HMS Sharpshooter (1917)

1918 post card of two R-class destroyers, sistership HMS Satyr to the fore
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Sharpshooter
BuilderWilliam Beardmore and Company, Dalmuir
Yard number550
Laid downMay 1916
Launched27 February 1917
Commissioned2 April 1917
Decommissioned29 April 1927
FateSold for scrapping
General characteristics
Class and typeR-class destroyer
Displacement1,065 long tons (1,082 t) normal
Length276 ft (84.1 m)
Beam26 ft 6 in (8.1 m)
Draught9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion
  • 3 Yarrow boilers
  • 2 geared Parsons steam turbines, 27,000 shp (20,000 kW)
Speed36 knots (41.4 mph; 66.7 km/h)
Range3,440 nmi (6,370 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Complement82
Armament

HMS Sharpshooter was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during World War I. Launched on 27 February 1917, the ship joined the Harwich Force, undertaking convoy escort duties. The vessel also took part in the Navy’s bombardment of Ostend later that year. On 1 June 1918, the destroyer rescued Captain A. C. Sharwood, one of the first pilots of the Royal Australian Navy, who ditched his Sopwith 2F.1 Camel nearby. After the war, Sharpshooter joined the Navy gunnery training establishment at Plymouth, but did not stay long and was reduced to Reduced Complement on 5 March 1919. The Royal Navy was rationalising its destroyer force and Sharpshooter, deemed superfluous, was sold to be broken up on 29 April 1927.