E and F-class destroyer

Electra
Class overview
Operators	Royal Navy Royal Canadian Navy Hellenic Navy Dominican Navy
Preceded by	C and D class
Succeeded by	G and H class
Subclasses	E, F
In commission	21 April 1932 - April 1956
Completed	18
Lost	9 + 1 expended
Retired	8
General characteristics as per Lenton
Type	E and F destroyer
Displacement	1,405 long tons (1,428 t) (standard) 1,940 long tons (1,970 t) (deep)
Length	329 ft (100 m) o/a
Beam	33 ft 3 in (10.13 m)
Draught	12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) (deep)
Installed power	38,000 shp (28,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × Parsons geared steam turbines 3 × Admiralty 3-drum water tube boilers 2 × shafts
Speed	35.5 kn (40.9 mph; 65.7 km/h) 31.5 kn (36.2 mph; 58.3 km/h) )deep)
Range	6,350 nmi (7,310 mi; 11,760 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h) 1,275 nmi (1,467 mi; 2,361 km) at 35.5 kn (40.9 mph; 65.7 km/h)
Complement	145
Armament	4 × QF 4.7-inch (120-mm) Mk. IX L/45 guns 8 × .5 in (13 mm) Mk.I anti-aircraft machine guns (2x4) 8 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes 1 × 20-round depth charge rack
General characteristics (Esk and Express as minelayers)
Armament	2 × QF 4.7 in (120 mm) Mk. IX L/45 dual purpose guns, 60 × Mk. XVI mines
Notes	Other characteristics as per above
General characteristics (flotilla leaders)
Displacement	1,495 long tons (1,519 t) (standard) 2,050 long tons (2,080 t) (full load)
Length	343 ft (105 m) o/a
Beam	33 ft 9 in (10.29 m)
Speed	36 kn (41 mph; 67 km/h) 32 kn (37 mph; 59 km/h) (deep)
Range	6,500 nmi (7,500 mi; 12,000 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h) 1,500 nmi (1,700 mi; 2,800 km) at 36 kn (41 mph; 67 km/h)
Complement	175
Armament	5 × QF 4.7 in (120 mm) Mk. IX L/45 dual purpose guns
Notes	Other characteristics as per above

The E and F class was a class of 18 destroyers of the Royal Navy that served during the Second World War. Three ships were later transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy, one to the Royal Hellenic Navy and one to the Dominican Navy. Launched in 1934, they served in the Second World War. Nine were lost. The E class were ordered under the 1931 construction programme, the F class being of the 1932 programme.

Design

For the first time since the A-class of the 1927 programme, the flotilla leaders were built to an enlarged design, being lengthened to incorporate an additional QF 4.7-inch (120-mm) gun between the funnels. The lengthened design resulted in a three boiler room layout to enhance water-tight integrity. The leaders were not fitted for minesweeping or minelaying.

Ships

E class

Ship	Pennant number	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Echo	H.23	William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton	20 March 1933	16 February 1934	22 October 1934	Transferred to the Royal Hellenic Navy as Navarinon, 1944
Eclipse	H.08	William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton	22 March 1933	12 April 1934	29 November 1934	Sunk by a mine off Kalymnos, Greece, 24 October 1943
Electra	H.27	Hawthorn Leslie & Company, Hebburn	15 March 1933	15 February 1934	13 September 1934	Sunk by the Japanese light cruiser Jintsu in the Battle of the Java Sea, 27 February 1942
Encounter	H.10	Hawthorn Leslie & Company, Hebburn	15 March 1933	29 March 1934	2 November 1934	Scuttled after being severely damaged by the Japanese heavy cruisers Ashigara and Myōkō in the Battle of the Java Sea, 1 March 1942
Escapade	H.17	Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Greenock	30 March 1933	30 January 1934	30 August 1934	Sold to G & W Brunton, Grangemouth for breaking up, August 1947
Escort	H.66	Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Greenock	30 March 1933	29 March 1934	30 October 1934	Torpedoed by the Italian submarine Guglielmo Marconi, 8 July 1940; sank while under tow, 11 July 1940
Esk	H.15	Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend	24 March 1933	19 March 1934	28 September 1934	Sunk by a mine near Texel, the Netherlands, 31 August 1940
Express	H.61	Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend	24 March 1933	29 May 1934	2 November 1934	Transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Gatineau, 1943
Exmouth (flotilla leader)	H.02	HM Dockyard, Portsmouth	15 May 1933	7 February 1934	9 November 1934	Sunk by U-22 in the Moray Firth, 21 January 1940

F class

Ship	Pennant number	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
Fame	H.78	Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company, Wallsend (hull subcontracted to Vickers Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness)	5 July 1933	28 June 1934	26 April 1935	Transferred to the Dominican Republic as Generalisimo, February 1949
Fearless	H.67	Cammell Laird & Company, Birkenhead	17 March 1933	12 May 1934	22 December 1934	Torpedoed by Italian aircraft in the Mediterranean, 12 July 1941; scuttled, 23 July 1941
Firedrake	H.79	Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company, Wallsend (hull subcontracted to Vickers Armstrongs, Walker)	5 July 1933	28 June 1934	30 May 1935	Sunk by U-211 on 16 December 1942
Foresight	H.68	Cammell Laird & Company, Birkenhead	21 July 1933	29 June 1934	15 May 1935	Torpedoed by Italian planes, 12 August 1942; scuttled the same day
Forester	H.74	J. Samuel White & Company, Cowes	15 May 1933	28 June 1934	29 March 1935	Sold, 22 January 1946; scrapped at Rosyth, June 1947
Fortune	H.70	John Brown & Company, Clydebank	25 July 1933	29 August 1934	27 April 1935	Transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Saskatchewan, 31 May 1943
Foxhound	H.69	John Brown & Company, Clydebank	21 August 1933	12 October 1934	6 June 1935	Transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Qu'Appelle, 8 February 1944
Fury	H.76	J. Samuel White & Company, Cowes	19 May 1933	10 September 1934	18 May 1935	Mined and damaged beyond repair off Normandy, 21 June 1944; scrapped, 18 September 1944
Faulknor (flotilla leader)	H.62	Yarrow & Company, Scotstoun	31 July 1933	12 June 1934	24 May 1935	Sold, 22 January 1946; scrapped at Milford Haven, April 1946

References

• English, John (1993). Amazon to Ivanhoe:British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s. Kendal, England: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-64-9.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.