HMS ''Comet'' was one of 20 s 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 F ...

in the 1910s. Completed in 1911 she saw active service in the

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 ...

Design and description

The ''Acorn'' class marked a return to

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

-firing as pioneered in the Tribal or F class of 1905 and of 1907. The

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provided general specifications, but each

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did their own detailed design so that ships often varied in size.Gardiner & Gray, p. 74 The ''Acorn''s 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

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of , and a deep draught of . The ships displaced at

deep 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 ...

and their crew numbered 72 officers and ratings.Friedman, p. 295 The destroyers were powered by a single

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that drove three

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 ...

s using steam provided by four

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. The engines developed a total of and were designed for a speed of . ''Comet'' reached a speed of from 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. The ''Acorn''s had a range of at a cruising speed of . The primary armament of the ships consisted of a pair of BL MK VIII guns in single, unprotected

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s fore and aft of the

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. They were also armed with two single QF 12-pounder () guns, one on each

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between the forward and centre

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s. The destroyer were equipped with a pair of single rotating mounts for 21-inch (533 mm)

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and carried two reload torpedoes.

Construction and career

''Comet'' was ordered under the 1909–1910 Naval Programme from Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company. The ship was

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at the company's

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

shipyard on 1 February 1910, launched on 23 June and commissioned in June 1911. She was torpedoed and sunk on 6 August 1918.Friedman, p. 306

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Comet (1910), HMS Acorn-class destroyers 1910 ships Ships built in Govan World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom Ships sunk in collisions World War I shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea