HMS Swift (1907)

Last updated

HMS Swift (1907).JPG
Swift at sea
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameSwift
Builder Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
Laid down1905
Launched7 December 1907
CommissionedAugust 1910
FateSold to break up 9 December 1921
General characteristics
Type Destroyer leader
Displacement1,825 long tons (1,854  t)
Length353.75 ft (107.8 m)
Beam34.5 ft (10.5 m)
Draught10.5 ft (3.2 m)
Installed power
Propulsion4 shafts; steam turbines
Speed34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Complement138
Armament

HMS Swift was a unique destroyer leader designed and built for the Royal Navy prior to World War I, another product of Admiral "Jackie" Fisher's relentless quest for speed. The class was envisioned as a large ocean-going destroyer, capable of both the usual destroyer requirements and of high-speed scouting duties for a major fleet.

Contents

Design

Swift, pennant number D 60 Destroyer HMS Swift, pennant number D 60 - IWM Q 75541.jpg
Swift, pennant number D 60

Fisher put his specification to the Director of Naval Construction (DNC) in October 1904 (320 feet (98 m), 900 tons, 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)). The DNC replied that it was not strong enough. In 1905 a revised design for 33.5 knots (62.0 km/h; 38.6 mph) from 19,000  shp (14,000 kW) on a 1,400 t hull was pushed through followed by one for 36 knots on 1,350 tons from 29,000 shp (22,000 kW).

Given only four weeks to produce their tender, the major shipyards - Cammell Laird, Thornycrofts, Fairfields, John Brown and Armstrong Whitworth - put forward designs. There were problems meeting the requirements and the high cost of the designs (for example, Armstrong's design was priced at £284,000, compared to £139,881 for HMS Afridi, a destroyer of the 1905 Tribal class). A final design was not agreed until mid-December 1905; Cammell Laird only taking the order on their proviso that amendments would be needed. The vessel was 340 feet (100 m), 1,680 tons, armed with four Mark VIII 4-inch guns and two 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes, and 30,000 shp (22,000 kW) oil-fired Parsons steam turbines with four shafts. The vessel was priced at £236,000 and given the building name Flying Scud (changed to Swift in April 1906). Work started in December 1906 and she was launched on 7 December 1907.

In the initial contract the Admiralty included an offer of £18,000 for every knot more than 36 knots. In trials over a measured mile at Skelmorlie in March 1909 she suffered a number of mechanical failures and never managed better than 35.099 knots, at a shocking fuel consumption of 27.5 tons/hour out of a total stock of only 180 tons. Later trials, up to September 1909, used 26 different propeller designs in an attempt to reach the required speed. The Admiralty finally accepted her as she was for £236,764 with £44,240 in penalties for the failure to reach contracted speed and late delivery. After arguments from the builder as to the difficulty of the task the penalties were reduced to £5,000. Reports to the press at the time claimed Swift could reach 38 knots.

Despite being the prototype for her class, no other leaders were built before the outbreak of war in 1914. Her weak armament, and high cost caused Arthur Wilson to note "I do not think we require any repetition of Swift in the immediate future." Naval historian Antony Preston has for this reason given a sharp criticism of the ship, describing it as a 'very expensive and disappointing outcome'. [1]

Service history

At the beginning of the war as leader of the 4th Torpedo Boat Destroyer Flotilla she joined the Grand Fleet. In October, Swift was dispatched from Scapa Flow to search for the protected cruiser HMS Hawke when she did not return from patrol. Instead, Swift found one of Hawke's rafts carrying one officer, and 21 men. Hawke had been torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat, with only a handful of survivors. The extreme weather of the northern winter seas was more than Swift could withstand and in 1915, after a short refit, she was reassigned to the Dover Patrol. In 1916 her two forward 4-inch guns were replaced by a single BL 6-inch Mk VII gun on a P Mk III mount (the Tribal-class HMS Viking was similarly rearmed, making them the only two destroyers of the Royal Navy ever to carry such weapons). [2] The intention was to counter the superior range of the 10.5 cm (4.1-in) SK L/45 carried by German torpedo boats. Her forward decks were reinforced to cope with the mass and recoil of the new gun and she also received additional bridge structures and two anti-aircraft guns.

On the night of 20–21 April 1917, while commanded by Ambrose Peck and accompanying the destroyer HMS Broke, she engaged a force of six enemy destroyers in the Battle of Dover Strait. In a confused fight she hit G 85 with a torpedo while Broke rammed, and became enmeshed with, G 42. The remaining German ships fled, Swift pursued but took several hits and was compelled to slow. She returned to assist Broke and rescue survivors of G 42 before returning to Plymouth. Due to the poor performance of the 6-inch gun, it was replaced during repairs in May 1917 by two QF 4-inch Mk V. [3]

In the spring of 1918 she was with the Offshore Squadron during the First Ostend Raid. Quietly sidelined and scrapped after the war, her size was not approached in the Royal Navy until the Tribal class of 1936.

Related Research Articles

Town-class cruiser (1910) Class of light cruisers built for the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Australian Navy

The Town class was a group of twenty-one light cruisers built for the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) of the first half of the 20th Century. These vessels were long-range cruisers, suitable for patrolling the vast expanse covered by the British Empire. These ships, initially rated as second class cruisers, were built to a series of designs, known as the Bristol, Weymouth, Chatham, Birmingham and Birkenhead classes – all having the names of British towns except for the RAN ships, which were named after Australian cities.

<i>Beagle</i>-class destroyer

The Beagle class was a class of sixteen destroyers of the Royal Navy, all ordered under the 1908-1909 programme and launched in 1909 and 1910. The Beagles served during World War I, particularly during the Dardanelles Campaign of 1915.

HMS <i>Vansittart</i> (D64) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Vansittart was an Admiralty modified W-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy. She was ordered in January 1918 from William Beardmore & Company with the 13th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Program of 1918–19. She was the second Royal Navy ship to carry the name which was first used in 1821 for a hired packet.

HMS <i>Viking</i> (1909) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Viking was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched in 1909 and sold for scrap in 1919. She was the only destroyer ever to have six funnels.

HMS Maori was one of five ships of the third batch of Tribal-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the twentieth century. Completed in 1909, she spent her career in British waters. During the First World War, she served in the North Sea and the English Channel with the 6th Destroyer Flotilla. She struck a mine in the North Sea on 7 May 1915 off Zeebrugge, Belgium, and sank.

HMS <i>Cossack</i> (1907) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Cossack was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched in 1907 and sold in 1919.

HMS <i>Natal</i> British warrior-class armoured cruiser

HMS Natal was a Warrior-class armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She escorted the royal yacht in 1911–1912 for the newly crowned King George V's trip to India to attend the Delhi Durbar. During World War I the ship was assigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet, but did not participate in any battles. Natal was sunk by an internal explosion near Cromarty on 30 December 1915 with the loss of at least 390 crewmen and civilians. Most of her wreck was slowly salvaged over the decades until the remnants were demolished in the 1970s so they were no longer a hazard to navigation. The remains of her wreck are designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 as a war grave.

HMS <i>Champion</i> (1915) Royal Navy C-class light cruiser

HMS Champion was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw service during World War I. She was part of the Calliope group of the C class.

HMS <i>Cameleon</i> (1910) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Cameleon was one of 20 Acorn-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. Completed in 1910, she saw active service in the First World War.

HMS <i>Scott</i> (1917) Admiralty type flotilla leader

HMS Scott was the lead ship of her class of flotilla leaders for the V- and W-class destroyers built during the First World War, and the class would unofficially be named after her. Completed in 1918, the ship was assigned to the Harwich Force and was sunk by either a naval mine or by a German submarine in August while escorting a convoy. The ship herself was the first to bear the name Scott and was named after Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet.

HMS <i>Verity</i> (D63) Destroyer built for the UKs Royal Navy

HMS Verity was an Admiralty modified W-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy. She was the first ship to carry the name Verity. She was ordered in January 1918 from John Brown & Company of Clydebank with the 13th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Program of 1918–19.

HMS <i>Comet</i> (1910) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Comet was one of 20 Acorn-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. Completed in 1911 she saw active service in the First World War.

HMS <i>Valhalla</i> (1917) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Valhalla was an Admiralty V-class flotilla leader built for the Royal Navy. She was named after the home of the Norse gods. She was one of 2 destroyers ordered in July 1916 from Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead under the 9th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Program of 1916–17.

HMS <i>Valentine</i> (L69) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS <i>Carron</i> (R30) C-class destroyer

HMS Carron was one of thirty-two C-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War, a member of the eight-ship Ca sub-class. Commissioned in late 1944, she was assigned to the Home Fleet and escorted the fleet's larger ships during operations off German-occupied Norway. Carron was sold for scrap in 1967.

HMS <i>Cavendish</i> (R15) C-class destroyer

HMS Cavendish was one of eight C-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Commissioned in late 1944, she was built as a flotilla leader with additional accommodation for staff officers. The ship was assigned to the Home Fleet in 1945 after working up where she escorted capital ships of the fleet. Cavendish was sold for scrap in 1967.

HMS <i>Cambrian</i> (R85) C-class destroyer

HMS Cambrian was one of eight C-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. commissioned in mid-1944, she was assigned to the Home Fleet and escorted two Arctic convoys as well as larger elements of the fleet during operations off the German-occupied Norwegian coast.

HMS <i>Caesar</i> (R07) C-class destroyer

HMS Caesar was one of thirty-two C-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War, a member of the eight-ship Ca sub-class. Commissioned in 1944, she was built as a flotilla leader with additional accommodation for staff officers. The ship was assigned to Home Fleet during 1944–1945 and escorted one Arctic convoy as well as the capital ships of the fleet.

HMS <i>Tornado</i> (1917) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Tornado was a Royal Navy R-class destroyer constructed and then operational in the First World War. She was sunk, with most of her crew in 1917. On 23 December 1917 HMS Surprise, HMS Torrent, and HMS Tornado sank after entering an Imperial German minefield.

The Minotaur class, or Design Z, was a proposed class of light cruisers planned for the British Royal Navy shortly after the Second World War. Design Z had several proposed configurations with differing armament and propulsion arrangements. The designs were large ships that were planned to be armed with ten 6 in (152 mm) dual purpose guns and an extensive array of 3 in (76 mm) secondary guns. Six ships of the class were planned in 1947 but they were ultimately cancelled before construction could begin, owing to the post-war economic difficulties of the United Kingdom and shifting naval priorities.

References

  1. Preston, p. 60
  2. "H.M.S. Swift (1907)". The Dreadnought Project. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  3. Rickard, John (3 December 2020). "HMS Swift (1907)". HistoryOfWar.org. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.

Sources