War Emergency Programme destroyers

The War Emergency Programme destroyers were destroyers built for the British Royal Navy during World War I and World War II.

War Programmes and Ship classes (World War I)

The 323 destroyers ordered during World War I belonged to several different classes and were the subject of 14 separate War Programmes between 1914 and 1918. 40 of these were cancelled at the end of the war. The total excludes destroyers building in UK for other navies which were purchased for the British Navy following the outbreak of war.

Programme Date
ordered
No of
ships
Design Notes
1st War Programme10 September 191416Admiralty M-class design6 more had been built under
pre-war 1913-14 Programme
4Yarrow M-class design3 more had been built under
pre-war 1913-14 Programme
2nd War Programmeearly November 19149Admiralty M-class design
1Yarrow M-class designNerissa
2Admiralty L-class designLochinvar and Lassoo
3rd War Programmelate November 191422Admiralty M-class design
4th War ProgrammeFebruary 191516Admiralty M-class designincluding 8 of "Repeat M-class"
with raking stems
2Thornycroft M-class design2 others had been built under
pre-war 1913-14 Programme
5th War ProgrammeMay 191516Admiralty M-class design
2Thornycroft M-class designRapid and Ready
2Yarrow M-class designRelentless and Rival
2Admiralty R-class designRadstock and Raider
6th War ProgrammeJuly 191517Admiralty R-class design
3Thornycroft R-class designRosalind, Radiant and Retriever
4Yarrow R-class designSabrina, Strongbow,
Surprise and Sybille
7th War ProgrammeDecember 19158Admiralty R-class design
2Thornycroft R-class designTaurus and Teazer
8th War Programme5 March 191612Admiralty R-class design
3Yarrow R-class designTruculent, Tyrant and Ulleswater
11Admiralty Modified R-class designlast 5 actually ordered
on 19 April 1916
9th War ProgrammeJuly 19162323 Admiralty V-class designVortigern and Vectis
were ordered in August 1916
August 19162Thornycroft V-class designViceroy and Viscount
10th War Programme9 December 191619Admiralty W-class design
2Thornycroft W-class designWolsey and Woolston
11th War Programme9 April 191724Admiralty S-class design
2Thornycroft S-class designSpeedy and Tobago
7Yarrow S-class design
12th War ProgrammeJune 191733Admiralty S-class design2 of which were
cancelled in 1919
3Thornycroft S-class designTorbay, Toreador and Tourmaline
13th War ProgrammeJanuary 191814Admiralty Modified W-class design7 of which were
cancelled in 1919
2Thornycroft Modified W-class designWishart and Witch
14th War ProgrammeApril 191838Admiralty Modified W-class design31 of which were cancelled
in late 1918 or 1919)

Ship classes (World War II)

The 112 destroyers built during World War II were based on the hull and machinery of the earlier J-, K- and N-class destroyers of the 1930s. Each of the fourteen flotillas below consisted of eight destroyers. Due to supply problems and the persistent failure by the Royal Navy to develop a suitable dual-purpose weapon for destroyers, they were fitted with whatever armament was available. Recent advances in radar and weaponry were incorporated as they came available. As a result, they were a relatively heterogeneous class incorporating many wartime advances, but ultimately based on a hull that was too small and with an armament too light to be true first-rate vessels equivalent of their contemporaries. As such they are often described as "utility" destroyers. It was not until the Battle-class destroyer of 1944 that the Royal Navy returned to building larger destroyers. Many vessels were transferred to friendly navies.

Class Flotilla Date ordered
O class"1st Emergency Flotilla"3 September 1939
P class"2nd Emergency Flotilla"2 October 1939
Q class"3rd Emergency Flotilla"end March 1940
R class"4th Emergency Flotilla"early April 1940
S class"5th Emergency Flotilla"9 January 1941
T class"6th Emergency Flotilla"in March 1941
U class"7th Emergency Flotilla"12 June 1941
V class"8th Emergency Flotilla"1 September 1941
W class"9th Emergency Flotilla"3 December 1941
Z class"10th Emergency Flotilla"12 February 1942
Ca- class"11th Emergency Flotilla"16 February 1942
Ch- class"12th Emergency Flotilla"24 July 1942
Co- class"13th Emergency Flotilla"24 July 1942
Cr- class"14th Emergency Flotilla"12 September 1942

Design changes (World War II)

  • The P, and 3 ships of the O, flotilla were fitted with 4-inch guns with a new design of tall gunshield. As a result, they carried only the Rangefinder-Director Mark II(W) for fire control.
  • From the Q and R class onwards a transom stern was incorporated.
  • From the S and T class onwards the bow was revised to a design based on that of the Tribal-class destroyer, to improve sea-keeping.
  • From the Q and R class the main gun calibre returned to 4.7 inches.
  • From the R flotilla onwards the officer's accommodation was forwards, instead of aft as was traditional Royal Navy practice
  • The S flotilla altered the position of the searchlight between the torpedo tubes with the medium anti-aircraft position abaft the funnel. This more logical arrangement gave the anti-aircraft gun improved arcs of fire in the forward field.
  • The S class introduced the new mounting CP Mark XXII for the 4.7-inch guns. This could readily be distinguished from the older mounting CP Mark XVIII of the O, Q and R by its sharply raked face, allowing increased elevation.
  • S-class Savage incorporated the new 4.5-inch gun Mark III, in a prototype twin dual-purpose turret BD Mark IV forward and 4.5-inch gun Mark IV in single mountings CP Mark V aft. The former would be introduced in the Battle-class destroyer.
  • The T flotilla introduced the lattice foremast, to support the ever-increasing weight of masthead electronics.
  • The W flotilla introduced the dual-purpose Director Mark III(W), replacing the low-angle Destroyer DCT and High-Angle Rangefinder-Director Mark II(W) in use since the Q and R class.
  • The Z flotilla introduced the new dual-purpose Director Mark I Type K and the 4.5-inch gun in single mountings CP Mark V as trialled in Savage. These mountings were based on the CP Mark XXII used in the later 4.7-inch gunned ships; there was no obvious difference.
  • The Ch- flotilla introduced the dual-purpose Director Mark VI with full remote-power control (RPC) for gunlaying. As a result, one set of torpedo tubes was removed to counter the increased topweight.
  • All ships used the Fuze Keeping Clock High Angle Fire Control Computer.[1]
gollark: It's not totally impractical.
gollark: I could say this to you also.
gollark: I am so foolish and apioidal.
gollark: oops. I must now quit.
gollark: N█xt.

See also

Notes

  1. Destroyer Weapons of WW2, Hodges/Friedman, ISBN 0-85177-137-8

Bibliography

  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Cocker, Maurice (1983). Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981. London, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1075-7.
  • Dittmar, F.J. & Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
  • Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  • March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers. London, UK: Seeley Service & Co.
  • Raven, Alan; Roberts, John (1978). War Built Destroyers O to Z Classes. London: Bivouac Books. ISBN 0-85680-010-4.
  • Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
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