HMS Lance (1914)

QF 4 inch Mk IV gun from HMS Lance that fired the first British shot of World War I.[1]
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Lance
Ordered	29 March 1912
Builder	John I. Thornycroft & Company
Laid down	1 August 1912
Launched	25 February 1914
Completed	August 1914
Fate	Sold and broken up November 1921
General characteristics
Class and type	Laforey-class destroyer
Displacement	965-1,300 tons
Length	269 ft (82 m)
Beam	26 ft 9 in (8.15 m)
Draught	9 ft 6 in (2.90 m)
Propulsion	Water-tube boilers, Parsons steam turbines, 2 shafts, 24,500 shp
Speed	29 knots (54 km/h)
Complement	73
Armament	3 × QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk IV guns, mounting P Mk. IX 1 × QF 2 pdr pom-pom Mk. II 2 × twin tubes for 21 in torpedoes[2]

HMS Lance was a Laforey-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Launched a few months before the outbreak of the First World War and attached to the Harwich Force, Lance took part in several engagements during the war, including the sinking of the Königin Luise and the Battle off Texel. She was responsible for firing the first British shot of the war.