HMS Comet (1910)

HMS Comet, c. 1914–1918
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Comet
Builder:	Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Govan
Launched:	23 June 1910
Fate:	Sunk in collision, 6 August 1918
General characteristics
Class and type:	Acorn class
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	730 to 780 tons
Length:	246 ft 6 in (75.13 m)
Beam:	25 ft 6 in (7.77 m)
Draught:	7 ft (2.1 m)–10 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion:	Oil-fired boilers 3 shaft steam turbines 13,500 shp
Speed:	27 knots (50 km/h)
Range:	170 tons oil
Complement:	72
Armament:	2 × BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) L/40 Mark VIII guns, mounting P Mark V 2 × QF 12 pdr 12 cwt Mark I mounting P Mark I 2 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

HMS Comet was an Acorn class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw active service in the First World War. She was built under the 1909–1910 programme by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company in Govan. She was launched on 23 June 1910 and lost after a collision while under tow on 6 August 1918 in the Mediterranean. Initially it was believed that she was torpedoed and sunk by an Austro-Hungarian U-boat, but this was dismissed since no submarine claimed her sinking.^[1]

The Acorn class marked a return to oil-firing as pioneered in the Tribal or F class of 1905 and HMS Swift of 1907. This change allowed a generally smaller vessel than the Beagles even with an increase in armament. The Comet was built to an individual design by Fairfield Shipbuilding although the Acorns had a more-or-less uniform appearance, with three funnels, a tall, thin fore funnel, a short, thick central and a short narrow after stack. Comet had two 4-inch guns on the fo'c'sle and on the quarterdeck. The 12-pounder guns were amidships, one on each side between the first pair of funnels, and the torpedo tubes were abaft the funnels, mounted singly with a searchlight position between them.

References

• Cocker, Maurice (1983). Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1075-7.

Coordinates: 36°29′N 15°45′E / 36.483°N 15.750°E / 36.483; 15.750