Weapon-class destroyer
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| Class overview | |
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| Name: | Weapon class |
| Operators: |
 Royal Navy
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| Preceded by: | C class |
| Succeeded by: | Battle class |
| Planned: | 20 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Cancelled: | 16 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| General characteristics as built | |
| Type: | Destroyer |
| Displacement: | 1,980 tons (standard) |
| Tons burthen: | 2,825 tons (full) |
| Length: | 365 ft (111 m) o/a, 341.5 ft (104.1 m) p/p |
| Beam: | 38 ft (12 m) |
| Draught: | 14.5 ft (4.4 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 x Foster-Wheeler water-tube boilers, Parsons double-reduction geared steam turbines, 40,000 shp (30,000 kW) on 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 31-knot (57 km/h) |
| Range: | 630 tons oil, 5,000 nmi (9,300 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h) |
| Complement: | 234 (256 in Battleaxe) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Armament: |
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| General characteristics (A/D conversion) | |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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The Weapon class was a class of destroyers built for the British Royal Navy towards the end of World War II. They were the smaller counterpart to the Battle class (which followed them) and were the first new destroyer designs for the Royal Navy since the Second World War Emergency Programme. 20 ships were planned, of which only 13 were laid down and 7 were launched, but the cessation of hostilities resulted in only 4 being completed for service. Two of the ships had been previously ordered (as Celt and Centaur) as part of the planned C class, or 15th Emergency flotilla, of 1944, but the orders were changed to the new design.
The Weapon class were an intermediate size built to take advantage of slipways that were too small to be used to build Battle-class destroyers.
The hull length was not much increased over the War Emergency Programme design, but beam and draught were increased to allow for a displacement increase, as the latter design was grossly overweight with the addition of wartime technology to a relatively small hull. Two full sets of torpedo tubes were carried, a somewhat retrospective feature in a late-war design.
A criticism of the older designs was the use of adjacent boiler rooms. This had been adopted to allow for a single funnel, to lower the silhouette and increase the deck space of the relatively small hull. However, this made the ship vulnerable to being disabled by a single hit amidships. To remedy this, the Weapon class adopted the "unit" system, of side-by-side boiler and engine rooms with alternate port/starboard arrangement. This was standard practice in United States Navy ships, but these were generally far larger than their Royal Navy counterparts. The unit arrangement meant that 2 funnels were needed. The forward funnel was trunked up through the foremast and there was a small stump funnel between the torpedo tubes. This led to an unusual and rather unbalanced appearance, similar to that of the Daring class, and the Weapons were not the most attractive of ships.
The main improvement over earlier ships was to remedy the woefully inadequate arrangements for anti-aircraft defence. To this end, three twin 4-inch Mark XIV mountings were carried, remotely controlled by a Type 275 Radar equipped Mark VI(M) director, allowing full blind-fire against aircraft targets. The light battery consisted of 2 of the new STAAG (Stabilised Tachymetric Anti-Aircraft Gun) mounts for twin Bofors 40 mm guns and two single weapons on Mk. II mounts in the bridge wings. The STAAGs were carried on either side aft, and each had its own Type 262 Radar and predictive fire control computer, allowing for automatic blind-fire engagement of targets. The STAAGs were excellent weapons on paper and the firing range, but when exposed to the vibration of a naval gun mounting and the rigour of the elements they were less than reliable. Coupled with a mounting weight of 17 tons, they were something of a disappointment and their post-war service was limited. Type 293 Radar was carried on the lattice foremast for target indication.
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