Construction
The destroyer was one of five Admiralty V class flotilla leaders ordered by the RN in the 1916–17 construction program. Originally, there were to be differences in design between the V class leaders and the rest of the V class destroyers, but in order to save time in designing the destroyers, the main differences were limited to the layout of the bridge and accommodation areas.
Vampire had a standard displacement of 1,188 tons, and a deep load displacement of 1,489 tons. She was 312 feet 0.75 inches (95.1167 m) in length overall and 300 feet (91 m) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 29 feet 6.25 inches (8.9980 m), and a maximum draught of 13 feet 8.75 inches (4.1847 m). Propulsion machiney consisted of three White Forster boilers supplying two Brown-Curtis steam turbines, which provided 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) to the destroyer's two propellers. Maximum speed was 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph), and Vampire could sail 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The standard ship's company was made up of 6 officers and 113 sailors.
Main armament for a V class destroyer consisted of four QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mark V guns. This was supplemented by a QF 2-pounder gun (with a second installed in January 1942), two twin Lewis gun mountings, a single Lewis gun (later replaced by a 4-barrel Vickers .303 gun), and two torpedo tube sets (initially 3-tube, later replaced by 4-tube sets). Four depth charge chutes were fitted during construction, with two depth charge throwers installed later; the destroyer could carry up to 50 charges.
The ship was laid down as HMS Wallace by J. Samuel White & Co Ltd at Cowes on the Isle of Wight on 10 October 1916, and was launched on 21 May 1917. In July 1917, the ship was renamed Vampire, and was commissioned into the RN on 22 September 1917.
Read more about this topic: HMAS Vampire (D68)
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