HMS Maori (1909)

HMS Maori was one of five ships of the third batch of Tribal-class destroyer (1905) destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the twentieth century. Completed in 1909, she spent her career in British waters. During the First World War, she served in the North Sea and the English Channel with the 6th Destroyer Flotilla. She struck a mine in the North Sea on 7 May 1915 off Zeebrugge, Belgium, and sank.

Description
Ordered as part of the 1907–1908 Naval Programme, the third batch of Tribal-class destroyers were improved versions of the earlier-batch ships. Maori displaced 1026 LT at normal load and 1150 LT at deep load. She had an overall length of 285 ft, a beam of 27 ft and a draught of 8 ft. The ship was powered by a single steam turbine set which drove three propeller shafts using steam provided by six Yarrow boilers. The turbine was rated at 15500 shp and was intended to give a maximum speed of 33 kn. During her sea trials Maori reached 33.2 kn from 26199 shp. The third-batch Tribals carried a maximum of 162 LT of fuel oil that gave them a range of 1640 nmi at 15 kn. Their crew numbered 71 officers and ratings.

The ships were armed with a pair of BL 4 in Mk VIII gun in single mounts, one on the forecastle and the other on the stern. Their torpedo armament consisted of two rotating torpedo tubes for 18-inch (450 mm) torpedoes, one mount between the two forward funnels and the other on the stern.

Construction and career
Maori was laid down by William Denny and Brothers at its Greenock shipyard on 6 August 1908, launched on 24 May 1909 and completed in November. On commissioning, Maori joined the 1st Destroyer Flotilla, based at Harwich, replacing the River-class destroyer HMS Dee (1903). By March 1913, Maori was part of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla of the First Fleet.