Success was one of 55 S class destroyers built for the British Admiralty under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program of the First World War. It commissioned into the Royal Navy (RN) as HMS Success in April 1919. It was not long in commission, however, when it and ships of the same class Stalwart, Swordsman, Tasmania and Tattoo, along with the flotilla leader, Anzac, were gifted to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as replacements for the RAN’s obsolete River class destroyers.

HMAS Success circa 1929.

HMAS Success, around 1929
 

It recommissioned into the RAN as HMAS Success at Devonport on 27 January 1920 under the command of Lieutenant O R Wace RN. It sailed for Australia on 20 February with SwordsmanTasmania and Tattoo, and arrived in Sydney on 29 April via Gibraltar, Malta, Port Said, Suez, Aden, Mumbai, Colombo, Singapore, Sourabaya and Thursday Island. However, Success’s second commission was only marginally longer than its first as postwar cuts to defence spending saw a number of RAN vessels decommissioned. Success was one of those affected and it decommissioned at Sydney on 6 October 1921 and was placed into reserve.

Success recommissioned on 1 December 1925. It subsequently served in waters around Australia, with the exception of Western Australia, making a brief visit to Port Moresby in May 1926.

It decommissioned again on 21 May 1930 and was once more placed into reserve. It was eventually sold for breaking up on 4 June 1937.

Specifications

HMAS Success (I)
Class
S Class
Type
Destroyer
Pennant
H02
Builder
William Doxford & Sons Ltd, Sunderland, England
Launched
29 June 1918
Commissioned
27 January 1920
Decommissioned
21 May 1930
Fate
Sold on 4 June 1937 and broken up
Dimensions & Displacement
Displacement 1075 tons
Length 276 feet
Beam 26 feet 9 inches
Draught 10 feet 10 inches
Performance
Speed 31 knots
Range 2000 miles at 15 knots
Complement
Crew 90
Propulsion
Machinery Brown-Curtis geared turbines, 2 screws
Horsepower 27000 shp
Armament
Guns
  • 3 x 4-inch guns
  • 1 x 2-pounder pom-pom
  • 4 x Lewis machine guns
  • 1 x Maxim machine gun
Torpedoes 4 x 21-inch torpedo tubes in 2 twin deck mountings
Other Armament
  • 2 x depth-charge throwers
  • 4 x depth-charge chutes