The Insanely Fast WW2 Destroyer that Took Everyone By Surprise

On July 6, 1971, HMS Cavalier and HMS Rapid, two veterans of the Royal Navy, met off Scotland's Firth of Forth for a historic showdown.

That morning, both ships set off in a 64-mile-long race.

The air was charged with tension as onlookers waited for the winning vessel’s arrival, but the North Atlantic Sea was a mirror of calm, unlike 25 years before, when this same duo of ships fought for the Allies.

Once racing, Cavalier's crew, a mix of experienced and young sailors, were united in purpose, their ship cutting through the water at an astonishing 31 knots. But Rapid's men were just as good and just as fast.

After going neck to neck for the majority of the race, Rapid suddenly suffered a mechanical setback, and this twist of fate gave Cavalier her chance to seize the moment.

Cavalier, just like she’d done on many occasions before, surged at full speed.

That day, winning by just 30 yards, HMS Cavalier, a ship nearly three decades old, earned the title of the fastest in the fleet, immortalizing a legacy that began all the way back in 1944.

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