Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
United States Navy — Destroyer H81

HMS Broadwater (H81)

Clemson-class destroyer

HMS Broadwater (H81)
Unknown author — U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 97969 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate — H81 The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Mason (DD-191) underway off the U.S. East Coast, circa 1920-1922.

Service

  1. United States Navy as USS Mason28 February 1920 — 8 October 1940403 days of the war
  2. Royal Navy as HMS Broadwater9 October 1940 — 18 October 1941374 days of the war
Full service history About 490 words
Clemson-class destroyer Particulars
Name
HMS Broadwater
Pennant / hull number
H81
Namesake
John Y. Mason
Builder
Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company
Laid down
10 July 1918
Launched
8 March 1919
Commissioned
28 February 1920
Decommissioned
3 July 1922
Recommissioned
4 December 1939
Struck
8 January 1941
Fate
Torpedoed and sunk, 18 October 1941
By torpedo (1941)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, standard
1,190 long tons (1,209 t)
Length
95.71 m (314 ft)
Beam
9.45 m (31 ft)
Draught
2.74 m (9 ft)
Speed
35 knots (64.8 km/h, 40.3 mph)
Range
4,900 nmi (9,075 km)
Complement
101
Main gun
102 mm (4 in)

(Destroyer No. 191: dp. 1,190; l. 314'5"; b. 31'9"; dr. 9'3"; s. 35 k.; cpl. 101; a. 4 4", 3 3", 12 21" tt.; cl. Clemson )

The first Mason (Destroyer No. 191) was named for John Young Mason, born 18 April 1799, in Greene County, Va. Both a political leader and a diplomat, he was Secretary of the Navy first for President John Tyler from 1844 to 1845 and then for President James K. Polk from 1846 to 1849. As minister to France from 1853, he joined James Buchanan and Pierre Soul£, ministers, respectively, to Great Britain and Spain, in issuing on 18 October 1854 the famous Ostend Manifesto on the justification of seizing Cuba if Spain would not sell the colony to the United States. Mr. Mason died in Paris, France, 3 October 1859.

The second Mason (DE‑529) was named for Newton Henry Mason, born 24 December 1918 at New York City. He enlisted as a seaman in the Naval Reserve, 7 November 1940 and on 10 February 1941 was appointed an aviation cadet. Assigned to Fighting Squadron 3 in September, he died following aerial combat against Japanese forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea, 8 and 9 May 1942. Ensign Mason was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his skill and courage in battle.

Continue to the full service history About 490 words

From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Mason I (Destroyer No. 191)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • 26500 shp
  • geared turbines
  • 2 screws
Armament
  • 4 × 4 in/50 cal. guns
  • 3 × 3 in/23 cal. guns
  • 12 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

Sister ships

59 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from HMS Broadwater (H81) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Service history reproduced verbatim from Mason I (Destroyer No. 191) , Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships — public domain, a work of the United States Government.
  • Photograph: Unknown author — U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 97969 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons