The P class, nominally described as "patrol boats", was in effect a class of British coastal sloops. Twenty-four ships to this design were ordered in May 1915 (numbered P.11 to P.34) and another thirty between February and June 1916 (numbered P.35 to P.64) under the Emergency War Programme for the Royal Navy in the First World War, although ten of the latter group were in December 1916 altered on the stocks before launch for use as decoy Q-ships and were renumbered as PC-class sloops. None were named initially, although in 1925 P.38 was given the name Spey.
These vessels were designed to replace destroyers in coastal operations, but had twin screws, a very low freeboard, ram bows of hardened steel, a sharply cutaway funnel and a small turning circle. Clearly seen as the linear descendants of the late 19th century steam torpedo boats and coastal destroyers, many were fitted with the 14-inch torpedo tubes removed from old torpedo boats.
With the survival of a builder's diary by William Bartram, full details of the sea trials of P.23 on 21 June 1916 exist. She worked up to 21.8kn. Bartram's commissioned a model from Sunderland modelmaker C Crawford & Sons and this model, in the collections of Sunderland Museum and Heritage Service, is stored in the model store of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Service at the Discovery Museum.
Ten of these ships were completed as Q-ships, with their numbers being altered by the addition of a "C" after the "P". These were termed the PC class sloops. A further batch of ten ships were ordered in 1917 (PC.65 to PC.70 in January, and PC.71 to PC.74 in June) as PC class sloops. These were built to resemble small merchant vessels for use as decoy (Q) ships, and were alternatively known as "PQ" boats. Again, none were named, although in 1925 PC.73 was given the name Dart, while PC.55 and PC.69 were named Baluchi and Pathan respectively upon transfer to the Royal Indian Navy in May 1922.
The PC-class sloops were completed with slight enlargement from the standard P-class sloops. They were 247 ft (overall) long and 25½ ft in breadth, although they had similar machinery. Displacement varied from 682 tons in PC.42, PC.43, PC.44, PC.51, PC.55 and PC.56 to 694 tons in PC.60 to PC.63 and in PC.65 to PC.74. They carried one 4-inch and two 12-pounder guns, and no torpedo tubes.
| Ship | Builder | Launched[1] [2] | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 batch | ||||
| J. Samuel White & Company, Cowes | 14 October 1915 | Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921 | ||
| White, Cowes | 4 December 1915 | Sunk in collision in the Channel 4 November 1918[3] | ||
| William Hamilton and Company, Port Glasgow | 7 June 1916 | Renumbered P.75 on 31 July 1917 and sold for breaking up 31 July 1923 | ||
| Charles Connell and Company, Scotstoun | 4 July 1916 | Sold for breaking up 31 July 1923 | ||
| Workman, Clark and Company, Belfast | 24 January 1916 | Sold on 26 November 1921 | ||
| Workman Clark | 23 March 1916 | Sold on 26 November 1921 | ||
| Workman Clark | 21 October 1915 | Sold on 26 November 1921 | ||
| A. & J. Inglis, Glasgow | 20 April 1916 | Sold 26 November 1921 | ||
| Northumberland Shipbuilding Company, Howdon | 21 February 1916 | Sold 24 July 1923 | ||
| P.20 | Northumberland Shipbuilding | 3 April 1916 | Sold for breaking up in May 1923 | |
| Russell & Company, Port Glasgow | 31 March 1916 | Sold 26 November 1921 | ||
| Caird & Company, Greenock | 22 February 1916 | Sold for breaking up 12 December 1923 | ||
| Bartram & Sons, Sunderland | 5 March 1916 | Sold 24 July 1923 | ||
| Harland & Wolff, Govan | 24 November 1915 | Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921 | ||
| Harland & Wolff, Govan | 15 January 1916 | Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921 | ||
| Tyne Iron Shipbuilding Company, Newcastle upon Tyne | 22 December 1915 | Mined off Le Havre 10 April 1917[4] | ||
| Joseph T. Eltringham & Company, South Shields | 21 December 1915 | Sold 24 July 1923 | ||
| Robert Thompson & Sons, Sunderland | 6 March 1916 | Sold 24 July 1923 | ||
| William Gray & Company, West Hartlepool | 6 December 1915 | Sold 24 July 1923 | ||
| W. Gray & Co | 5 February 1916 | Sold 24 July 1923 | ||
| J. Readhead & Sons, South Shields | 5 February 1916 | Sold for breaking up 16 December 1926 | ||
| W. Harkess & Sons, Middlesbrough | 20 January 1916 | Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921 | ||
| Napier & Miller, Old Kilpatrick (Glasgow) | 8 June 1916 | Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921 | ||
| Barclay Curle & Company, Whiteinch | 22 March 1916 | Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921 | ||
| 1916 batch | ||||
| Caird & Company | 29 January 1917 | Sold for breaking up 15 January 1923 | ||
| Eltringham | 25 October 1916 | Sold for breaking up in May 1923 | ||
| W. Gray & Co | 28 October 1916 | Sold 18 February 1924 | ||
| William Hamilton | 10 February 1917 | Sold for breaking up 7 December 1937 | ||
| Inglis | 1 March 1917 | Sold for breaking up 6 September 1922 | ||
| White, Cowes | 12 July 1916 | Sold for breaking up 1937 | ||
| Bartram | 23 March 1917 | Sold for breaking up 6 September 1922 | ||
| Caird & Company | 7 June 1917 | Renumbered PC.42 before being launched and completed as PC-class sloop. Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921 | ||
| Caird & Company | 14 August 1917 | Renumbered PC.43 before being launched and completed as PC-class sloop. Sold for breaking up 20 January 1923 | ||
| Eltringham | 25 April 1917 | Renumbered PC.44 before being launched and completed as PC-class sloop. Sold for breaking up 9 April 1923 | ||
| W. Gray & Co | 24 January 1917 | Sold for breaking up 15 January 1923 | ||
| Harkess | 7 February 1917 | Sold for breaking up 28 October 1925 | ||
| Readhead | 9 July 1917 | Sold for breaking up 28 October 1923 | ||
| Readhead | 5 September 1917 | Sold for breaking up May 1923 | ||
| Thompson | 19 April 1917 | Sold for breaking up 15 January 1923 | ||
| Tyne Iron | 25 November 1916 | Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921 | ||
| Tyne Iron | 25 November 1916 | Renumbered PC.51 before being launched and completed as PC-class sloop. Sold for breaking up 18 January 1923, | ||
| White, Cowes | 28 September 1916 | Sold for breaking up May 1923 | ||
| Barclay Curle | 8 February 1917 | Sold 18 February 1924 | ||
| Barclay Curle | 25 April 1917 | Sold 18 February 1924 | ||
| Barclay Curle | 5 May 1917 | Renumbered PC.55 before being launched and completed as PC-class sloop. Transferred to Royal Indian Navy February 1922, renamed Baluchi in May 1922; sold 1935 | ||
| Barclay Curle | 2 June 1917 | Renumbered PC.56 before being launched and completed as PC-class sloop. On 25 December 1917 helped sink SM U-87. Sold for breaking up 31 July 1923 | ||
| Hamilton | 6 August 1917 | Sold to Egypt 21 May 1920 and renamed El Raqib | ||
| Hamilton | 9 May 1918 | Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921 | ||
| White, Cowes | 2 November 1917 | Sold for breaking up 16 June 1938 | ||
| Workman Clark | 4 June 1917 | Renumbered PC.60 before being launched and completed as PC-class sloop. Sold 18 February 1924 | ||
| Workman Clark | 19 June 1917 | Renumbered PC.61 before being launched and completed as PC-class sloop. Sold for breaking up 9 April 1923 | ||
| Harland & Wolff, Govan | 7 June 1917 | Renumbered PC.62 before being launched and completed as PC-class sloop. Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921. | ||
| Connell | 2 October 1917 | Renumbered PC.63 before being launched and completed as PC-class sloop. Sold for breaking up May 1923 | ||
| Inglis | 30 August 1917 | Sold for breaking up 9 April 1923 | ||
| 1917 batch | ||||
| Eltringham | 5 September 1917 | Sold for breaking up 8 January 1923 | ||
| Harkess | 12 February 1918 | Sold for breaking up 31 July 1923 | ||
| White, Cowes | 7 May 1917 | Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921 | ||
| White, Cowes | 29 June 1917 | Sold for breaking up 1 December 1921 | ||
| Workman Clark, Belfast | 11 March 1918 | Transferred to Royal Indian Navy 5 August 1921, and renamed Pathan 30 May 1922; sunk by Italian submarine Galvani on 23 June 1940.[5] [6] [7] [8] | ||
| Workman Clark, Belfast | 12 April 1918 | Sold for breaking up 3 September 1926 | ||
| White, Cowes | 18 March 1918 | Sold for breaking up 28 October 1925 | ||
| White, Cowes | 8 June 1918 | Sold for breaking up 28 October 1925 | ||
| White, Cowes | 1 August 1918 | Renamed Dart in April 1925. Sold for breaking up 16 June 1938 | ||
| White, Cowes | 4 October 1918 | Operated as Q-ship Chatsgrove during WW2[9] (from late 1939 to July 1945). Sold for breaking up 19 July 1948 | ||