Laid down on the 18th January 1912 the steel Acasta Class destroyer HMS Lynx was launched from London and Glasgow Engineering and Iron Co Ltd on 20th March 1913 (Yard N0.364). She measured 259.9′ x 27.0′ x 9.0′ and displaced 936 tons. She was powered by 2 x Parsons Steam turbines driven by steam from four oil fired Yarrow boilers delivering 24500 shaft horse power. Her dual screws gave her a top speed of 29 knots. Her armament consisted of 3 x 4″ L/40 Mrk VIII guns, 1 x 2 pounder Mrk II anti-aircraft gun and 2 x 21″ torpedo tubes.
HMS Lynx under way
On the night of 8th August 1915 HMS Lynx was on patrol in the Moray Firth under the command of Commander J F Cole RN. That night she was accompanied on patrol by HMS Midge. On 8th August, Lynx received a message, sent to all of the destroyers on patrol in the Moray Firth, ordering them to keep at least five miles to the east of a line from Noss Head to Rosehearty (the N-R line), an instruction designed to keep them clear of a minefield discovered earlier that day by a minesweeping trawler. The minefield had been laid by the German auxiliary minelayer Meteor (1,912grt, ex-British SS Vienna seized in Hamburg on 4th August 1914) and was designed to foul the approach to the Cromarty Firth and the Grand Fleet base at Invergordon. However, the extent of the minefield was not yet known – this turned out to be a fatal problem for Lynx. There was no information that the minefield extended north of latitude 58° but Lynx had been warned by HMS Faulkner that the minefield might extend across the Firth.
She struck a mine and sank at 06.10hrs on 9th August. Her Captain was lost with 73 of his crew. Only four officers and twenty two crewmen survived. The explosion apparently occurred in front of No.1 boiler room. A second violent explosion, probably the result of hitting a second mine, also occurred in the vicinity of No.1 boiler room, between 5 and 10 minutes after the first explosion The explosions destroyed the bridge area and wrecked and severed the bow section of the ship. The fore part sank almost immediately and the stern half ten minutes later. There was no evidence to show the exact position at the time of striking the mine but survivors were picked up by the Italian steamship Vulcano about 8.30am in approximate position 58° 07’00″N, 02° 38’30″W. Luckily the Midge had taken a course further to the east and avoided a similar fate. The Court of Enquiry did not to censure the late commanding officer of Lynx for not having taken the same course. Subsequent sweeping of the mines after the loss of Lynx had shown some mines were, in fact, laid eight miles east of the N-R line and well north of 58 degrees. Post war records showed that the Meteor had laid over 400 mines in a wide area across the Moray Firth.
ADM 1/8429/230 casualty report
A wreck was located in a survey in 1991 and dived in 2000 in position 58° 09.900’N, 02° 30.650’W. She was well broken lying on seabed of mud and sand in a general depth of 57 metres. While it was surmised that the wreckage could be the Lynx initially little that was recognisable was to be seen on the seabed. However four 12 foot diameter cylindrical structures were noted on this initial dive. These structures have since been identified as the distinctive Admiralty 3 drum boilers of the Acasta class of destroyers positively identifying the wreck as part of HMS Lynx. A wreck lies close to the co-ordinates given above in position 58° 09.909’N, 02° 30.725’W and is visible on the Navionics Reveal chart app.
