The Q and R class was a class of sixteen

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 regul ...

destroyers ordered for the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

in 1940 as the 3rd and 4th Emergency Flotilla. They served as

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be use ...

escorts during

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Three Q-class ships were transferred to the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

upon completion, with two further ships being handed over in 1945. ''Roebuck'' had the dubious honour of being launched prematurely by an air raid at Scotts shipyard in

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of ...

, her partially complete hulk lying submerged in the dockyard for nine months before it was salvaged and completed.

Design

The Q and R class were repeats of the preceding , but reverted to the larger J-, K- and N-class hull to allow for the inevitable growth in topweight. As they had fewer main guns than the J, K and Ns, some magazine space was replaced by fuel bunkers, allowing for some to be made at , over the of their ancestors. Like the O and Ps, they were armed with what weapons were available; guns on single mountings that allowed for only 40° elevation - therefore do not compare favourably on paper with many contemporaries. These ships used the Fuze Keeping Clock HA Fire Control Computer.Destroyer Weapons of WW2, Hodges/Friedman, In the Q class, 'Y' gun could be removed, allowing for the carriage of additional depth charges and projectors, or the carriage of minesweeps. The R class were repeats of the Qs, except that the officers' accommodation was moved from its traditional location right aft to the more accessible location amidships. This facilitated the change in watchkeepers in inclement weather; the main deck of a destroyer would often be entirely awash in heavy seas, and catwalks were not fitted to connect fore and aft until the V class ordered in 1941. In surviving ships, the single 20 mm Oerlikon guns in the bridge wings were later replaced by hydraulically operated Mark V twin mountings. ''Rotherham'', ''Raider'' and ''Rocket'' later had the Oerlikons and searchlight amidships replaced by four single QF 40 mm Bofors. The searchlight was later reinstated at the cost of depth charge stowage. ''Raider'' only had an additional pair of twin Mark V Oerlikon mounts added on the after shelter deck. Radar Type 290 was replaced by Type 291, and later by Type 293 in some ships. The centimetric wavelength Type 272 set was added on a platform between the torpedo tubes in ''Rotherham'', ''Racehorse'', ''Rapid'', ''Raider'' and ''Roebuck'', or at the foremast truck in other ships. ''Racehorse'', ''Raider'', ''Rapid'', ''Redoubt'' and ''Relentless'' had Huff-Duff (High-frequency Direction-finder) added on a lattice mainmast.

Ships

Q class

R class

Notes

References