File:HMS Finisterre (D55) Model.jpg

English: A model of the Battle Class (1942 group) Destroyer HMS Finisterre at the Glasgow Transport Museum, 2 March 2007.

When WWII broke out, it quickly became apparent that the existing AA armament of RN destroyers (and other warships) was woefully inadequate as losses to aircraft in the Norwegian Campaign and the Mediterranean built up. Whilst the War Emergency Destroyer could be produced in large numbers quickly, this was only regarded as an ‘Intermediate Destroyer’ and a large Fleet Destroyer was still needed, especially as the excellent Tribal Class destroyers, always in the thick of it, were being lost at a high rate.

What a new heavy destroyer should be was mired in controversy but what emerged was the Battle Class. It had the heaviest AA armament ever fitted to a RN destroyer up to that time and a 4.5” gun designed to be the ideal compromise between the needs of a surface and an AA capability; interestingly, although only 4.5” its 55 lb shell was heavier than the 52 lb shell of the earlier 4.7” guns fitted to most of the War Emergency Destroyers and similar to the 53-55 lb shell of the fabled USN 5” gun. Moreover, the guns were mounted in the RN’s first fully dual purpose destroyer turret linked to the advanced Mk.VI HA/LA Director Control Tower and associated radar with RPC (remote power control) of the guns. Its twin 40mm Bofors would also be radar controlled on advanced Dutch-designed Hazemeyer mounts. In addition, the Battle’s boilers would have the highest ever boiler pressure of a RN destroyer.

However, a main armament of only four 4.5” guns in two forward turrets with no rear turret caused a great deal of criticism but there was simply no room for it with the heavy secondary AA armament concentrated aft and the presence of two large quadruple sets of torpedo tubes. Critics pointed out that the modern torpedo threat to the fleet came not from destroyers but from aircraft and submarines and it would have been better to ditch one set of torpedo tubes in order to carry a third turret. Interestingly, this is exactly what Vickers Armstrong designed when they built two 2,600 ton Battle-type destroyers for the Venezualan Navy in the early 1950’s.

Nonetheless, the Battles were formidable ships. They were produced in three groups, but although the first group was expected to be in service in late 1944-1945, huge delays in the delivery of the complex Mk.VI DCT resulted in ships being completed without them, running trials and then being laid up for months before their DCT’s arrived for fitting. As a result, of the 16 ships ordered in 1942, and launched in 1943-45, their commissioning stretched from September 1944 (Barfleur – 6 months late) to December 1946. Only six were commissioned before the end of the war (though three very soon afterwards) and posted to the Pacific Fleet; however, of those, only Barfleur arrived early enough to see combat, escorting the last British carrier strikes on Japan.

The 1942 Battles measured 379 ft x 40 ft x 13 ft and had a displacement of 2,315 tons. Their 50,000 shp turbines and 2 screws gave them a maximum speed of 36 kts. The ships had a designed armament of 4x4.5” DP (2x2) guns, 1x4” starshell gun, 8x40mm Bofors AA (4x2), 6x20mm AA Oerlikons (2x2, 2x1), 8x21” TT (2x4) plus depth charges. However, in service it was soon realised that the 4” gun in Q position was a complete waste of space and soon replaced on the first six ships with 2x40 mm Bofors (2x1). The remaining 10 ships were completed with the two single Bofors instead of the 4”. But of these the last eight saw another change. The sophisticated Hazemeyer twin 40 mm mounts proved not just over-weight but unreliable. It was therefore decided to replace that the next five ships should have instead an even more advanced (with better radar) and, it was hoped, more reliable and lighter British-designed STAAG mount - only for this to turn out so horrendously over-weight that just two twin mounts could be carried on the rear deckhouse instead of the four Hazemeyers although this was augmented by 5x40 mm single Bofors (i.e. 9 in total). Moreover, the STAAG’s proved even more unreliable than the Hazemeyers! The last three 1942 Battles were fitted instead with a new ‘Utility’ mount, much simpler but still radar controlled and far more reliable – if (theoretically) less capable.

In 1943 24 more Battles were ordered. Initially meant to be repeats of the 1942 ships, criticism of the lack of rearward fire and the uselessness of the midships 4” gun led to that being replaced by another 4.5” gun, though in a single mount (as in the C Class Intermediate Destroyers). However, the rearward field of fire remained very restricted so the practical value of this fifth 4.5” was limited. Another important change was the fitting of quintuple torpedo tubes instead of quadruple, a doubtful increase in offensive value in 1943 let alone by the time these ships commissioned. The changes necessitated a slight increase in size. Also ordered were two of an enlarged and very much redesigned type that eventually emerged as the Daring Class. However, as with the 1942 group, delays in equipment delivery led to none being commissioned before WWII ended. Of the 24 ships ordered, only 8 were launched (in 1945-46) and completed (in 1946-48), the remaining 18 being cancelled: 4 were launched (in 1945) and were nearing completion when they were laid up for possible later completion but eventually were cancelled, 5 were launched (in 1945-46) and scrapped immediately, and 7 were broken up on the slipway.

The 1943 Battles measured 379 ft x 40.6 ft x 13 ft and had a displacement of 2,480 tons. Their designed armament was 5x4.5” DP (2x2, 2x1) guns, 8x40mm AA Bofors (2x2 STAAG mounts, 1x2 Utility mount, 2x1 single mounts), 4x20 mm AA Oerlikons (1x2, 2x1), 10x21” TT (2x5), and depth charges.

Another eight ships were proposed to be ordered in 1944 but with a new fully automatic 4.5” gun turret (as was eventually to be fitted to the Darings) and no single 4.5” gun in Q position. These were cancelled in 1945 before being laid down but Australia had also ordered two and these were completed in Australia in 1950 and 1951. The 1944 Australian Battles measured 379 ft x 41 ft x 13 ft and had a displacement of 2,440 tons. Their designed armament was 4x4.5” DP (2x2) guns, 12x40mm AA Bofors (2x2 STAAG mounts, 1x2 Utility mount, 6x1 single mounts), 10x21” TT (2x5), and a Squid A/S mortar.

HMS Finisterre of the 1942 group was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding, Govan, being launched in June 1944 and completed just a few days after the end of WWII in September 1945. She was thus just too late for WWII and although initially allocated to the Pacific Fleet instead served in the Home Fleet, Far East and Mediterranean Fleets before becoming a gunnery training ship in 1951. In 1954 she was placed in Reserve but in 1959 was re-activated and again served in the Far East, Home and Mediterranean Fleets. She was scrapped in 1967.