Armstrong Whitworth's Afridi was the yard's last destroyer and became a useful example of the class's intended employment. Indicator-net alarms could bring her rapidly into the Dover Strait, forcing German vessels to finish an action or withdraw before reinforcements arrived. U-33 escaped one such response in April 1915 only after carrying away a section of the indicator net before the patrol craft could deploy it. Afridi's guns were strengthened after German torpedo boats received heavier weapons, and she also received a pom-pom and participated in the Ostend attack. Her long post-sale survival before use as a target illustrates how slowly some nominally scrapped destroyers actually disappeared.
Notable Point · 13:40-17:41
HMS Afridi as a Dover Patrol response destroyer
Afridi shows how the short-ranged Tribals used speed and punch to reinforce the Dover Patrol against sudden threats.