HMS Comet (1910)

HMS "Comet" was one of 20 s built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. Completed in 1911 she saw active service in the First World War.
Design and description.
The "Acorn" class marked a return to oil-firing as pioneered in the Tribal or F class of 1905 and of 1907. The Admiralty provided general specifications, but each shipyard did their own detailed design so that ships often varied in size. The "Acorn"s had an overall length of , a beam of , and a deep draught of . The ships displaced at deep load and their crew numbered 72 officers and ratings.
The destroyers were powered by a single Parsons steam turbine that drove three propeller shafts using steam provided by four Yarrow boilers. The engines developed a total of and were designed for a speed of . "Comet" reached a speed of from during her sea trials. The "Acorn"s had a range of at a cruising speed of .
The primary armament of the ships consisted of a pair of BL MK VIII guns in single, unprotected pivot mounts fore and aft of the superstructure. They were also armed with two single QF 12-pounder () guns, one on each broadside between the forward and centre funnels. The destroyer were equipped with a pair of single rotating mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes amidships and carried two reload torpedoes.
Construction and career.
"Comet" was ordered under the 1909–1910 Naval Programme from Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company. The ship was laid down at the company's Govan shipyard on 1 February 1910, launched on 23 June and commissioned in June 1911. She was torpedoed and sunk on 6 August 1918.