HMS Loyal was a L-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the late 1930s, although she was not completed until after World War II had begun.
The L-class destroyers were designed as enlarged and improved versions of the preceding J class equipped with dual-purpose guns. They displaced 1920LT at standard load and 2675LT at deep load. The ships had an overall length of 362feet, a beam of 37feet and a deep draught of 13feet. They were powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft,using steam for was provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 48000shp and gave a maximum speed of 36kn. The ships carried a maximum of 567LT of fuel oil that gave them a range of 5500nmi at . The L class' complement was 190 officers and ratings.[1]
The ships mounted six 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark XI guns in twin-gun mounts, two superfiring in front of the bridge and one aft of the superstructure. Their light anti-aircraft suite was composed of one quadruple mount for 2-pounder "pom-pom" guns and six single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon. Later in the war, twin Oerlikon mounts replaced the singles. The L-class ships were fitted with two above-water quadruple mounts for 21inches torpedoes.[2] The ships were equipped with 45 depth charges.[3]
Loyal was laid down on 23 November 1938 by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at their Greenock shipyard, launched on 8 October 1941 and completed on 31 October 1942.[1] She struck a mine on 12 October 1944 and was declared a constructive total loss.