HMS Seafire

Seafire circa 1918
History
United Kingdom
Name	Seafire
Ordered	July 1917
Builder	John Brown & Company, Clydebank
Yard number	478
Laid down	27 February 1918
Launched	10 August 1918
Commissioned	November 1918
Fate	Sold for scrap, 14 September 1936
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Template:Sclass2- destroyer
Displacement	1,000 long tons (1,016 t) (normal)
Length	276 ft (84.1 m) o/a
Beam	26 ft 8 in (8.1 m)
Draught	9 ft 10 in (3 m)
Installed power	3 × Yarrow boilers 27,000 shp (20,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 Shafts; 1 steam turbine
Speed	34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range	2,100 nmi (3,900 km; 2,400 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	82
Armament	3 × single 4 in (102 mm) guns 1 × single 2 pdr (40 mm (1.6 in)) AA guns 2 × twin 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 2 × single 18 in (450 mm) torpedo tubes

HMS Seafire was an Template:Sclass2- built for the Royal Navy during the First World War.

Description

The Admiralty S class were larger and faster versions of the preceding Template:Sclass2-. The ships had an overall length of 276 feet (84.1 m), a beam of 26 feet 8 inches (8.1 m) and a deep draught of 9 feet 10 inches (3 m). They displaced 1,000 long tons (1,016 t) at normal load. The ships' complement was 82 officers and ratings.

The ships were powered by a single Brown-Curtis geared steam turbine that drove two propeller shafts using steam provided by three Yarrow boilers. The turbines developed a total of 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Seafire reached a speed of 33.8 knots (62.6 km/h; 38.9 mph) from 28,464 shp (21,226 kW) during her sea trials. The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).

The Admiralty S-class ships were armed with three single QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mark IV guns. One gun was positioned on the forecastle, the second was on a platform between the funnels and the third at the stern. They were equipped with a single QF 2-pounder (40 mm (1.6 in)) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft gun on a platform forward of the mainmast. They were also fitted with two rotating twin mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes amidships and two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, one on each broadside abaft the forecastle.

Construction and career

Seafire, the first ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy, was ordered in June 1917 as part of the Twelfth War Programme from John Brown & Company. The ship was laid down at the company's Clydebank shipyard on 27 February 1918, launched on 10 August and commissioned in November. She was one of the obsolete destroyers handed over to the shipbreakers Thos W Ward in part-payment for RMS Majestic on 14 September 1936, and was then broken up at Inverkeithing.

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.
• Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
• 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. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
• March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.