HMAS Voyager (D31/I31) (formerly HMS Voyager (G36/G16/D31)) was a W-class destroyer of the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Commissioned into the RN in 1918, the destroyer remained in RN service until 1933, when she was transferred to the RAN. Recommissioned, Voyager served in the Mediterranean and Pacific theatres of World War II until 23 September 1942, when she ran aground while trying to deliver troops to Timor. The ship was damaged by Japanese bombers while trying to refloat, then was scuttled by her crew.
Design and construction
Voyager was a W-class destroyer constructed for the Royal Navy during World War I. The ship had a displacement of 1,100 tons at standard load, and 1,470 tons at full load. She was in length overall and long between perpendiculars, with a beam of , and a maximum draught of . Propulsion machinery consisted of three Yarrow boilers feeding two Brown-Curtis turbines, which provided to the two propeller shafts. Maximum designed speed was . Voyager had a range of at . The ship's company consisted of 6 officers and 113 sailors.
At launch, Voyagers main armament consisted of four single QF 4-inch Mark V guns. This was supplemented by a quad-barrelled QF 2-pounder naval gun, and five .303 inch machine guns of various types. The destroyer was also fitted with two 3-tube 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo sets, two depth charge chutes, and four depth charge throwers. Later modifications to her armament included the installation of a second 2-pounder gun and two Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, and the removal of one of the torpedo tube sets.
Voyager was laid down by Alexander Stephen and Sons at their shipyard in Glasgow, Scotland on 17 May 1917. She was launched on 8 May 1918. The destroyer was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 24 June 1918, the day of her completion. Voyager was the only ship of her class that carried a name starting with "V": the rest of the W class had names starting with "W".
Operational history
In July 1918, Voyager joined the 11th Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet. She remained part of the 11th Flotilla through the end of the War until the flotilla was disbanded in March 1919, then transferring to the newly established 1st Destroyer Flotilla of the Atlantic Fleet . On 22 April 1919, Voyager took part in a visit to the French port of Cherbourg by 13 British warships, including the battleships , , and .
In June 1919, Voyager was deployed to the Baltic Sea as part of the British intervention in the Russian Civil War. On 2 June, Voyager and the destroyer were patrolling off Petrograd when they clashed with the Russian destroyers and , exchanging gunfire at long range across a minefield, with no damage occurring on either side. On 12 October, the 1st Flotilla was ordered to return to the Baltic shortly after returning to Britain, and between 150 and 200 men from the destroyers of the flotilla, including Voyager, refused to prepare their ships for sea, with 79 men not returning to their ships. The ships' crews were made up with men from the Atlantic Fleet's battleships to allow them to depart as ordered. On 25 October, the 1st Flotilla relieved the 20th Destroyer Flotilla at the Latvian cities of Riga and Liepāja, which were being attacked by Baltic German forces of the West Russian Volunteer Army. On 28 October, Voyager fired 20 rounds at Baltic German infantry positions near Riga, and from 3 November, together with and the cruiser , provided artillery support for a Latvian offensive that drove the Baltic German forces away from Riga, the artillery support continuing until 10 November, when the retreating enemy were out of range of the British guns. On 16 November, Voyager carried a load of field guns and ammunition from Riga to Liepāja, where after heavy fighting, the Latvians, supported by the Royal Navy, had beaten back more attacks by the West Russian Volunteer Army.