HMS Moth (1915)

	During service as the Japanese Suma in 1942
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Moth
Ordered	1915
Builder	Sunderland Shipbuilding Company
Laid down	1915
Launched	9 October 1915
Commissioned	5 January 1916
Fate	Scuttled 12 December 1941 at Hong Kong
General characteristics HMS Moth
Class and type	Insect-class gunboat
Displacement	625 tons
Length	72.40 m (237 ft 6 in) (overall)
Beam	11.00 m (36 ft 1 in)
Draft	1.20 m (3 ft 11 in)
Installed power	2 × Yarrow water tube boilers; 2,000 shp (1,500 kW);
Propulsion	2 × North Eastern Marine Engineering Works expansion turbines,; 2 shafts;
Speed	14.0 knots (25.9 km/h; 16.1 mph)
Complement	55
Armament	(on 1916); 2 × BL 6-inch Mk VII guns; 2 × 12 pdr. guns; 6 × 7.7 mm Maxim guns; (on October 1938); 2 × BL 6-inch Mk VII guns; 1 × 3-inch AA gun; 1 × QF 2 pdr. naval gun; 8 × Lewis guns;
Empire of Japan
Name	Suma (須磨)
Namesake	Suma-ku, Kobe
Builder	Navy 2nd Construction Department at Hong Kong
Acquired	February 1942
Commissioned	1 July 1942
Decommissioned	10 May 1945
Stricken	11 May 1945
Fate	Sunk 19 March 1945 by naval mine
General characteristics Suma
Displacement	645 tons
Length	72.40 m (237 ft 6 in) (overall)
Beam	10.97 m (36 ft 0 in)
Draft	1.22 m (4 ft 0 in)
Speed	14.0 knots (16.1 mph; 25.9 km/h)
Complement	84 (March 1945)
Armament	(on 1 July 1942); 1 × BL 6-inch Mk VII gun; (added on 3 October 1942); 1 × Vickers 40 mm AA gun; 2 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) Type 93 AA guns; 2 × 7.7 mm Type 92 machine guns; (added on 31 May 1943); 1 × 13 mm Type 93 AA gun; 1 × 7.7 mm Type 92 machine gun; (on 27 May 1944); 1 × 76.2 mm 3rd Year type AA gun; 2 × Vickers 40 mm AA guns; 4 × 25 mm (0.98 in) Type 96 AA guns; 2 × 13 mm Type 93 AA guns; 5 × 7.7 mm Type 92 machine guns; (on 13 March 1945); 1 × 76.2 mm 3rd Year type AA gun; 2 × Vickers 40 mm AA guns; 4 × 25 mm Type 96 AA guns; 6 × 13 mm Type 93 AA guns; 2 × 7.7 mm Type 92 machine guns;

HMS Moth was an Insect-class gunboat of the Royal Navy. Entering service in 1916, Moth had a varied career with service in the Middle East, the White Sea and the Far East in two world wars. Scuttled in World War II during the invasion of Hong Kong, the ship was raised and put into service by the Imperial Japanese Navy as Suma (須磨). The ship remained active throughout the war, before striking a naval mine in the Yangtze River in 1945 and sinking.

Moth was laid down during the first half of 1915 at the yards of the Sunderland Shipbuilding Company, with her sister ship Mantis. Moth was launched on 9 October 1915 and completed on 5 January 1916.

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