P class sloop

Class overview
Name:	P class
Operators:	Royal Navy
In service:	1916-1921
Planned:	64
Completed:	64 (including 20 as PC-class Q-ships)
Lost:	3
General characteristics
Type:	sloop
Displacement:	613 long tons (623 t)
Length:	230 ft (70 m) p.p. 244 ft 6 in (74.52 m) o.a.
Beam:	23 ft 9 in (7.24 m)
Draught:	8 ft (2.4 m)
Propulsion:	Machinery: 2 sets steam turbine Boilers: 2 cylindrical 2 screws I.H.P. 3,500
Speed:	20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Range:	Oil fuel
Complement:	50 - 54 men
Armament:	(As designed): 1 x 4-inch (102mm) 1 x QF 2-pounder (40mm) A/A 2 x 14-inch torpedo tubes

The P class, nominally described as "patrol boats", was in effect a class of coastal sloops. Twenty-four ships to this design were ordered in May 1915 (numbered P.11 to P.34) and another thirty between February and June 1916 (numbered P.35 to P.64) under the Emergency War Programme for the Royal Navy in the First World War, although ten of the latter group were in December 1916 altered on the stocks before launch for use as decoy Q-ships and were renumbered as PC-class sloops. None were named, although in 1925 P.38 was given the name Spey.

These vessels were designed to replace destroyers in coastal operations, but had twin screws, a very low freeboard, ram bows of hardened steel, a sharply cutaway funnel and a small turning circle. Clearly seen as the linear descendants of the late 19th century steam torpedo boats and coastal destroyers, many were actally fitted with the 14 in torpedo tubes removed from old torpedo boats.

PC class sloops

Ten of these ships were completed as Q-ships, with their numbers being altered by the addition of a "C" after the "P". These were termed the PC class sloops. A further batch of ten ships were ordered in 1917 (PC.65 to PC.70 in January, and PC.71 to PC.74 in June) as PC class sloops. These were built to resemble small merchant vessels for use as decoy (Q) ships, and were alternatively known as "PQ" boats. Again, none were named, although in 1925 PC.73 was given the name Dart, while PC.55 and PC.69 were named Baluchi and Pathan respectively upon transfer to the Royal Indian Navy in May 1922.

The PC-class sloops were completed with slight enlargement from the standard P-class sloops. They were 247 ft (overall) long and 25½ ft in breadth, although they had similar machinery. Displacement varied from 682 tons in PC.42, PC.43, PC.44, PC.51, PC.55 and PC.56 to 694 tons in PC.60 to PC.63 and in PC.65 to PC.74. They carried one 4-inch and two 12-pounder guns, and no torpedo tubes.

Ships

1915 batch:

• J. Samuel White & Company, Cowes, launched 14 October 1915. Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921.
• William Hamilton and Company, Port Glasgow, launched 7 June 1916. Renumbered Charles Connell & Company, Scotstoun, launched 4 July 1916. Sold for breaking up 31 July 1923.
• Workman Clark & Company, Belfast, launched 24 January 1916. Sold on 26 November 1921.
• A. & J. Inglis, Glasgow, launched 20 April 1916. Sold 26 November 1921.
• Northumberland Shipbuilding Company, Howden on Tyne, launched 21 February 1916. Sold 24 July 1923.
• Russell & Company, Port Glasgow, launched 31 March 1916. Sold 26 November 1921.
• Caird & Company, Greenock, launched 22 February 1916. Sold for breaking up 12 December 1923.
• Bartram & Sons, Sunderland, launched 5 March 1916. Sold 24 July 1923.
• Harland & Wolff, Govan, launched 23 November 1915. Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921.
• Tyne Iron Shipbuilding Company, Newcastle upon Tyne, launched 22 December 1915. Mined off Le Havre 10 April 1917.
• Joseph T. Eltringham & Company, South Shields, launched 21 December 1915. Sold 24 July 1923.
• Robert Thompson & Sons, Sunderland, launched 6 March 1916. Sold 24 July 1923.
• W. Gray & Company, West Hartlepool, launched 6 December 1915. Sold 24 July 1923.
• J. Readhead & Sons, South Shields, launched 5 February 1916. Sold for breaking up 16 December 1926.
• W. Harkess & Sons, Middlesbrough, launched 20 January 1916. Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921.
• Napier & Miller, Old Kilpatrick (Glasgow), launched 8 June 1916. Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921.
• Barclay Curle & Company, Whiteinch, launched 22 March 1916. Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921.

1916 batch:

• Caird & Company, launched 29 January 1917. Sold for breaking up 15 January 1923.
• PC class sloop. Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921.
• PC class sloop. Sold for breaking up 20 January 1923.
• PC class sloop. Sold for breaking up 9 April 1923.
• PC class sloop. Sold for breaking up 18 January 1923,
• PC class sloop. Transferred to Royal Indian Navy February 1922, renamed Baluchi in May 1922; sold 1935.
• PC class sloop. Sold for breaking up 31 July 1923.
• PC class sloop. Sold 18 February 1924.
• PC class sloop. Sold for breaking uo 9 April 1923.
• Harland & Wolff, Govan, renumbered PC.62 before being launched 7 June 1917, and completed as PC class sloop. Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921.
• PC class sloop. Sold for breaking up May 1923.
• edit] References
  • British and Empire Warships of the Second World War, H T Lenton, 1998, Greenhill Books, ISBN 978-1-85367-277-4
  • Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I, Janes Publishing, 1919
  • The Grand Fleet, Warship Design and Development 1906-1922, D. K. Brown, Chatham Publishing, 1999, ISBN 978-1-86176-099-9