HMS Pigeon (1916)

HMS Pigeon was an Admiralty M-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during the First World War. The M class were an improvement on the previous L-class destroyer, capable of higher speed. Launched on 3 March 1916 by Hawthorn Leslie on the River Tyne, the vessel served as part of the Grand Fleet. Pigeon was mainly involved in escorting convoys. After an unsuccessful sortie in October 1917 against German cruisers, the destroyer moved to anti-submarine warfare. In this arena, Pigeon had some success in 1918, rescuing the survivors from the sinking troopship SS Tuscania (1914) in February and assisting in the destruction of the German U-boat SMU UB-124 in July. After the Armistice, the destroyer was redeployed to serve as part of the Nore Local Defence flotilla until being decommissioned and sold to be broken up on 9 May 1921.

Design and development
Pigeon was one of sixteen Admiralty M-class destroyer destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in May 1915 as part of the Fifth War Construction Programme. The M-class was an improved version of the earlier L-class destroyer destroyers, required to reach a higher speed in order to counter rumoured German fast destroyers. It transpired that the German ships did not exist but the greater performance was appreciated by the navy. The vessels ordered as part of the programme differed from earlier members of the class in having a raking stem and are sometimes known as the Repeat M class.

The destroyer was 265 ft long overall, with a beam of 26 ft and a draught of 8 ft. displacement was 994 LT normal and 1028 LT full load. Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding two Parsons steam turbines rated at 25000 shp and driving two shafts, to give a design speed of 34 kn. Three funnels were fitted. 296 LT of oil were carried, giving a design range of 3450 nmi at 15 kn.

Armament consisted of three 4 in Mk IV QF guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised platform and one between the middle and aft funnels. A single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom anti-aircraft gun was carried, while torpedo armament consisted of two twin mounts for 21 in torpedoes. The ship had a complement of 76 officers and ratings.

Construction and career
Pigeon was laid down by Hawthorn Leslie and Company of Hebburn on the River Tyne on 14 July 1915, launched on 3 March the following year and completed on 2 June. The ship was the eighth named after the eponymous family of birds. The vessel was deployed as part of the Grand Fleet, joining the Thirteenth Destroyer Flotilla.

Pigeon spent much of the war escorting convoys. On 16 October 1917, the ship formed part of a fleet of eighty-four ships, including fifty-four destroyers, that were deployed to protect convoys travelling from Scandinavia. The deployment was a failure, with two British destroyers sunk by German cruisers while Pigeon did not even sight the enemy. While sailing as part of another convoy, the troopship SS Tuscania (1914) was torpedoed by the German submarine SMU UB-77 on 5 February 1918. Pigeon joined in the rescue operation, which saved more than eight hundred US troops. Later in the year, on 20 July, the destroyer, along with sister ships HMS Marne (1915) and HMS Millbrook (1915), was credited with sinking SMU UB-124. The destroyers expended fifty depth charges, an unusually large amount for the time, damaging the submarine's batteries and driving the enemy vessel to the surface where it was abandoned and sunk.

After the armistice, Pigeon was allocated to the Nore Local Defence flotilla. However, within a few years, the Royal Navy returned to a peacetime level of mobilisation and the destroyer fleet was reduced dramatically. The vessel was decommissioned and, on 9 May 1921, sold to Thos. W. Ward of New Holland to be broken up.