HMS Racehorse was a R-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

Description

Racehorse displaced 1705 LT at standard load and 2425 LT at deep load. She had an overall length of 358 ft, a beam of 33 ft and a deep draught of 13 ft. She was powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 40000 shp and gave a maximum speed of 36 kn. Racehorse carried a maximum of 470 LT of fuel oil that gave her a range of 4675 nmi at 20 kn. Her complement was 176 officers and ratings. The ship was armed with four 45-calibre 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns in single mounts. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, Racehorse had one quadruple mount for QF 2-pdr Mark VIII ("pom-pom") guns and six single 20 mm Oerlikon autocannon. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple mounts for 21 in torpedoes. Two depth charge rails and four throwers were fitted for which 70 depth charges were provided.

Construction and career

She was built by John Brown & Company, Clydebank and launched in 1942. She was adopted by the civil community of Greater London during Warship Week in 1942. The ship served in World War II, taking part in operations Balsam and Livery. She was placed in reserve in Portsmouth in 1946. Used as a target/trials ship in Gareloch. She arrived at Troon for breaking up on 8 December 1949.