HMS ''Rapid'' was a

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 ...

of the M class that served with 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 F ...

during

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Launched by

Thornycroft Thornycroft was an English vehicle manufacturer which built coaches, buses, and trucks from 1896 until 1977. History In 1896, naval engineer John Isaac Thornycroft formed the Thornycroft Steam Carriage and Van Company which built its firs ...

in 1916, the vessel was the one of two similar ships ordered as part of the Fifth War Construction Programme. They differed from the remainder of the M class in having more powerful engines. The design was used as the basis for the subsequent five ships of the also built by the yard. ''Rapid'' served in escort and patrol roles, principally providing defence from submarines as part of the

Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from the ...

until it was disbanded at the end of the War. After the end of hostilities, the vessel served in minor roles, including briefly as part of the Admiralty Compass Department in 1921 and 1924, but was sold to be scrapped in 1927.

Design

''Rapid'' was one of two destroyers ordered by the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

from John I. Thornycroft & Company in May 1915 as part of the Fifth War Construction Programme. ''Rapid'' and differed from the Admiralty design in having more powerful engines, which gave them a higher potential speed. The speed increase was to combat a rumoured German design that was capable of . Thornycroft had previously delivered four other M-class destroyers to the Admiralty to slightly different specifications, and together they are considered to be a single class. ''Rapid'' was

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

and

long between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

, with 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 draught of .

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was

normal Normal(s) or The Normal(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''Normal'' (2003 film), starring Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson * ''Normal'' (2007 film), starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Kevin Zegers, Callum Keith Rennie, and Andrew Airlie * ''Norma ...

and

full load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

. Three

Yarrow boiler Yarrow boilers are an important class of high-pressure water-tube boilers. They were developed by Yarrow & Co. (London), Shipbuilders and Engineers and were widely used on ships, particularly warships. The Yarrow boiler design is characteristic ...

s fed steam to

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

-Curtis

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 rated at which drove three shafts, giving a design speed of , although the ship reached during trials. Three

funnels A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construc ...

were fitted, the centre one being wider than the others, a feature shared with the R-class destroyers designed by Thornycroft. A total of of

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 ...

was carried, giving a design range of at . Armament consisted of three single QF Mk IV guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

, one

aft "Aft", in nautical terminology, is an adjective or adverb meaning towards the stern (rear) of the ship, aircraft or spacecraft, when the frame of reference is within the ship, headed at the fore. For example, "Able Seaman Smith; lie aft!" or "Wh ...

and one between the second and third funnels. Four torpedoes torpedoes were carried in two twin rotating mounts. By 1920, the ship was equipped with a single QF 2-pounder "pom-pom"

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

gun. The vessel had a

complement A complement is something that completes something else. Complement may refer specifically to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class ...

of 82 officers and ratings.

Service

''Rapid'' 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 12 August 1915 and launched on 15 July 1916. Once completed on 19 September 1916, the ship joined the

, initially with the Fifteenth Destroyer Flotilla. Occasionally, the vessel operated alone. On 17 May 1917, the ship rescued the survivors from the British armed merchantman ''Middlesex'', which had been sunk by the German submarine the previous day. In the process, ''Rapid'' was involved in a friendly fire incident when it mistook the British submarine , which was simultaneously approaching the lifeboats, for an enemy and subjected it to gunfire and a depth charge attack, albeit without sinking it. The flotilla was also employed collectively in larger operations, although these sorties were also not always as successful. For example, during an anti-submarine patrol in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

as part of a convoy run from

Lerwick Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...

between 15 and 24 June 1917, ''Rapid'' launched twelve attacks, none of which led to the destruction of any submarines. The destroyer was also employed on escort duties and it was during one these operations in the North Sea during August 1917 that ''Rapid'', along with the destroyer , unsuccessfully attacked a fleeing German submarine. ''Rapid'' continued to serve with the Fifteenth Destroyer Flotilla until the end of the war. When the Grand Fleet was disbanded, ''Rapid'' was kept on "miscellaneous service." In 1921, the ship was seconded to the Compass Department of the Admiralty, which had responsibility for many of the scientific instruments used on board ships of the Navy. The ship was then transferred to the

Reserve Fleet A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; a ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. During September 1924, the vessel was again seconded for compass trials, before again returning to reserve. In the interim, however, the Navy decided to scrap many of the older destroyers, up to and including some of the M-class, in preparation for the introduction of newer and larger vessels. Despite having little over a decade in service, ''Rapid'' was retired and sold to G Cohen for breaking up on 20 April 1927.

Pennant numbers

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rapid (1916) 1916 ships Ships built in Southampton Thornycroft M-class destroyers World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom