HMS Sharpshooter (1917)

HMS Sharpshooter was an R-class destroyer (1916) destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during World War I. Launched on 27 February 1917, the ship joined the Harwich Force, undertaking convoy escort duties. The vessel also took part in the Navy’s bombardment of Ostend later that year. On 1 June 1918, the destroyer rescued Captain A. C. Sharwood, one of the first pilots of the Royal Australian Navy, who ditched his Sopwith 2F.1 Camel nearby. After the war, Sharpshooter joined the Navy gunnery training establishment at Plymouth, but did not stay long and was reduced to Reduced Complement on 5 March 1919. The Royal Navy was rationalising its destroyer force and Sharpshooter, deemed superfluous, was sold to be broken up on 29 April 1927.

Design and development
Sharpshooter was one of ten R-class destroyer (1916) destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in December 1915 as part of the Seventh War Construction Programme. The design was based on the preceding M-class destroyer (1913) and differed primarily in utilising geared steam turbines to improve fuel consumption.

Sharpshooter was 276 ft long overall, with a beam of 26 ft and a draught of 9 ft. Displacement was approximately 1065 LT normal. Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding two Parsons geared steam turbines rated at 27000 shp and driving two shafts, to give a design speed of 36 kn. Three funnels were fitted. A total of 296 LT of fuel oil was carried, giving a design range of 3450 nmi at 15 kn.

Armament consisted of three QF 4in Mk IV guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised platform and one between the second and third funnels. A single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom anti-aircraft gun was carried, while torpedo armament consisted of two twin mounts for 21 in torpedoes. The ship had a complement of 82 officers and ratings.

Construction and career
Sharpshooter was laid down at the William Beardmore and Company shipyard in Dalmuir during May 1916 with the yard number 550 at a contract price of £170,722. The vessel was launched in December 1916 and completed in February 1917.

On commissioning, Sharpshooter joined the 10th Destroyer Flotilla of the Harwich Force. The destroyer was engaged in escort duties and, on 9 April, was accompanying a convoy travelling east from the Netherlands when it was attacked by the German submarine SM UB-31. The submarine successfully sank one of the merchant ships, but before it could unleash another torpedo, Sharpshooter saw the track made by the wake and, following it, rushed upon the submarine, dropping three depth charges and scaring it away.

On 4 June 1917, Sharpshooter was deployed as part of a large group of seven cruisers and twenty-five destroyers to protect the monitors HMS Erebus (I02) and HMS Terror (I03) in their bombardment of the German held Belgian port of Ostend. At 2:30 in the morning of 5 June, the destroyer was part of a flotilla of four cruisers and nine destroyers that were patrolling off Thornton Bank when they spotted the German destroyers S15 and S20. A vigorous battle ensued, during which a torpedo narrowly missed Sharpshooter, passing astern. Along with HMS Satyr (1916), HMS Taurus (1917) and HMS Torrent (1916), Sharpshooter damaged S15 and sank S20. The flotilla subsequently undertook anti-submarine patrols, but the destroyer did not sight an enemy boat. The rest of the war was uneventful apart from 1 June 1918 when the destroyer rescued one of the first pilots of the Royal Australian Navy, Captain A. C. Sharwood, who ditched his Sopwith 2F.1 Camel, operated from HMAS Sydney (1912), nearby.

Sharpshooter remained part of the 10th Destroyer Flotilla at the end of the war. After the conflict, the ship was transferred to the Gunnery School at Portsmouth and, on 5 March 1919, was reduced to Reduced Complement. In 1923, the Navy decided to scrap many of the older destroyers in preparation for the introduction of newer and larger vessels. Sharpshooter was sold for scrap to Thos. W. Ward at Briton Ferry on 29 April 1927.