HMS ''Cheviot'' was one of thirty-two destroyers built for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

during the

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, a member of the eight-ship Ch sub-class. Completed after the war, she was sold for scrap in 1962.

Design and description

The Ch sub-class was a repeat of the preceding Ca sub-class, except that the addition of remote control for the main-gun mounts caused some of the ships' intended weapons to be removed to save weight. ''Cheviot'' displaced at

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

load and at

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. They had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , a beam of and a deep draught of .Lenton, p. 180 The ships were powered by a pair of geared steam turbines, each driving one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of and gave a speed of at normal load. During her

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s, ''Cheviot'' reached a speed of at a load of . The Ch sub-class carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at . The ships' complement was 186 officers and ratings. The main armament of the destroyers consisted of four QF Mk IV

dual-purpose gun A dual-purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets. Description Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and ...

s, one superfiring pair each fore and aft of the superstructure protected by partial gun shields. Their anti-aircraft suite consisted of one twin-gun stabilised Mk IV "Hazemeyer" mount for Bofors guns and two four twin mounts for Oerlikon AA guns. To compensate for the weight of the remote control equipment, one of the two quadruple 21-inch (533 mm)

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

mounts was removed and the depth charge stowage was reduced to only 35. The ships were fitted with a pair of depth charge rails and two throwers for the depth charges.

Construction and career

''Cheviot'' was ordered from Alexander Stephens & Sons and the ship was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 27 April 1943 at its shipyard in

Linthouse Linthouse is a neighbourhood in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated directly south of the River Clyde and lies immediately west of Govan, with other adjacent areas including Shieldhall and the Southern General Hospital to the west, a ...

, launched on 2 May 1944 and was commissioned on 11 December 1945. In 1946 ''Cheviot'' was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Squadron based at

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. She saw service, along with other Royal Navy ships in preventing illegal immigration into Palestine in 1947. Her pennant number was also subsequently changed to D90 from R90. She returned to the UK in 1950. She was given an interim modernisation in 1954, which saw her 'X' turret at the rear of the ship replaced by two Squid anti-submarine mortars. Between December 1956 and October 1959 she saw service in the Far East, as part of the 8th Destroyer Squadron. ''Cheviot'' was decommissioned in March 1960. The ship was used as a target for homing torpedo trials. She was subsequently sold to

Thos. W. Ward Thos. W. Ward Ltd was a Sheffield, Yorkshire, steel, engineering and cement business, which began as coal and coke merchants. It expanded into recycling metal for Sheffield's steel industry, and then the supply and manufacture of machinery. I ...

and arrived at their yard in

Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; gd, Inbhir Chèitinn) is a port town and parish, in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth. A town of ancient origin, Inverkeithing was given royal burgh status during the reign of Malcolm IV in the 12th century. It was an imp ...

for scrapping on 22 October 1962.English, p. 132

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheviot (R90) 1944 ships Ships built on the River Clyde C-class destroyers (1943) of the Royal Navy World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom