroyers HMS Musketeer (1915), HMS Marne (1915), HMS Fortune (1913) and HMS Nessus (1915) before the battleship sank.

Kempenfelt sailed as part of the 11th Destroyer Flotilla at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May–1 June 1916. Kempenfelt survived the battle without damage.

Kempenfelt remained part of the 11th Flotilla until September 1917, joining the 6th Destroyer Flotilla as part of the Dover Patrol on 15 September, where she served until 2 April 1918, then rejoining the 11th Flotilla. Kempenfelt was still a member of the 11th Flotilla at the end of the war. By March 1919, Kempenfelt was in reserve at Portsmouth. She was sold for scrap to T W Ward on 9 May 1921 for £2778 and was broken up at Ward's Morecambe yard from August 1921.