HMS Saintes (1944)
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The Battle class destroyer leaders were ordered in 1942 under the 3rd War Emergency program. These were ordered in answer to the large destroyers that the Italians, Germans and Japanese were building. The Italian ships were eventually rated as Anti-aircraft cruisers which shows the size of ship the Battles were designed to combat.
With the semi-auto 4.5" being fitted fore and aft both fore and aft magazines needed to be at least 50% bigger than previous ships. The amount of rounds per gun was increased by the same 50% as the faster firing guns would empty the magazines so fast they could run out of ammunition before their missions were complete.
| Displacement | 1850 tons std, 2600 tons full load. |
| Length | 380.5 ft |
| Breadth | 43 ft |
| Draught | 15 ft |
| Machinery | 2 shaft Steam turbines, 60,000shp |
| Speed | 36 knots |
| Range | 5000 miles at 18 knots |
| Armour | nil |
| Armament | 8 x 4.5" (4x2) 2 x 40mm (1x2) 6 x 20mm (3x2) |
| Aircraft | nil |
| Torpedoes | 10 x 21" (2x5) |
| Complement | 240 |
| Notes |
