The O and P class was a
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
of
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 of the
British 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 ...
. Ordered in 1939, they were the first ships in the
War Emergency Programme
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
, also known as the 1st and 2nd Emergency Flotilla, respectively. They served as
convoy escorts in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and some were subsequently converted to fast second-rate
anti-submarine
An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...
frigates in the 1950s.
Design
The O and P class were based on the hull and machinery of the preceding
J class, but with more sheer forward to counter the poor riding qualities of the Js. These ships used the
Fuze Keeping Clock
The Fuze Keeping Clock (FKC) was a simplified version of the Royal Navy's High Angle Control System analogue fire control computer. It first appeared as the FKC MkII in destroyers of the 1938 ,''Tribal Class Destroyers'', Hodges, p. 27 while late ...
HA Fire Control Computer.
[Destroyer Weapons of WW2, Hodges/Friedman, ]
O class
The O-class ships were built in two groups of four. The first group had 4.7 inch guns. They were in low-angle mounts which could elevate to only 40 degrees, and were additionally fitted with a 4 inch
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 in place of one set of torpedo tubes. The second group had guns in high-angle mounts and were fitted to act as minelayers; they could be recognized by the flat "beaver tail" stern over which the mines were dropped.
When carrying mines they had to land Y gun, their torpedo tubes and depth charges. The designed anti-aircraft armament was one quadruple
QF 2-pounder "pom pom" and a pair of quadruple
0.5-inch Vickers A/A machine guns. The latter proved to be outdated, and were replaced by
20 mm Oerlikon guns as they became available, with a total of six single mounts eventually being carried.
P class
The P class were repeats of the O class, armed entirely with 4 inch guns, in high-angle mounts fitted with a new tall design of shield which did not require the ships to lose a set of torpedo tubes to take on further AA guns.
Ships
O class
All ships survived the war. Five of them were involved in the
Battle of the Barents Sea
The Battle of the Barents Sea was a World War II naval engagement on 31 December 1942 between warships of the German Navy (''Kriegsmarine'') and British ships escorting convoy JW 51B to Kola Inlet in the USSR. The action took place in the Bare ...
, ''Onslow'' being badly damaged. After the battle, the ships were refitted with tall lattice masts instead of the normal mast.
All of the O-class ships with 4-inch armament were fitted for minelaying.
P class
They served mainly in the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
, where four ships were lost.
See also
*
Type 16 frigate
The Type 16 frigates were a class of British anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Navy. They were based on the hulls of World War II-era destroyers that had been rendered obsolete by rapid advances in technology. They were similar in concept to ...
: postwar conversion of some O and P class vessels into second-rate fast anti-submarine frigates.
Notes
References
* ''Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981'', Maurice Cocker, Ian Allan,
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External links
{{WWII British ships
Destroyer classes
Ship classes of the Royal Navy