HMS Acheron (DD-1928)

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The A-I class were built with the sole purpose of providing a hull and propulsion system on which similar destroyers could be built. My problem is to portray as many of the armaments the classes may have been armed with.

The complete A-I classes built on a year by year basis with one letter per year for naming, slowly replaced the older destroyers of the S-W classes as the Royal Navies premiere destroyers. My biggest problem with these ships is the low angle 4.7" gun that was retained by the Royal Navy right through to the much later S class of 1943. The RN did not even upgrade the mounting to an AA mounting. All of these destroyers AA capability was severely reduced. My aim in this AU is to rid the RN of the idiots that kept this policy going past 1933-34 when the DP guns of 4" and 4.5" were introduced. Even the single 4.7" AA mounting used on the Nelson type may have been better, but that mounting looked too heavy for use on destroyers. To this end the A-G class destroyers are going to need a revamp 1938+ to get rid of the 4.7"s and replace them with either single or twin DP guns.

The two original 'trial' ships were Amazon and Ambuscade, completed for trials in 1924. The ships were improved versions of the Admiralty Leaders and VW class destroyers. These ships gave birth to the next ten years worth of destroyer construction.


A-B class ships (1928-29):

The production line for the A-I classes started with the A class in 1925-26 with completion in 1928. From then on at least one class of destroyers would be completed per year for the Royal navy while the South African and Australis Navies built there own classes of ships. The original A and B classes were completed with 4.7" low angle guns and a 3" or 2 pounder AA guns. Two sets of quadruple 21" torpedoes rounded out a useful armament. During the late 1930's depth charges and ASDIC detection equipment was added to the armament to increase the anti-submarine warfare capabilities.

The A and B class was in the process of having their single 4.7" low angle guns replaced with new 4" dual purpose guns when the war broke out. About half the classes (7 ships) went into the war armed with the 4.7". Those ships were kept away from postings where their lack of AA guns would be less of a problem. Those ships remaining at the end of 1940 had two of their 4.7" (A and Y) mountings removed, the forward boiler removed and the ships turned into long range escorts. The converted ships with single 4" resembled the later CDE class vessels.




Most of the classes kept at least one set of four torpedo tubes as it was felt that the escorts may be needed to launch a torpedo attack on a Germanic States raider. As gun armed only DD's they would have been made mincemeat of, with torpedoes they had teeth that had to be respected. It was the earlier A-to-E classes that were converted most to 'other' uses from ASW ships to Channel 'anti-E-Boat' ships.

C-D-E class ships (1930-32):

The CDE's were the first major departure from the original design. The classes being armed with the 4" high angle / low angle guns. Where the 4.7" had a range of 19,000 yards the 4" were only 16,000 yards. This was not felt to be a major problem as most destroyers actions were fought at much closer ranges where the faster firing 4" may have an advantage. The 4" gun certainly enhanced the AA value of the ships, and these classes were tied to the Battleships and Aircraft carriers, during WW2, because of this.

The major changes to the CDE's was the removal of the Y 4" mounting and the aft set of torpedoes (in some) to enhance the ASW armament. From late 1942 onwards, platforms were built out the side of the bridge at the same level of the B 4" to mount Hedgehog ahead firing ASW mortar.


 

F Class ships (1933):

The F class were the only ships to mount the hand loaded and unpowered  4.5" dual purpose gun. This mounting was a stop gap given to the ships because of the German 5" armed destroyers supposedly outclassing the 4" armed CDE's. In practice this was not the case. The 4.5" gun was a good gun and in the twin powered turrets they were a winner. Bag and shell guns, they had a range of 20,000 yards and a 54lb shell. It was the hand loading of the 54lb shell that was awkward on these ships as crew fatigue could slow down the rate of fire. The F class were the first destroyers to be fitted with the quad 2 pounder mounting that provided a much heavier AA capability and also the first to mount the Hispano 20mm cannon that did not last long in Naval service, being of too fragile a mounting for the harsh conditions aboard ship. The F class also changed the dimensions of the ships for the first time, and actually made what looks like one class of ship into two.

The F class through no fault of their own were treated much like the A-B class ships. By the end of 1942, the remaining six ships of the class has been repurposed as long range escorts, with A (in some) and Y guns, the aft set of torpedoes, and the forward funnel, being removed. In their place a larger and better ASW set of depth charges and then Hedgehog were fitted in place of the A/Y guns and torpedoes, while the forward boiler room was replaced with oil fuel tanks.

G-H Class Ships (1934-36):

The disappointment of the single 4.5" mounting meant a return to the 4" dual purpose gun, but this time in the Mk XVI twin mounting, as the twin 4.5" they were meant to be armed with were just not available. All the battleship, and aircraft carrier construction and reconstruction used the twin 4.5" guns in their armaments. With four twin 4" mountings, the sheer volume of fire they produced, compared to the 4.5", was just awesome. These ships proved themselves time after time in the Mediterranean where their AA fire was most needed.

The ships of the G-H types were kept pretty much as completed with the main additions being to the electronic fittings and the side mounted Hedgehog. They made very good escorts to the big carriers.

By the time all of the different Commonwealth classes,  and extra ships being built for other countries were completed, over a 100 of the A-I class were in service. From 1934, the DP revolution altered the armaments being fitted with single 4.5", twin 4", then twin 4.5" mountings. During the war, different classes and indeed ships within each class could be armed differently depending on what the Admiralty required at the time the ship was due for refit/rebuilding. The H and I classes featured extra ships to the classes, with an extra four H class and an extra eight I class. On the outbreak of war the Admiralty found eight 'H' type under construction for Brazil, four 'I' type under construction for Turkey, and another six G, H, and I types for four other countries. These were all incorporated into the Royal Navy, who was very glad to get them.

I Class Ships (1936-37):

The twin power operated 4.5" turret was supposed to have armed the G-H-I classes, but with the scarcity of supply only the I class were armed this way, then giving way to the J-N class with three turrets. The turret was very good giving almost twice as many rounds per minute as the singles mounted in the F class. The bigger 54 pound shells made a bigger mess of what they hit than the smaller 4"/32 pound shells. The final (Pacific) armament of the class were fitted in 1944. Three twin power operated 40mm with onboard radar and two single 40mm gave a very good AA battery against the Kamikazes they were to face in the not to distant future.

War modifications (from Wiki)

(This information is a guide only from that other timeline we do not talk about here)

It is unlikely that the early war losses Codrington, Acasta, Acheron and Ardent received any major alterations. In 1941 the surviving ships had the after funnel cut down in height and the after torpedo tubes replaced by a First World War era QF 3-inch (76 mm) 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun on mounting HA Mk. IV; a somewhat token addition. More of an improvement was landing 'Y' gun and the minesweeps and fitting Asdic and racks and throwers for a 10-pattern depth charge salvo, 70 rounds being carried. Two 20 mm Oerlikon guns were fitted, one in each bridge wing. Achates had 'A' gun replaced by a Hedgehog anti-submarine (A/S) mortar and had the centimetric Radar Type 271 for detecting surfaced U-boats. Others had metric Radar Type 286F or 290 added, the former of which had a fixed antennae array and required the ship to be turned to change the bearing down which it scanned. By 1942, the C class ships generally had 'B' and 'Y' guns removed, Radar Type 286 added, no torpedoes, a twin 6 pdr gun, six single 20 mm Oerlikon guns and stowage for 141 depth charges.

By 1943, Antelope had Radar Type 271, and Type 286 and 290 sets, where fitted, were replaced with Type 291. The 12 pounder gun was removed around 1943 and High Frequency Direction Finding (HF/DF, or "huff-duff") was generally added. The single 20 mm guns in the wings were replaced by Mark V powered mountings for twin weapons, the singles replacing the ancient 2 pounder guns amidships. In 1944 Active, Anthony and Antelope receiving a pair of 6 pounder / 10 cwt QF Mark I guns on a Mark I* mounting in lieu of 'B' gun. This automatic weapon was fitted for dealing with E-boats on east coast duties.
 

  A-E Stats F-I Stats
Displacement 1500 tons standard, 1900 tons full load         1650 tons standard, 2050 tons full load
Length 323.5 feet 335 feet
Breadth 33 feet 34 feet
Draught 12 feet 12 feet
Machinery 2 shaft steam turbines, 38,000shp 2 shaft geared turbines 40,000shp
Speed 35 knots 35 knots
Range 5000 miles at 15 knots 5,500 miles at 15 knots
Armament A/B as completed

4 x 4.7" (4x1)
2 x 2pd (2x1)
8 x 0.5"mg (2x4)
 
A/B as refitted 1942

2 x 4.7" (2x1)
10 x 20mm (4x2 2x1)
1 x Hedgehog
 
C/D/E as completed

4 x 4" AA (4x1)
2 x 2pd (2x1)
8 x 0.5"mg (2x4)
 
C/D/E as refitted 1943

3 x 4" AA (3x1)
4 x 40mm (4x1)
4 x 20mm (2x2)
Hedgehog
F as completed

4 x 4.5" (4x1)
4 x 2pd (1x4)
6 x 20mm (6x1)
 
F as refitted

3 x 4.5" (3x1)
4 x 2pd (1x4)
8 x 20mm (4x2)
Hedgehog
G/H as completed

8 x 4" (4x2)
4 x 2pd (1x4)
4 x 20mm (4x1)
8 x 0.5mg (2x4)
I refitted to 1944

4 x 4.5" (2x2)
6 x 40mm (3x2)
2 x 40mm (2x1)
Hedgehog
Torpedoes 8 x 21" (2x4) 4 x 21" (1x4) 8 x 21" (2x4) 8 x 21" (2x4) 8 x 21" (2x4) 8 x 21" (2x4) 8 x 21" (2x4) 10 x 21" (2x5)
Complement 150 156 154 170 160 170 166 170
Notes A

Arrow
Acasta
Achates
Active
Antelope
Anthony
Ardent
Acheron
Amazon
Ambuscade









 
B

Basilisk
Blonde
Beagle
Boadicea
Brazen
Boreas
Brilliant
Bulldog











 
C

Cassandra
Cochrane
Crescent
Challenger
Charger
Contest
Cobra
Comet











 
D

Dainty
Daring
Decoy
Defender
Delight
Diamond
Diana
Duchess











 
E

Echo
Eclipse
Electra
Encounter
Escapade
Escort
Esk
Express











 
F

Fame
Fearless
Firedrake
Forrester
Fury
Foresight
Fortune
Foxhound
Flame
Flint
Fountain
Flash
Fierce
Force
Fighter
Findhorn



 
G

Gallant
Garland
Gipsy
Glowworm
Grafton
Grenade
Greyhound
Griffon
Goldfinch
Goshawk
Geyser
Growler
Gordon
Gayundah
Greenock
Garnet
Goodwood
Guillemot

 
H

Hasty
Havoc
Hereward
Hero
Hostile
Hotspur
Hunter
Hyperion
Harvester
Havant
Havelock
Hesperus
Highlander
Hurricane
Hope
Hornet
Harpy
Highway
Halberd
Howitzer
I

Icarus
Imogen
Ilex
Imperial
Impulsive
Intrepid
Isis
Ivanhoe
Inconstant
Ithuriel
Imortalite
Inveterate
Isinglass
Impeteux





 

Achates as ASW destroyer with Hedgehog forward and more depth charges aft and replacing after torpedo tubes.

The following were the early drawings trying to show the difference in armament from ship to ship and class to class fitted during WW2.

HMS Achates as built.




 

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