Q and R class
 The Rapid after completion in 1943
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The Q- and R-Class were a class of 16 destroyers of the British Royal Navy's war building program . The destroyers were ordered as "3rd and 4th Emergency Flotilla" on April 2, 1940 from six shipyards. They deviated from the first two orders of the war building program ( O- and P-class ) by using the hull of the J-, K- and N-class . The Quentin was the first ship to enter service with the Royal Navy on April 15, 1942. The other boats followed until August 4, 1943. Two destroyers ( Quentin and Quail ) were lost in the Mediterranean during World War II . The destroyers were used from 1943 in the Eastern Fleet in the 4th (Q-class) and 11th (R-class) Destroyer Flotilla; the Q-Class was last used by the British Pacific Fleet off Japan.
Two Q-class ships were transferred to the Royal Australian Navy upon completion , which received three more Q-class destroyers after the end of the war, but returned N-class destroyers to the Royal Navy.
After the war, a Q-class destroyer was sold to the Netherlands in 1945 , where it was named Hr.Ms. Banckert (ex Quilliam ) was used until 1956. In 1949, the Indian Navy received three R-Class destroyers that remained in service until the 1970s without any major modernization. As the last active warships of the class, the Indian destroyers INS Ranjit (ex Redoubt ) and Rana (ex Raider ) were in service until 1979 when they were scrapped.
Of the five destroyers remaining in the Royal Navy, four were converted into fast anti-submarine frigates ( Type 15 ) from 1950 to 1953 . In Australia, too, four ships were converted accordingly between 1950 and 1957. As the last of the Australian ships, the frigate Queenborough was scrapped in 1975.
As the last existing ship of the class, the British Rapid, last used as a target ship , was sunk on September 3, 1981 by torpedoes from the British submarine Onyx of the Oberon class .
Building history
Some difficulties in the development of the new hull for the first destroyers of the war building program ( O- and P-Class ) led to the decision in the Q- and R-Class to take over the hull of the pre-war J-Class and only the one to adapt to changed armament. The lower need for ammunition chambers, especially in the foredeck (two single guns instead of two twin guns) was compensated for by larger fuel bunkers, which enabled a 25% higher driving range compared to the J-Class. The machinery continued to correspond to that of the J-class. The construction contracts for the Q-class were given to three shipyards (three each to J. Samuel White in Cowes on the Isle of Wight and Hawthorn Leslie in Hebburn on the Tyne and two to Swan Hunter in nearby Wallsend ), which were already J-class destroyers had made. The eight R-class destroyers were also built at three shipyards (four at John Brown in Clydebank and two each at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead and Scotts in Greenock ). As a modification to the British destroyers built so far, the officers' quarters of the R-Class have been relocated from the traditional stern to the bridge area.
The Quentin was the first destroyer to be completed at White on April 22, 1942. The Rotherham was the first destroyer to be completed by John Brown on August 27, 1942 as the third Q- and R-class boat. At the time of the Quentin's commissioning, only nine boats of the previously ordered O and P class destroyers had been delivered. Of the last pre-war orders, however, three N-class destroyers and five L- and M-class destroyers (three of which were to be manufactured by Scotts) had not yet been delivered. By February 20, 1943, fourteen destroyers of the new type could be put into service. As the last destroyer of the class, the ships ordered from Scotts were not finished until June and August 1943.
Armament
All sixteen boats were again armed with traditional British destroyer armament of four 120 mm Mk.IX cannons . These guns could only be raised up to 40 ° and had not proven themselves in aircraft defense. In addition, the boats had a 2-pounder "pom pom" quadruplet and received six 20 mm Oerlikon automatic cannons . On the most recently completed Rocket and Roebuck , two of the 20 mm single guns were replaced by twin guns when the Royal Navy took over. Both boats also carried 70 depth charges. This reinforcement of the air defense and the anti-submarine defense was made up for on all boats in 1942/43; some of them then had up to 130 depth charges on board. In 1944, Raider , Rotherham and Redoubt were again slightly re-armed when their 4 individual Oerlikons were replaced by 40 mm Bofors Mk I / III guns ( Boffins ).
Mission history
The Q and R class destroyers were usually trained at the Home Fleet and also took part in combat missions there. Thus came Quadrant , Queenborough and Raider in securing North Sea convoys used. In the Mediterranean, Quentin , Quiberon , Quality , Quilliam , Queenborough and Quail , which suffered a serious mine hit in the autumn of 1943 and then sank in tow for a possible repair, as well as raiders were in action, some of them also in the Torch Husky and Avalanche operations were used. Quentin was also lost in the Mediterranean on December 2, 1942 as the first ship of the class to attacks by German Ju 88 bombers and on May 18, 1944 Quail , which had suffered a severe mine hit in autumn 1943 and then was towed from Taranto to Malta to one maybe still possible repair sank.
The remaining destroyers then all moved to the Eastern Fleet . The ships of the R-class (after the Leader also Rotherham- class) were all in service in Southeast Asia at the end of the war, those of the Q-class (also Quilliam-class) were all in the Pacific at the end of the war.
Delivery to other navies
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Already on completion, two destroyers were loaned to the Royal Australian Navy: Quiberon in July 1942 and Quickmatch at the end of September 1942 , which came into service as Australian ships. In autumn 1945, Queenborough , Quality and Quadrant remained in Australia, where they replaced N-class destroyers that had been in use until then, the range of which was less suitable for use in the Pacific. The five destroyers originally loaned were given away to Australia in 1950. From April 1950 Quadrant (back into service in July 1953), Queenborough (finished December 1954), Quickmatch (finished September 1955) and Quiberon (finished December 1957) were converted into anti-submarine frigates based on the British model. The Quality was scrapped in 1958 because the destroyer, which had not been used for years, had corroded in the waterline and a conversion was no longer worthwhile.
In November 1945 the Royal Navy sold the damaged Quilliam to the Dutch Navy, which named the destroyer as Mr. Banckert put into service. The Q-Class Leader had suffered considerable damage to the forecastle in a collision with the aircraft carrier Indomitable on May 20, 1945 off Okinawa . Only towed to Leyte for emergency repairs, the damaged destroyer returned home via Australia, the Panama Canal and Bermuda . After repairing and renewing the bow area, the Banckert was sent to the Dutch East Indies and used in the Indonesian War of Independence . Interrupted by a layover in the shipyard at home, the destroyer was last in service in Dutch New Guinea until August 1951 . After a short period of use at home, the destroyer was decommissioned in April 1952 and finally scrapped in the Netherlands in 1957.
1949 was Indian Navy with Rotherham , Redoubt and Raider three destroyers of the R-Class, which had been overtaken on British shipyards. Without further fundamental modernization, they remained in service as Rajput , Ranjit and Rana until the 1970s and were still used during the Indo-Pakistani War in 1971 . Ranjit and Rana were the last active warships of the class to be retired and scrapped in 1979.
Conversion to fast anti-submarine frigates
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When the destroyers were handed over to India, the Royal Navy still had five R-group destroyers of the class, of which the Racehorse was sold for demolition in December 1949.
The conversion of the Relentless and Rocket into anti-submarine frigates began in 1949 . The development of the most modern submarines had already shown at the end of the war that the majority of the escort vehicles of the war were not able to cope with the speed achieved under water. To this end, considerably more sensors should be installed on the new ships and more space should be given to the crews and the operators of the devices. They should also hardly be exposed to the weather on board when operating their ship and its weapons. The new limbo launchers should be installed as the main weapon against submarines . During the conversion, all superstructures and masts were removed and replaced with new aluminum superstructures. The conversions of Relentless and Rocket were completed in 1951 at the naval shipyards in Portsmouth and Devonport respectively. These first model conversions were followed by a further 21 conversions of destroyers of the war building program of the classes R, T, U and V, W and Z, which were designated as type 15 frigates. There were some considerable differences in the modifications and improvements were introduced over and over again. The two remaining R-Class ships, Rapid and Roebuck , were also rebuilt from 1952 to 1953. However, they only received older squid throwers .
Three conversions similar to the Type 15 were made in Canada , four in Australia and later two in South Africa .
The Q and R class destroyers
| Surname | Shipyard | Launch | finished | Final fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Quentin G78 |
JS White | November 5, 1941 | 04/15/1942 | from the December 2, 1942 Air Force before the Galite Islands sunk |
|
Quiberon G81 RAN |
White | January 31, 1942 | 07/15/1942 | put into service for RAN , conversion to Type 15 frigate by 12:57, June 1964 a. D., 1972 sold for demolition |
|
Rotherham H09 |
John Brown Building No. 575 |
March 31, 1942 | 08/29/1942 | Flotilla leader R-Class, in July 1949 to India as INS Rajput 1976 a. D. and scrapped |
|
Quality G62 |
Swan Hunter construction no. 1603 |
October 6, 1941 | September 7, 1942 | October 1945 to RAN, sold for demolition in April 1958 |
|
Quickmatch G92 RAN |
White construction no. |
04/11/1942 | 09/23/1942 | put into service for RAN, converted to Type 15 frigate by 9.55, April 1963 a. D., 1972 sold for demolition |
|
Redoubt H41 |
John Brown Building No. 589 |
2.05.1942 | October 1, 1942 | Made available to India in 1949, in service as INS Ranjit until 1979, then scrapped |
|
Quilliam G09 |
Hawthorn Leslie Building No. 633 |
11/29/1941 | 10/22/1942 | Flotilla leader Q-class, 1945 as Banckert to the Dutch Navy , 1957 for demolition |
|
Racehorse H11 |
John Brown Building No. 546 |
1.06.1942 | 10/30/1942 | December 1949 for demolition |
|
Raider H15 |
Cammell Laird | 04/19/1942 | 11/16/1942 | Made available to India in 1949, in service as INS Rana until 1976, scrapped in 1979 |
|
Quadrant G11 |
Hawthorn Leslie Building No. 682 |
02/28/1942 | 11/26/1942 | 1945 to RAN, 4.50-7.53 conversion to Type 15 frigate, February 1963 a. D. and sold for demolition |
|
Relentless H85 |
John Brown Building No. 590 |
07/15/1942 | 11/30/1942 | 1949/51 conversion to Type 15 frigate, sold for demolition in 1971 |
|
Queenborough G30 |
Swan Hunter construction no. 1605 |
January 16, 1942 | December 10, 1942 | 1945 to RAN, 5.50-12.54 conversion to Type 15 frigate, 1966 training ship, sold in 1975 for demolition |
|
Quail G45 |
Hawthorn Leslie Building No. 683 |
1.06.1942 | January 7, 1943 | November 15, 1943 A mine hit off Bari , stranded, sunk in tow on the way from Taranto to Malta on May 18, 1944 |
|
Rapid H32 |
Cammell Laird building no. 1065 |
07/16/1942 | 02/20/1943 | 1952/53 conversion to Type 15 frigate, training ship from 1966, sunk as a target on September 3, 1981 |
|
Roebuck H95 |
Scott's building no. 594 |
December 10, 1942 | 06/10/1943 | 1952/53 conversion to Type 15 frigate, sold for demolition in 1969 |
|
Rocket H92 |
Scott's building no. 593 |
10/28/1942 | 4.08.1943 | 1949/51 conversion to Type 15 frigate, sold for demolition in 1967 |
literature
- Maurice Cocker: Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981 , Ian Allen (1983), ISBN 0-7110-1075-7 .
- Norman Friedman: British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War , Seaforth Publishing (Barnsley 2009), ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9 .
- HT Lenton: Warships of the British and Commonwealth Navies , Ian Allan 1969.
- Leo Marriott: Royal Navy Frigates 1945-1983 , Ian Allan (1983), ISBN 0-7110-1322-5 .
- Antony Preston: Destroyers , Hamlyn, ISBN 0-600-32955-0 .
- Alan Raven, John Roberts: War Built Destroyers O to Z Classes , Bivouac Books, London 1978, ISBN 0-85680-010-4 .
- MJ Whitley: Destroyers of World War 2 , Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1988, ISBN 0-87021-326-1 .
Web links
- Q and R groups destroyers on navypedia
- Service Histories Destroyers Q-class & R-class on naval-history.net
Individual evidence
- ^ Raven / Roberts: War Built Destroyers O to Z Classes , p. 2
- ↑ Raven / Roberts, p. 3
- ↑ HMS Quentin (G 78) on uboat.net
- ↑ HMS Quail (G 45) on uboat.net
- ↑ HMAS Quiberon on navy.gov.au
- ↑ HMAS Quickmatch on navy.gov.au
- ↑ HMAS Queensborough navy.gov.au
- ↑ HMAS Quality navy.gov.au
- ↑ HMAS Quadrant on navy.gov.au
- ↑ Banckert D 801 on onzevloot
- ^ Lenton: Warships of the British and Commonwealth Navies , p. 120
- ↑ Lenton, p. 81
- ↑ Lenton, p. 78
- ↑ Lenton, p. 78ff.
