HMS Wrestler (D35) was a built by the Royal Navy during the First World War and active from 1939 to 1944 during the Second World War. She was the first Royal Navy ship to bear that name, and the only one to do so to date.
Construction and design
On 9 December 1916, the British Admiralty placed an order for 21 large destroyers based on the V class as part of the 10th War Construction Programme, which became the Admiralty W class. This order included two destroyers, and Wrestler, to be built by Swan Hunter.
Wrestler was long overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draught of between and depending on load. Displacement was standard, and up to deep load. Three oil-fed Yarrow boilers raising steam at fed Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines which developed , driving two screws for a maximum designed speed of . The ship carried of oil giving a range of at .
The ship had a main gun armament of four 4-inch Mk V QF guns in single mounts on the ship's centreline. These were disposed as two forward and two aft in superimposed firing positions. A single QF 3-inch (76 mm) 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun was mounted aft of the second funnel. Aft of the 3-inch gun, six 21-inch torpedo tubes were carried, mounted in two triple mounts on the centreline. As built, the W-class had a complement of 134 officers and other ranks.
Wrestler, the first ship of that name to serve with the Royal Navy, was laid down at Swan Hunter's Wallsend shipyard during July 1917, and was launched on 25 February 1918. She was commissioned on 1 May 1918, and was completed on 15 May that year.
Modifications
By 1931, Wrestler was recorded as having her 3-inch anti aircraft gun replaced by two 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom autocannon, although one of these had been removed by 1939. While most of the class had one bank of torpedo tubes removed in 1940 to accommodate a 3-inch anti-aircraft gun, Wrestler was, at least initially, not modified. Close-range anti-aircraft armament was improved by adding a second pom-pom and two Oerlikon 20 mm cannon.
Conversion to long-range escort involved removal of a boiler, which was replaced by fuel tanks and an additional mess deck (the elderly V & Ws were overcrowded so additional accommodation was welcome). Power dropped to and speed to . The forward "A"-mount 4-inch gun was replaced by a Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar, while the aft-most ("Y"-mount) 4-inch guns and the torpedo tubes were removed to allow a heavier depth-charge armament to be carried. Wrestler was also converted for arctic use, with additional ballast to counter the buildup of topweight owing to icing, and improved insulation and heating.
Service history
Wrestler joined the 12th Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet on commissioning. During May 1918, the battleship was in collision with Wrestler, badly damaging the destroyer. Wrestler remained part of the 12th Flotilla on 11 November 1918, when the Armistice with Germany ended the fighting of the First World War.
In March 1919, in a reorganisation of the Royal Navy, Wrestler transferred to the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla of what became the Atlantic Fleet, based at Rosyth. In 1919, Wrestler took part in the British campaign in the Baltic, part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. On 15 July 1919, the minesweepers and struck mines whole clearing a minefield east of Saaremaa. While Myrtle sank quickly, Gentian remained afloat, and on 16 July, Wrestler arrived at the scene with the Estonian tug Ebba, but the weather was too bad for towing the sloop to safety, and Gentian sank on 17 July.
In March 1920, Wrestler transferred to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla. The ship was paid off at Chatham on 1 December 1920 and recommissioned with a new crew on the same day for further service with the 1st Flotilla. In 1921, the Royal Navy's destroyer forces were again reorganised into smaller flotillas of eight destroyers and one destroyer leader, compared with the larger flotillas (of 16 destroyers) previously used, with Wrestler moving to the 5th Destroyer Flotilla. On 8 October 1921, the American steamer rammed the British passenger ship from astern in fog in the North Channel. Rowans passengers were mustered on deck. The British steamer then rammed Rowan from starboard and cut her in two. Rowan sank with the loss of 22 of the 97 people on board. Wrestler joined Clan Malcolm and West Camak in rescuing survivors from Rowan.