HMS Tempest (H71)

HMS Tempest was an R-class destroyer (1916) destroyer of the Royal Navy, built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Govan on Clydeside and launched on 26 January 1917 during the First World War.

Design
Tempest was one of twelve R-class destroyer (1916) destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in March 1916 as part of the Eighth War Construction Programme. The ship was launched on 26 January December 1917 and completed in 20 March 1917.

Tempest was 276 ft long overall, with a beam of 26 ft and a draught of 9 ft. Displacement was 975 LT normal and 1075 LT deep load. Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding two Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines rated at 27000 shp and driving two shafts, to give a design speed of 36 kn. Three funnels were fitted. 296 LT of oil were carried, giving a design range of 3440 nmi at 15 kn.

Service
After commissioning, Tempest joined the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla as part of the Harwich Force in April 1917. On 23 April 1918, Tempest participated in the First Ostend Raid, for which she formed part of "Unit X" which sailed from Dover and escorted the blockships from the Goodwin Sands until they reached a smoke screen which had been laid by Motor Launches off Ostend. After that they joined the Dunkirk-based destroyer flotilla in supporting the small craft inshore, "within close range of the enemy's heavy batteries". Tempest remained with the Tenth Flotilla at Harwich until its dispersal in February 1919. In October 1919, she was recommissioned with a reduced complement.

In October 1930, Tempest was used to repatriate the bodies of 48 men who had been killed in the crash of the R101 airship near Beauvais in France. The bodies were carried by Tempest from Boulogne-Sur-Mer to Dover, from where they were taken by rail to lie in state at Westminster Hall.

She was finally sold for scrapping on 28 January 1937 and broken up at Briton Ferry.