HMS ''Speedy'' was one of 21 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 ...
in the 1930s.
Design and description
The ''Halcyon'' class designed as a replacement for the preceding
Hunt class and varied in size and propulsion. ''Speedy'' displaced at
standard Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object th ...
load and 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 ...
. The ship 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
beam of and a
draught of . The ship's complement consisted of 80 officers and
ratings.
[Chesneau, p. 63]
She was powered by two
Parsons
Parsons may refer to:
Places
In the United States:
* Parsons, Kansas, a city
* Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community
* Parsons, Tennessee, a city
* Parsons, West Virginia, a town
* Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...
geared
steam turbines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two
Admiralty three-drum boilers. The engines produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . ''Speedy'' carried a maximum of of
fuel oil that gave her a range of at .
[Lenton, p. 252]
''Speedy'' was armed with two QF 4-inch (10.2 cm)
anti-aircraft guns. She was also equipped with eight
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...
s. Later in her career, the rear 4-inch gun mount was removed as were most of the .303 machine guns, one quadruple mount for
Vickers .50 machine guns was added as were up to four single or twin mounts for
20 mm Oerlikon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models empl ...
AA guns. For escort work, her minesweeping gear could be exchanged for around 40
depth charges.
Construction and career
''Speedy'' was built by William Hamilton & Co. at
Port Glasgow, Scotland and completed at J. S. White & Co. at
Cowes, Isle of Wight. She was commissioned in 1939. Her pennant number was N 17, later J 17. HMS ''Speedy'' saw service in the
Mediterranean Sea
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 ...
based at
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
as part of
14th/17th Minesweeper Flotilla. In May 1943 she hit a mine, which resulted in the deaths of four crewmen, with eight injured. The ship was badly damaged but remained afloat and was towed to harbour for repairs.
The ship was sold into
mercantile service in 1946 and renamed ''Speedon''. She was scrapped at
Aden in 1957.
References
Bibliography
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*
*
External links
HMS Speedy (J 17)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Speedy (J17)
Halcyon-class minesweepers
Ships built on the River Clyde
1938 ships
World War II minesweepers of the United Kingdom