HMS Icarus (1936)

HMSAS Immortelle (DD-1937)

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The H & I section of the interwar destroyers were the first destroyers to be designed with a DP armament from scratch. The Australis Navy had converted some older F-G style ships with the new twin 4.5" turret and this was a potent combination.

The twin 4.5" with its 85 degree AA capability was a great advance over the single 4.7" LA guns fitted to the early A-G series. That these guns were replaced was no surprise. Early trials of the 4.5" with composite shot showed that even with a combined weight of only 74 pounds per round, a high rate of fire was unable to be maintained. Thus the guns were kept with the standard 54 pound SAP/HE/AA rounds with the 20 pound bursting charge. The difference between the H & I types was in the torpedo sets, the H's having two quadruple sets, the I's had 2 quintuple sets, the first ships in the Royal Navy to carry the quintuple torpedo tube mounting.

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