HMS Jackal (F22) - Construction and Design

Construction and Design

HMS Jackal was ordered, along with the rest of the J-class, on 25 May 1937, and was laid down by John Brown and Company, Limited, at Clydebank in Scotland on 24 September 1937, launched on 25 October 1938 and commissioned on 13 April 1939, the first of the J-class to be completed.

As completed, Jackal had a main gun armament of six 4.7 in (120 mm) QF Mark XII guns in three twin mountings, two forward and one aft. These guns could only elevate to an angle of 40 degrees, and so were of limited use in the anti-aircraft role, while the aft mount was arranged so that it could fire forwards over the ship's superstructure to maximise the forward firing firepower, but was therefore incapable of firing directly aft. A short range anti-aircraft armament of a four-barrelled 2 pounder "pom-pom" anti-aircraft mount and eight .50 in machine guns in two quadruple mounts was fitted, while torpedo armament consisted of ten 21 inches (533 mm) torpedo tubes in two quintuple mounts.

In an attempt to strengthen its anti-aircraft armament, one of Jackal's banks of torpedo tubes was removed in favour of a single 4 inch Mk V anti-aircraft gun, while four Oerlikon 20 mm cannon replaced the .50 in machine guns.