HMS Swift (1907)
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HMS Swift
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Swift |
| Builder: | Cammell Laird, Birkenhead |
| Laid down: | 1905 |
| Launched: | 7 December 1907 |
| Commissioned: | August 1910 |
| Fate: | Sold to break up 9 December 1921 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Destroyer leader |
| Displacement: | 1,825 tons (2,207 tons full load) |
| Length: | 353.75 ft (107.8 m) |
| Beam: | 34.5 ft (10.5 m) |
| Draught: | 10.5 ft (3.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | 12 Yarrow-type Laird water tube boilers, Parsons steam turbines, 4 shafts, 30,000 shp (22,000 kW) |
| Speed: | 34 knots (63 km/h) |
| Complement: | 138 |
| Armament: |
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HMS Swift was a unique destroyer leader designed and built for the Royal Navy prior to World War I, another product of Admiral "Jackie" Fisher's relentless quest for speed. The class was envisioned as a large ocean-going destroyer, capable of both the usual destroyer requirements and of high-speed scouting duties for a major fleet.
Fisher put his specification to the Director of Naval Construction (DNC) in October 1904 (320 feet (98 m), 900 tons, 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)). The DNC replied that it was not strong enough. In 1905 a revised design for 33.5 knots (62.0 km/h; 38.6 mph) from 19,000 shp (14,000 kW) on a 1,400 t hull was pushed through followed by one for 36 knots on 1,350 tons from 29,000 shp (22,000 kW).
Given only four weeks to produce their tender, the major shipyards - Cammell Laird, Thornycrofts, Fairfields, John Brown and Armstrong Whitworth - put forward designs. There were problems meeting the requirements and the high cost of the designs (for example, Armstrong's design was priced at £284,000, compared to £139,881 for HMS Afridi, a destroyer of the 1905 Tribal class). A final design was not agreed until mid-December 1905; Cammell Laird only taking the order on their proviso that amendments would be needed. The vessel was 340 feet (100 m), 1,680 tons, armed with four Mark VIII 4-inch guns and two 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes, and 30,000 shp (22,000 kW) oil-fired Parsons steam turbines with four shafts. The vessel was priced at £236,000 and given the building name Flying Scud (changed to Swift in April 1906). Work started in December 1906 and she was launched on 7 December 1907.
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