HMS Swallow (1918)

Sister ship HMS Strenuous in 1918
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Swallow
Namesake	Swallow
Ordered	7 April 1917
Builder	Scotts, Greenock
Yard number	491
Launched	1 August 1918
Completed	27 September 1918
Out of service	24 September 1936
Fate	Broken up
General characteristics
Class and type	S-class destroyer
Displacement	1,075 long tons (1,092 t) normal 1,221 long tons (1,241 t) deep load
Length	265 ft (80.8 m) p.p.
Beam	26 ft 8 in (8.13 m)
Draught	9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) mean
Propulsion	3 Yarrow boilers 2 geared Brown-Curtis steam turbines, 27,000 shp
Speed	36 knots (41.4 mph; 66.7 km/h)
Range	2,750 nmi (5,090 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Complement	90
Armament	3 × QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mark IV guns, mounting P Mk. IX 1 × single 2-pounder (40-mm) "pom-pom" Mk. II anti-aircraft gun 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2×2)

HMS Swallow was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy. The S class were a cheaper and faster alternative to the larger V and W class most recently procured by the service. Launched on 1 August 1918, Swallow took part in one of the final acts of the Harwich Force on 1 October as part of a flotilla that unsuccessfully tried to intercept the retreating German troops. After the armistice, Swallow was transferred to the Mediterranean fleet and served in the Black Sea covering the evacuation of demobilised forces from Batumi and Marmara Ereğlisi. Returning to the United Kingdom in 1923, the vessel was placed in reserve until 1936. On 24 September in that year, after just under eighteen years in service, Swallow was one of the destroyers exchanged for RMS Majestic and subsequently broken up at Inverkeithing.