HMS Rapid (1916)

Sister ship HMS Patriot
History
United Kingdom
Name: Rapid
Builder: Thornycroft, Woolston, Southampton
Yard number: 827
Laid down: August 1915
Launched: 15 July 1916
Commissioned: August 1916
Decommissioned: 20 April 1927
Fate: Broken up at Garston, Liverpool
General characteristics
Class and type: Thornycroft M-class destroyer
Displacement: 1,033 long tons (1,050 t) standard 1,208 long tons (1,227 t) full
Length: 274 ft (83.5 m)
Beam: 27 ft 6 in (8.4 m)
Draught: 10 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion:
Speed: 35 kn (40 mph; 65 km/h)
Range: 3,450 nmi (6,390 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h)
Complement: 82
Armament:

HMS Rapid was a destroyer of the M class which served with the Royal Navy. Launched by Thornycroft on 14 October 1916 as the first of six similar ships, the destroyer served as part of the Grand Fleet during World War I. The design was used as the basis for the subsequent five ships of the R-class also built by the yard. Rapid served in an escort role in the Grand Fleet until it was disbanded at the end of the War and was sold to be scrapped on 21 April 1928.

Design

Rapid was one of two M-class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty from John I. Thornycroft & Company in May 1915 as part of the Fifth War Construction Programme. The ships differed from the Admiralty design in having more powerful engines, which gave them a higher potential speed.[1]

Rapid was 274 feet (84 m) long overall and 265 feet (81 m) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 27 feet 6 inches (8.38 m) and a draught of 10 feet (3.0 m).[2] Displacement was 1,033 long tons (1,050 t) normal and 1,208 long tons (1,227 t) full load.[3] Three Yarrow boilers fed steam to two sets of Brown-Curtis steam turbines rated at 27,500 shp (20,500 kW) and driving two shafts, giving a design speed of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph), although the ship reached 35.45 knots (65.65 km/h; 40.80 mph) during trials.[2] Three funnels were fitted, the centre one being wider than the others, a feature shared with the M and R class destroyers designed by Thornycroft.[3] 275 long tons (279 t) of oil were carried, giving a design range of 1,620 nautical miles (3,000 km; 1,860 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).[4]

Armament consisted of three QF 4in Mk IV guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft and one between the second and third funnels.[2] Four 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes were carried in two twin rotating mounts.[5] By 1920, the ship was equipped with a single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom anti-aircraft gun.[6] Fire control included a single Dumaresq and a Vickers range clock.[7] The vessel had a complement of 82 officers and men.[2]

Service

Rapid was laid down in October 1915 and launched on 15 July 1916.[8] On commissioning in September 1916, the ship joined the Grand Fleet, initially joining the Fifteenth Destroyer Flotilla.[9] The destroyer was employed on escort duties and it was during one these during August 1917 that, along with Tirade, Rapid unsuccessfully attacked a fleeing submarine.[10] Rapid continued to serve with the Fifteenth Destroyer Flotilla until the end of the war.[11]

When the Grand Fleet was disbanded, Rapid was kept on “miscellaneous service.”[12][lower-alpha 1] In 1921, the ship was seconded to the Compass Department of the Admiralty, which had responsibility for many of the scientific instruments used on board ships of the Navy.[14] The destroyer was sold to G Cohen for breaking up on 20 April 1927.[8]

Pennant numbers

Pennant Number Date
G63September 1915[15]
G78January 1917[15]
G83January 1918[15]

Notes

  1. ↑ Contemporary documents also list a HMS Rapid in Gibraltar but this was a different vessel.[13]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 308.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Parkes & Prendegast 1919, p. 110.
  3. 1 2 Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 79.
  4. ↑ March 1966, p. 143.
  5. ↑ Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 80.
  6. ↑ March 1966, p. 146.
  7. ↑ "Fire Control in H.M. Ships". The Technical History and Index: Alteration in Armaments of H.M. Ships during the War. 3 (23): 31. 1919.
  8. 1 2 Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 331.
  9. ↑ The Navy List 1917, p. 12.
  10. ↑ Williams 1997, p. 151.
  11. ↑ The Navy List 1918, p. 12.
  12. ↑ The Navy List 1920, p. 710.
  13. ↑ Winfrield & Lyon 2004, p. 293.
  14. ↑ The Navy List 1921, p. 704.
  15. 1 2 3 Dittmar & Colledge 1972, p. 68.

Bibliography

  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: A Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy From the 15th Century to the Present. London: Chatham. ISBN 1-93514-907-5.
  • "Destroyer Flottilas of the Grand Fleet". The Navy List. December 1916.
  • "Destroyer Flottilas of the Grand Fleet". The Navy List. October 1918.
  • Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton: Ian Allen. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
  • Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the First World War. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  • "Local Defence and Training Establishments, Patrol Flotillas, Etc". The Navy List: 704. January 1921.
  • March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development 1892–1953. London: Seeley Service & Co. ISBN 1-84832-049-3.
  • Parkes, Oscar; Prendegast, Maurice (1919). Jane’s Fighting Ships. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd.
  • "Vessels on Miscellaneous Service". The Navy List. January 1920.
  • Williams, M. W. (1997). "HMS Tirade and the sinking of UC-55". In Mclean, David; Preston, Antony. Warship 1997-1998. London: Conway Maritime. ISBN 0-85177-722-8.
  • Winfield, Rif; Lyon, David (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-032-9.
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