HMAS Swordsman

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HMAS Swordsman (H11) was an Admiralty S-class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built for the Royal Navy during World War I, the ship was not completed until 1919, and was transferred to the RAN at the start of 1920. The destroyer's career was uneventful, with most of it spent moored in Sydney. Swordsman was decommissioned in 1929, and scuttled off Sydney in 1939.<ref name="dmzapp17p.ris.environment.gov.au">Template:Cite web</ref>

Design and construction

Template:Main Swordsman was built to the Admiralty design of the S class destroyer, which was designed and built as part of the British emergency war programme.<ref name=Cassells122.3>Cassells, The Destroyers, pp. 122–3</ref> The destroyer had a displacement of 1,075 tons, a length of Template:Convert overall and Template:Convert between perpendiculars, and a beam of Template:Convert.<ref name=Cassells122>Cassells, The Destroyers, p. 122</ref> The propulsion machinery consisted of three Yarrow boilers feeding Brown-Curtis turbines, which supplied Template:Convert to the ship's two propeller shafts.<ref name=Cassells123>Cassells, The Destroyers, p. 123</ref> Swordsman had a maximum speed of Template:Convert, and a range of Template:Convert at Template:Convert.<ref name=Cassells122.3/> The ship's company was made up of 6 officers and 93 sailors.<ref name=Cassells123/>

The destroyer's primary armament consisted of three QF 4-inch Mark IV guns.<ref name=Cassells123/> These were supplemented by a 2-pounder pom-pom, two 9.5-inch howitzer bomb throwers, five .303 inch machine guns (a mix of Lewis and Maxim guns), two twin 21-inch torpedo tube sets, two depth charge throwers, and two depth charge chutes.<ref name=Cassells123/>

Swordsman was laid down by Scott's Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at their Greenock shipyard in 1917.<ref name=Cassells122/> The destroyer was launched on 28 December 1918, and completed during March 1919.<ref name=Cassells122/> In June 1919, the destroyer was marked for transfer to the RAN, along with four sister ships.<ref name=Cassells122.3/><ref name="ditt p74">Dittmar & Colledge, British Warships 1914–1919, p. 74</ref> Swordsman was commissioned into the RAN on 27 January 1920.<ref name=Cassells123/>

Operational history

After arriving in Australian waters, the majority of SwordsmanTemplate:'s career was spent moored in Sydney.<ref name=Cassells123/>

Decommissioning and fate

Swordsman was paid off into reserve on 21 December 1929.<ref name=Cassells123/> She was sold to Penguins Limited of Balmain, New South Wales for ship breaking on 4 June 1937.<ref name=Cassells123/> Her hull (with engines removed) was scuttled off Sydney on 8 February 1939 in location Template:Coord.<ref name="dmzapp17p.ris.environment.gov.au"/>

References

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