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CANADIAN NAVY - CANADA

TORPEDO SHIPS

PATRIOT destroyers (1916/1920)

Patriot 1920

  

Displacement normal, t	985
Displacement full, t	1130
Length, m	83.7
Breadth, m	8.40
Draught, m	2.60
No of shafts	3
Machinery	3 Parsons steam turbines, 3 Yarrow boilers
Power, h. p.	26500
Max speed, kts	35
Fuel, t	oil 254
Endurance, nm(kts)
Armament	3 x 1 - 102/40 QF Mk IV, 1 x 1 - 40/39 2pdr QF Mk II, 2 x 2 - 533 TT
Complement	80

Project history: The improved variant of L type destroyers. Destroyers were built by various yards and had differences in appearance. So, Mansfield, Mentor, Mastiff, Meteor, Miranda, Minos, Manly, Moon, Morning Star, Mauncey, Musketeer, Nerissa, Relentless and Rival were equipped with two-shafts machinery and first two were four-funnelled.

    Twenty more 'M' class were ordered in September 1914, 16 of them to the Admiralty standard design but without the cruising turbines (to accelerate delivery - except in Fairfield, Swan Hunter and Fairfield boats). Another improvement was to put No 2 102mm gun on a 'bandstand' as in the 'L' class. The doubling on the stempiece fitted as an emergency measure to the early 'M' class was now made standard to facilitate ramming of U-boats, but in the form of a single casting. The Yarrow 'specials' were similar to the Miranda but were 0.3m longer on the waterline and had raked stems and sloping sterns. The only other variants built thereafter were Thornycroft 'specials', which resembled the Admiralty boats but had flat-sided funnels and higher freeboard. In the later Admiralty-designed boats the stem was raked and the bows were given more flare to improve seakeeping. Machinery was non-standard, with geared-turbines in a few, triple screws in most, and twin screws in some. In July 1916 the Admiralty restored order to a chaotic situation by ordering that all 3-shaft destroyers building were to be listed as Admiralty 'M' class and future 2-shaft boats would be Admiralty 'R's; as a result Redmill and Redwing became Medina and Medora (renamed Medway two weeks later).
    Although there were some complaints about poor finish they proved sturdy craft and gave good value in four hard years of war. Because of hard driving and particularly because their hulls had not been galvanized they were worn out by 1919 and very few survived the wholesale scrappings in 1921. In all 90 were built, 79 Admiralty boats, and 11 'specials'.

Modernizations: None.

Naval service: No significant events.