HMS Taurus (1917)

HMS Taurus
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Taurus
Ordered: December 1915
Builder: Thornycroft
Laid down: March 1916
Launched: 10 March 1917
Commissioned: May 1917
Fate: Sold 18 February 1930
General characteristics
Class and type: R-class destroyer
Displacement: 1,035 long tons (1,052 t) standard 1,208 long tons (1,227 t) full
Length: 274 ft 3 in (83.6 m)
Beam: 27 ft (8.2 m)
Draught: 11 ft (3.4 m)
Propulsion:
Speed: 35 knots (40 mph; 65 km/h)
Range: 3,450 nautical miles (6,390 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement: 82
Armament:

H.M.S. Taurus was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy.

Design

Taurus had a long overall of 274 feet 3 inches (83.59 m) and a length of 265 feet (81 m) between perpendiculars.[1] Displacement was 1,035 long tons (1,052 t) normal and 1,208 long tons (1,227 t) full load.[2] Three Yarrow boilers fed steam to two sets of Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines rated at 29,000 shaft horsepower (22,000 kW) and driving two shafts, giving a design speed of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph), although Taurus achieved 39.27 knots (72.73 km/h; 45.19 mph) in trials.[3] Three funnels were fitted. 296 tons of oil were carried, giving a design range of 3,450 nautical miles (6,390 km; 3,970 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).[4]

Armament consisted of three QF 4in Mk IV guns on the ship's centreline and a single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom anti-aircraft gun. Four 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes in two twin rotating mounts were carried. Fire control included a single Dumaresq and a Vickers range clock.[5] The vessel had a complement of 82 officers and men.[2]

Service

Taurus was one of two R-class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty from Thornycroft in December 1915 as part of the Seventh War Construction Programme alongside Teazer. The vessel was launched on 10 March 1917 and served in the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla as part of the Harwich Force during the war.[6]

On 4 June 1917, Taurus was deployed as part of a large group of seven cruisers and twenty five destroyers to protect the monitors Erebus and Terror in their bombardment of the German held Belgian port of Ostend. Along with sister ships Satyr, Sharpshooter and Torrent, Taurus sank the German destroyer S20.[7]

The ship was reduced to reserve at Devonport on 16 October 1919 and sold to Metal Industries of Charleston for breaking on 18 February 1930.[8][9]

Pennant numbers

Pennant Number Date
F71January 1917[10]
F70January 1918

Also seen with H30

References

  1. ↑ Moore, John Evelyn (1990). Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. London: Random House Group. p. 70. ISBN 1-85170-378-0.
  2. 1 2 Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. p. 81. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  3. ↑ Parkes, Oscar; Prendegast, Maurice (1919). Jane’s Fighting Ships. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd. p. 107.
  4. ↑ Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the First World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. p. 310. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
  5. ↑ "Fire Control in H.M. Ships". The Technical History and Index: Alteration in Armaments of H.M. Ships during the War. 3 (23): 31. 1919.
  6. ↑ "Harwich Force". Supplement to the Navy List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands &c.: 13. January 1917.
  7. ↑ Newbolt, Henry (2013) [Originally published by Longmans, Green and Co.: London, 1931]. "History of the Great War: Naval Operations Vol. V, April 1917 to November 1918 (Part 1 of 4)". Naval-History.net. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  8. ↑ "862 Taurus". The Navy List: 871. April 1920.
  9. ↑ Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: a complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th century to the present. London: Chatham. p. 398.
  10. ↑ Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton: Ian Allen. p. 71. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
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