HMS Mansfield (1914)

Mansfield was laid down by Hawthorn Leslie at their yard in Hebburn with yard number 469 on 9 July 1913, launched on 3 December the following year and was completed four months later in April 1915.^[11] The destroyer, costing £125,882, was the second of two Hawthorn Leslie M-class destroyers, after Mentor and the first ship to enter Royal Navy service to be named after both the town of Mansfield and Charles Mansfield, commander of ship of the line Minotaur at the Battle of Trafalgar.^[4][12]

Launched soon after the start of the First World War, Mansfield was deployed as part of the Harwich Force, joining the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla.^[13] The warship was deployed to Milford Haven on anti-submarine duties to protect merchant ships sailing in the Southwest Approaches, arriving on 14 June.^[14] The vessel spent the following months escorting ships arriving and departing from Avonmouth and Devonport to cross the Atlantic to Canada and troopships leaving Liverpool for the Dardanelles.^[15] On 4 August, the destroyer participated in a search for German warships near Terschelling and another across the German Bight on 31 October.^[16][17]

On 26 and 27 February 1916, the flotilla took part in a large naval exercise east of Shetland, involving four flotillas of destroyers, as well as all the operational battlecruisers, battleships and cruisers of the Grand Fleet. The exercise was deemed a success.^[18] Between 24 and 26 March most of the Harwich Force, including Mansfield, formed an escort for the seaplane carrier Vindex as Vindex transported aircraft to be used in a raid against the German Zeppelin base that was believed to be at Hoyer in Schleswig-Holstein.^[19] Vindex launched five seaplanes on 25 March, but only two returned at the appointed time, reporting that the Zeppelin base was at Tondern rather than Hoyer, and that they had not been able to attack it.^[20] Mansfield spotted two German patrol boats, Braunschweig and Otto Rudolf, and opened fire. Other destroyers then contributed to a barrage of shells that sank both boats.^[21] During the return journey, the cruisers Cleopatra and Undaunted collided, badly damaging Undaunted, shortly after Cleopatra rammed and sank the German destroyer G194. Mansfield was unharmed.^[22]

On 23 January 1917, the destroyer was patrolling near Schouwen at night when a flotilla of German destroyers was spotted. Poor visibility meant Mansfield saw no action.^[23][24] The destroyer resumed escort duties, this time across the English Channel, as the threat from German submarines became even more intense.^[25] On 23 April 1918, the destroyer was part of the escort for the monitors HMS General Craufurd, Lord Clive, Marshal Soult and Prince Eugene for their attack on Zeebrugge.^[26] The destroyer, along with Talisman-class destroyer Trident, also towed the C-class submarines C1 and C3 into action. The submarines destroyed a viaduct.^[27] The destroyer then escorted the retired protected cruiser Vindictive to Ostend, where the older vessel was sunk to act as a blockship.^[28]

After the Armistice that ended the war, the Royal Navy returned to a peacetime level of strength and both the number of ships and personnel needed to be reduced to save money.^[29] The destroyer was transferred to reserve at the Nore.^[30] However, the harsh conditions of wartime operations, particularly the combination of high speed and the poor weather that is typical of the North Sea, exacerbated by the fact that the hull was not galvanised, meant that the ship was soon worn out.^[31] Mansfield was declared superfluous to operational requirements, retired, and, on 26 October 1921, was sold to Barking Ship Breaking Co, and broken up.^[32]