HMS Childers (R91)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Childers.
HMS Childers at Anchor on the River Clyde, December 1946.
Career (United Kingdom)
Name: HMS Childers
Ordered: 24 July 1942
Laid down: 27 November 1943
Launched: 18 February 1945
Commissioned: 19 December 1945
Identification: Pennant number: R91 later changed to D91
Fate: Arrived in Spezia for scrapping 22 September 1963
General characteristics
Type:Destroyer
Displacement:1710 tons[1]
Length:362.75 ft[2]
Beam:35.66 ft[3]
Draught:10 ft (mean), 16 ft. (max.)[4]
Installed power:40,000hp
Propulsion:Parsons geared turbines, 2 shafts; 2 Admiralty 3-drum type boilers[5]
Speed:36 kts
Complement:186
Armament:
  • 4 x QF 4.5 in L/45 guns Mark IV on mounts CP Mk.V
  • 4 x 40mm anti-aircraft weapons
  • 4 x 21-inch torpedoes
  • 2 x Squid Anti-Submarine mortars (after 1954)

HMS Childers (R91) was a Ch class destroyer of the Royal Navy that was in service from December 1945, and scrapped in 1963.

Construction

The Royal Navy ordered HMS Childers on 24 July 1942, one of eight Ch class "Intermediate" destroyers of the 1942 Programme. She was built as a Flotilla leader and commissioned in December 1946, too late for service in the Second World War.[6] Her builders, William Denny, also built her sister ship, HMS Chivalrous.

Service

In 1946 Childers was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Squadron based at Malta. She saw service, along with other Royal Navy ships in preventing illegal immigration into Palestine in 1947.[7] Her pennant number was also later changed to D90. She returned to the UK in 1950 and was placed in reserve in 1951. She was given an interim modernization in 1954, which saw her 'X' turret at the rear of the ship replaced by two Squid Anti-submarine mortars.[8]

In 1958 she was laid up in reserve at Gibraltar.[9]

Decommissioning and disposal

Childers was never recommissioned and was subsequently sold for scrapping at Spezia, arriving there on 22 September 1963.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II 1946/7", Jane's Publishing Company, London, UK, 1946, reprinted by Crescent Books, Avenel, New Jersey, USA, 1995, ISBN 0-517-67963-9, page 52.
  2. ↑ "Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II 1946/7", Jane's Publishing Company, London, UK, 1946, reprinted by Crescent Books, Avenel, New Jersey, USA, 1995, ISBN 0-517-67963-9, page 52.
  3. ↑ "Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II 1946/7", Jane's Publishing Company, London, UK, 1946, reprinted by Crescent Books, Avenel, New Jersey, USA, 1995, ISBN 0-517-67963-9, page 52.
  4. ↑ "Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II 1946/7", Jane's Publishing Company, London, UK, 1946, reprinted by Crescent Books, Avenel, New Jersey, USA, 1995, ISBN 0-517-67963-9, page 52.
  5. ↑ "Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II 1946/7", Jane's Publishing Company, London, UK, 1946, reprinted by Crescent Books, Avenel, New Jersey, USA, 1995, ISBN 0-517-67963-9, page 52.
  6. ↑ http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/12621.html
  7. ↑ Stewart, Ninian, The Royal Navy and the Palestine Patrol, Routledge, 2002. p.140
  8. ↑ Marriott, Leo, Royal Navy Destroyers Since 1945. Ian Allen Ltd, 1989. p.64
  9. ↑ Critchley, Mike, "British Warships Since 1945: Part 3: Destroyers", Maritime Books: Liskeard, UK, 1982. ISBN 0-9506323-9-2, page 98
  10. ↑ Critchley, Mike, "British Warships Since 1945: Part 3: Destroyers", Maritime Books: Liskeard, UK, 1982. ISBN 0-9506323-9-2, page 98.

Publications