Dragonfly-class gunboat

HMSLocust
Class overview
Name	Dragonflyclass
Builders	Vosper Thornycroft,Yarrow Shipbuilders,J S White
Operators	Royal Navy
Subclasses	HMSScorpion
Built	1937-1938
In commission	1938-1968
Planned	6
Completed	5
Cancelled	1
Lost	4
Retired	1
Scrapped	1
General characteristics
Type	River gunboat
Displacement	585long tons(594t)
Length	197 ft (60 m)
Beam	33 ft (10 m)
Draught	5 ft (1.5 m)
Installed power	2Admiralty 3-drum boilers 3,800shp(2,800kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 gearedsteam turbines
Speed	17knots(31 km/h; 20 mph)
Complement	74
Armament	2 × single 4 in (102 mm) guns 1 × single 3.7 in (94 mm) Mark Vhowitzer 8 × machine guns

TheDragonflyclasswas aclassof twin shaftriver gunboatsof the Royal Navy. Six were planned and five were built: of those five, four were lost in theSecond World War.One of the four wasHMSScorpion,a slightly upgunned and better powered version.

Ships

Ship name	Laid down	Completed	Fate	Notes
Dragonfly	December 1937	June 1939	Lost in theBanka Strait,14 February 1942.
Grasshopper	December 1937	June 1939	Lost in theBanka Strait,14 February 1942.
Locust	November 1938	May 1940	Sold for scrap, 1968	A quadruple2-pound "pompom" gunwas fitted instead of the 3.7 (94 mm) howitzer. Later refitted with 3 20 mm guns and 20 depth charges. became a headquarters ship in 1944.
Mosquito	December 1938	April 1940	Lost offDunkirk,1 June 1940	A quadruple2-pound "pompom" gunwas fitted instead of the 3.7 (94 mm) howitzer.
Scorpion	1937	November 1938	Lost in theBanka Strait,13 February 1942.	Was an upgunned variant of the class
Bee	n/a	n/a	Cancelled, March 1940