HMS ''Consort'' was one of thirty-two

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War, a member of the eight-ship Co sub-class.

Design and description

The Co sub-class was a repeat of the preceding Ch sub-class. ''Consort'' displaced at standard load and at deep load. They had an overall length of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a deep draught of .Lenton, p. 183 The ships were powered by a pair of geared

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

s, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by two

Admiralty three-drum boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, an ...

s. The turbines developed a total of and gave a speed of at normal load. During her sea trials, ''Consort'' reached a speed of at a load of . The Co sub-class carried enough

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...

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 guns, one

superfiring Superfiring armament is a naval military building technique in which two (or more) turrets are located in a line, one behind the other, with the second turret located above ("super") the one in front so that the second turret can fire over the ...

pair each fore and aft of the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

protected by partial

gun shield A U.S. Marine manning an M240 machine gun equipped with a gun shield A gun shield is a flat (or sometimes curved) piece of armor designed to be mounted on a crew-served weapon such as a machine gun, automatic grenade launcher, or artillery piece ...

s. Their anti-aircraft suite consisted of one twin-gun stabilised Mk IV "Hazemeyer" mount for Bofors guns and two single 2-pounder (40 mm) AA guns amidships, and single mounts for a Oerlikon AA gun on the bridge wings. The ships were fitted with one quadruple mount for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. The ships were equipped with a pair of

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

rails and two throwers for 35 depth charges.

Construction and career

''Consort'' was ordered from Alexander Stephens & Sons and the ship was laid down on 26 May 1943 at its

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

in Linthouse, launched on 19 October 1944 and was commissioned on 19 March 1946. ''Consort'' was damaged by artillery fire during the

Yangtze Incident The ''Amethyst'' Incident, also known as the Yangtze Incident, was a historic event which involved the Royal Navy ships , , , and on the Yangtze River for three months during the Chinese Civil War in the summer of 1949. Description On ...

in an attempt to tow the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

from a mudbank, taking 56 direct hits, and causing casualties of 23 wounded and a further ten dead. Following decommissioning she was sold to the Prince of Wales Drydock Co., of

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, Wales, for scrap and arrived there on 15 March 1961.English, p. 139

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Consort Korean War destroyers of the United Kingdom C-class destroyers (1943) of the Royal Navy 1944 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Maritime incidents in 1949