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The C and D class was a group of 14 destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. As in previous years, it was originally intended to order a complete flotilla comprising eight destroyers—plus a flotilla leader as the ninth unit—in each year. However, only four ships—plus a leader—were ordered under the 1929–30 Programme as the C class. The other four ships planned for the C class were never ordered as an economy measure and disarmament gesture by the Labour government of Ramsay Macdonald. A complete flotilla—the 'D' class—was ordered under the 1930–31 Programme. The five ships of the C class were assigned to Home Fleet upon their completion, although they reinforced the Mediterranean Fleet during the Italian invasion of Abyssinia of 1935–36 and enforced the Non-Intervention Agreement during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39. They were transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1937–39 and spent most of their time during World War II on convoy escort duties in the Atlantic Ocean. ''Crescent'' was sunk when she was accidentally rammed by the British cruiser HMS ''Calcutta'' in 1940. ''Crusader'' was sunk by a German submarine in 1942, though she had sunk an Italian submarine in 1940. The other ships of the class sank three German submarines during the war. They were all worn out by the end of the war and were scrapped in 1946–47. The D-class destroyers were initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet upon commissioning, but were transferred to the China Station in 1935. Like the C class, most were temporarily deployed in the Red Sea when the Italians invaded Abyssinia, but returned to the China Station when that was over. They were still there when the war began, but reinforced the Mediterranean Fleet shortly afterwards. Five ships were transferred to Home Fleet in December 1939, but ''Duchess'' was sunk en route when she was accidentally rammed by the battleship HMS ''Barham'', and ''Duncan'' was badly damaged when she collided with a merchant ship, requiring lengthy repairs. ''Daring'' was sunk by a German submarine in February 1940. The other two participated in the Norwegian Campaign of April–June, but ''Delight'' was sunk by German aircraft in July and ''Diana'' was transferred to the RCN as a replacement for the ''Crescent'' after she was sunk by the cruiser ''Calcutta''. However, she too was rammed and sunk several months later by a freighter that she was escorting. The four ships that remained with the Mediterranean Fleet sank three Italian submarines in 1940 while escorting Malta convoys and larger warships of the fleet. Several participated in the Battles of Calabria and Cape Spartivento that year. ''Duncan'' joined Force H at Gibraltar in October and escorted that group. ''Dainty'' was sunk by German bombers in February 1941 and ''Diamond'' in April while evacuating Allied personnel from Greece. ''Defender'' had to be scuttled in July when she was crippled by a German bomber when returning from escorting a convoy to Tobruk. ''Duncan'' and ''Decoy'' remained on escort duties for the rest of the year before being transferred to the Eastern Fleet in early 1942. They returned to the UK late in the year to begin conversions to escort destroyers. ''Decoy'' was transferred to the RCN in early 1943, but both became convoy escorts in the Atlantic. They sank two German submarines before being assigned to the UK to protect Allied shipping during Operation Overlord. They sank three more submarines before the end of the war and were paid off in 1945. ''Duncan'' was scrapped 1945–49 and ''Decoy'' during 1946. ==Design and description== These ships were based on the preceding B class, but were enlarged to increase their endurance and to allow for the inclusion of a QF 3-inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun.〔 This class introduced a director control tower for British destroyers. The 'C' class were unique in having a split bridge, with the compass platform and wheelhouse separated from the chartroom and director tower. This unusual layout was not repeated. As per Admiralty policy in alternating Two-Speed Destroyer Sweep (TSDS) minesweeping gear and ASDIC (sonar) capability between destroyer flotillas, the C class lacked ASDIC and were designed to carry only six depth charges. The D class were repeats of the C's, except that the TSDS was replaced by storage for up to 30 depth charges and ASDIC.〔Friedman, pp. 205–15, 298–99〕 The C and D class destroyers displaced at standard load and at deep load. The ships had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . They were powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of .〔Whitley, pp. 26, 102〕 Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers that operated at a pressure of and a temperature of . The destroyers carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave them a range of at . Their complement was 145 officers and men.〔Lenton, p. 154〕 , leader of the C class, displaced more than her destroyers and carried an extra 30 personnel who formed the staff of the Captain (D), commanding officer of the flotilla.〔Whitley, p. 27〕 Unique among the C and D-class ships, she had three Yarrow water-tube boilers that operated at a pressure of .〔 , leader of the 'D' class, displaced more than her destroyers and also carried an extra 30 personnel.〔Whitley, p. 101〕 All of the ships of the class mounted four 45-calibre 4.7-inch Mk IX guns in single mounts, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, they had a single QF 3-inch 20 cwt〔"cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 30 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.〕 AA gun between her funnels. The C-class ships carried two QF 2-pounder Mk II AA guns mounted on the aft end of their forecastle deck. The D-class destroyers had been intended to carry the new QF 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) Mk III machine gun in quadruple mountings on the bridge wings, but these were not initially available, so the old 2-pounder guns were retained in ''Daring'', ''Diana'', ''Diamond'' and ''Defender''. The 3-inch AA gun was removed in 1936–37, and the 2-pounders were relocated between the funnels on platforms The ships were fitted with two above-water quadruple mount for torpedoes.〔Lenton, pp. 154–55〕 The main guns were controlled by an Admiralty Fire Control Clock Mk I that used data derived from the director and the rangefinder. They had no capability for anti-aircraft fire and the anti-aircraft guns were aimed solely by eye.〔Hodges and Friedman, pp. 12, 17〕 When purchased by Canada in 1937–38, the four C-class destroyers were refitted to meet Canadian specifications,〔Douglas, p. 52〕 including the installation of Type 124 ASDIC.〔Brown, p. 164〕 It is not clear how much ''Kempenfelt'' had been modified when she was turned over in October 1939, other than steam heating had yet been fitted.〔Douglas, p. 65〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「C and D-class destroyer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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