HMS Shikari (1919)

HMS Shikari during the Second World War
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Shikari
Builder:	Doxford Shipyard
Laid down:	15 January 1918
Launched:	14 July 1919
Commissioned:	April 1924
Identification:	Pennant number: D85
Fate:	Scrapped on 4 November 1945
General characteristics
Class and type:	Admiralty S-class destroyer

HMS Shikari (D85) was an Admiralty S-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was built by William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland and launched on 14 July 1919. She was one of the destroyers that took part in the Invergordon Mutiny. In 1933, she was briefly commanded by Frederic John Walker, who was to rise to fame as the foremost Allied submarine hunter of World War II.

On 4 June 1940, Shikari, under the command of Lt.Cdr. H.N.A. Richardson, was the last ship to leave Dunkirk.

Shikari was ordered from Doxford Shipyard in April 1917 as part of the first batch of 24 S-class destroyers. The S class were intended as a fast 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) destroyer for service that would be cheaper than the large V-class destroyers that preceded them and so able to be ordered in large numbers. The ships were 276 feet (84.12 m) long overall and 265 feet (80.77 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 26 feet 8 inches (8.13 m) and a draught of 9 feet 10 inches (3.00 m). They displaced 905 long tons (920 t) standard and 1,221 long tons (1,241 t) full load. Three Yarrow boilers fed Brown-Curtiss single-reduction steam turbines which drove two propeller shafts, and generated 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) at 360 rpm, giving the required 36 knot speed. 301 long tons (306 t) of oil could be carried, giving a range of 2,750 nautical miles (5,090 km; 3,160 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The design gun armament of the S class was three 4-inch (102 mm) guns and a single 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft gun. Torpedo armament was four 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes in two twin rotating mounts and two 18-inch (457 mm) tubes.