- Yes
- No
Almirante Lynch (1934)
History:
In 1910 Chilean President Ramón Barros Luco sent a minister to Great Britain to commission the construction of two battleships and later 6 destroyers which were commissioned from the J. Samuel White company, of which only 2 would be delivered since in 1914 the first world war would start, so the United Kingdom requisitioned the remaining 4 to be used in the conflict and would use them as Destroyers-Leaders since in their time they were the most modern and powerful destroyers in the United Kingdom and being called the Faulknor class (later 3 of these destroyers were returned to Chile since 1 was destroyed). The 2 destroyers that managed to be delivered to Chile were called Almirante Lynch and Almirante Condell called Almirante-Class, the new units were 1,800 tons and could reach a maximum of 31 knots and were equipped with six 102 mm cannons, 2 machine guns of 7 mm and 6 18-inch torpedo tubes, this was its initial configuration when it was delivered in 1913, later the destroyer Almirante Lynch and Almirante Condell was modified.
Both joined the Chilean squadron in 1914, they were sent to TalTal to guard the German merchantmen in order to protect the rules of neutrality, then in December 1914 they went to locate the German cruiser SMS Dresden, which took refuge in the southern channels after the battle of the Malvinas and when he located it, he notified him that he had to leave Chilean waters in 24 hours, which the cruise did. Between 1923-24 both joined the other 3 destroyers that had been returned by the United Kingdom with what Chile now had a powerful and modern fleet of destroyers.
Destroyer Almirante Lynch with its initial configuration of 1913
Destroyer Almirante Lynch, 1914
The modernizations and the change of armament
Both Almirante-class destroyers continued to serve for several years and in the early 1930s underwent major modernizations, the first being that the old steam boilers were converted to burn only pure oil, as far as armament is concerned the old torpedo launchers of 450 mm were replaced by 2 double 533 mm torpedo launchers, they also received more modern anti-aircraft weapons, these being 2 twin 12.7 mm machine guns in an enlarged stern superstructure, by 1934 the modernization work was already finished, this is how these two destroyers improved their capabilities and performed their tasks for many years more and this being its final configuration throughout the Second World War, finally in October 1944 the destroyer Condell suffered an explosion in one of its boilers, for which the Chilean government accepted that these destroyers were already old and obsolete for the time. they decided to remove the destroyer Almirante Lynch and her brother Admiral Condell from service in 1945 and later scrapped them.
Destroyer Almirante Lynch with its final configuration after 1930
Specifications:
1934
- Crew:
- 160
- Armament:
- Primary: 6 (6x1) - 102/40 Armstrong Pattern S
- Firing speed: 15 rpm
- Projectile weight: 14.06 kg
- Bursting charge: 0.82 kg
- Muzzle Velocity: 701.4 mps
- Energy at the mouth: 590 tm
- Shooting range: 10.6 km
- Torpedo launcher: 4 (2x2) 533.4mm Mk IV
- Full mass, kg: 1454
- Length: 6.90 m
- Explosive mass: 234 kg
- Fire range: 7.3 km
- Speed: 35 kts
- Antiaircraft: 2 (2x1) 12.7mm
- Primary: 6 (6x1) - 102/40 Armstrong Pattern S
- Dimensions:
- Length: 97.5 m (pp), 100.8 m (oa)
- Beam: 9.90 m
- Draft: 3.35 m
- Displacement:
- Normal: 1373 t
- Long tons: 1.800 t
- Metric tons: 1.830 t
- Full load: 1.850 t
- Maneuverability :
- Propulsion: 3 Parsons steam turbines, 6 White-Forster boilers, 30.000 hp
- Max. speed: 31 knots (57 km/h)
- Endurance: 2,750 miles (15 knots)
- Armor:
- Hull: 16.0mm
- Superstructure: 4.0mm
Photos:
Sources:
- “Buques de Guerra Chilenos” pages 356-360.
- “Морская Кампания” Year 2007 Number 2 Publication 5 pages 16 onwards
- “Морская Кампания” Year 2008 Number 4 Publication 18 page 40
- ALMIRANTE LYNCH destroyers (1913-1914)
- Jane’s Fighting Ships 1940
- Chilean Armaments - World War I (Navypedia’s Fighting Ships)
Special thanks to @COLDOWN who helped me a lot by sharing all the necessary information to make this publication as complete as possible.