PCS Zywy (DD-1914)
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The British 'L' class destroyers were the last pre-war built destroyers and as such were completed to higher standards than the following war built units. The Polithstovian Navy took the six two funnel ships of the class. The class as a whole had their finest moment when they screened the Battlecruiser Fleet at the battle of Dogger Bank. With the new 'M' class destroyers arriving in service the 'L's started dropping down the order of prestige appointments in the destroyer flotillas. It was their speed of 30-31 knots that was the problem. The 'M's and later 'R' & 'S' class destroyers all made 34 knots or better which gave a better margin of speed when screening the main fleet units. It was because of this that the 'L' class were not as worn out as the later 'M' class despite being 1-2 years older.
The Zywy drawing is as it was in 1937 when all of its major refit work had been done. When the ships were received in 1922-23 they still had the late WW1 armament of three single low angle 4", and one 2pd AA gun. During the late 1920's the central 4" gun and platform were removed and replaced with two quad machine gun mountings the same as what was appearing on British destroyers of the same age. From 1933 the remaining two 4" guns were remounted on new dual purpose mountings giving them an 80 degree elevation to make them AA capable. At the same time the bridge superstructure was rebuilt so that a director to control the 4" guns could be mounted at the back of the bridge. From 1937 the class had four 20mm AA cannons fitted beside the bridge and the aft mast. The two twin 18" torpedo mountings were retained throughout the ships service lives. One of the biggest changes which the crews were truly thankful for was the conversion of the ships boilers from coal to oil fired during the 1920's.
| Displacement | 980 tons std, 1,200 tons full load |
| Length | 269 ft |
| Breadth | 27.5 ft |
| Draught | 9 ft |
| Machinery | 2 shaft geared turbines, 22,000shp |
| Speed | 30 knots |
| Range | 2800 at 12 knots |
| Armament | 2 x 4" (2x1) 4 x 20mm (1x2 2x1) 8 x 0.5" mg (2x4) |
| Torpedoes | 4 x 18" (2x2) |
| Complement | 85 |
| Notes | PCS Zywy |
Good views of 2 funnel L class destroyers showing the position of the armament. The 2pd AA gun was mounted between the torpedoes. This was replaced with a seachlight while in Polithstovian Service.