HMS Despatch (D30)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Despatch.

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History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Despatch
Ordered:	March 1918
Builder:	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan
Laid down:	8 July 1918
Launched:	24 September 1919
Commissioned:	2 June 1922
Identification:	Pennant number D30
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 5 April 1946
General characteristics (as built)
Class & type:	Danae-class light cruiser
Displacement:	4,970 long tons (5,050 t)
Length:	445 ft (135.6 m) p/p 472 ft 6 in (144.0 m) o/a
Beam:	46 ft 9 in (14.2 m)
Draught:	16 ft 11 in (5.16 m) (mean, deep load)
Installed power:	40,000 shp (30,000 kW) 6 × Yarrow boilers
Propulsion:	2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed:	29 kn (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Complement:	460
Armament:	6 × single BL 6 in (152 mm) Mk XII guns 2 × single QF 4 in (102 mm) Mk V anti-aircraft guns 2 × single QF 2-pounder AA guns 4 × triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Waterline belt: 1.25–3 in (32–76 mm) Deck: 1 in (25 mm)
Notes:	Received a Le Cheminant deck watch from the Royal Observatory on 23 January 1933.

HMS Despatch was a Danae-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was part of the Delhi sub-class of the Danae class.

Design and description

The Delhi sub-class was identical with the preceding ships except that their bows were raised for better seakeeping. The ships were 472 feet 6 inches (144.0 m) long overall, with a beam of 46 feet 9 inches (14.2 m) and a mean deep draught of 16 feet 11 inches (5.2 m). Displacement was 4,970 long tons (5,050 t) at normal and 5,250 long tons (5,330 t) at deep load. Despatch was powered by two Brown-Curtis steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, which produced a total of 40,000 indicated horsepower (30,000 kW). The turbines used steam generated by six Yarrow boilers which gave her a speed of about 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph). She carried 1,050 long tons (1,067 t) tons of fuel oil. The ship had a crew of about 450 officers and other ranks.

Despatch was armed with six centreline BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XII guns. One superfiring pair of guns was forward of the bridge, another pair were fore and aft of the two funnels and the last two were in the stern, with one gun superfiring over the rearmost gun. The two QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun anti-aircraft guns were positioned on elevated platforms between the funnels and the QF 2-pounder "pom-pom" AA guns were amidships on the upper deck. The ships were equipped with a dozen 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes in four triple mounts, two on each broadside.

Construction and career

She was laid down by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company on 8 July 1918, launched on 24 September 1919, towed to Chatham Dockyard, and completed there on 15 June 1922.

Despatch had a relatively quiet wartime career, compared to her sisters. She was operating in the South Atlantic for the early part of the war, where she captured the German freighter SS Düsseldorf and intercepted the German merchant ship Troja. The crew of Troja scuttled her, however, before the ship could be captured. She was in the Mediterranean, escorting convoys in late 1940, and became involved in Operation White and the Battle of Cape Spartivento. Despatch was reduced to reserve in January 1945, and sold on 5 April 1946 for scrapping. She arrived at the yards of Arnott Young, of Troon, Scotland on 5 May 1946 to be broken up.

External links

• HMS Despatch at U-boat.net
• Ships of the Danae class