The vessel was fitted with very heavy armament and various devices for altering her appearance whilst at sea. The success of the design is attested by the fact that the ship was still afloat at the clos of the war, and had had a number of torpedoes pass under her.. An even more striking tribute to the value of the new design was that a "Q" boat designed on "ordinary" lines and commissioned about the same time was torpedoed and lost within 24 hours.
As to the quality of the vessels turned out, the record of a Thornycroft destroyer which covered 170,- 000 miles without any breakdown or defect in her machinery should stand good for some time. The firm also constructed destroyers of a new and improved design, being given a free hand to see what improvement in speed could be obtained to compete with the increased speed of the latest German boats. Accordingly, the firm designed and built the Meteor and Mastiff, and results obtained were so satisfactory that Messrs. Thornycroft were instructed to build repeats of them instead of the standard Admiralty class. In addition, the firm, with commendable public spirit, gave particulars of this special design to other builders order to expedite the construction of ships, for which act they received a special letter of appreciation from the Admiralty.
Ixprovine tae Derra Cxarce.
Messrs Thornycroft also provided the Admiralty with a variety of small craft, including coastal motor boats of new design, which were also specially commended; and in addition constructed a large number of cars and transport lorries, while another notable contribution to the national war equipment was a bomb thrower which made the depth charge—admittedly the most successful means of dealing with submarines—at least ten times more effective. These "throwers"? were supplied to the French, Italian and American navies, with detailed drawings for their reproduction.
The record is one upon which the firm is to be highly congratulated, and it should be read with interest in the commercial world.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.