List of torpedo boat classes of the Royal Navy

This is a list of torpedo boat classes of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, organised chronologically by entry into service. This article's coverage is restricted to the steam-powered torpedo boats built for or acquired by the British Navy between 1875 (the invention of the Whitehead torpedo) and 1905; the final batch of 36 steam-powered torpedo boats from 1906 to 1908 were originally rated as coastal destroyers and will be found under Cricket-class destroyers, while later torpedo boats powered by internal combustion engines will be found under Motor Torpedo Boats

Torpedo boats

Ever since the first spar-torpedoes in the American Civil War and the Russian Turkish War, the world's sea powers continued to refine the small torpedo craft concept to employ the new automobile torpedoes (Whitehead torpedoes) that could continue the legacy of small and relatively inexpensive vessels able to challenge much larger vessels. The Royal Navy purchased 1st and 2nd class torpedo boats for offensive and defensive combat roles, respectively.

Later – especially to counter the French automobile defense – the British Navy primarily ordered torpedo boat catchers (or torpedo gunboats), which proved too slow for the task of dealing with torpedo boats, and subsequently torpedo boat destroyers (TBDs) - or destroyers as they soon became called.

1st class torpedo boats

First class torpedo boats were designed for independent inshore operations. They were small, but large enough to patrol coastal waters and enjoy some limited endurance beyond their supporting port or tender.

Lightning-design

113-Footers

  • John I. Thornycroft & Company
    • No. 21
    • No. 22
  • Yarrow & Company, Limited
    • No. 23
    • No. 24

125-Footers

All carried 5 x 14inch torpedo tubes (one bow tube plus two pairs of deck tubes) and a complement of 16. The bow tubes were later removed.

  • John I. Thornycroft & Company (1885–86)
    • No. 25
    • No. 26 - No. 29
  • Yarrow & Company, Limited (1885–86)
    • No. 30 - No. 33
  • J. Samuel White (1885–87)
    • No. 34 - No. 38
  • John I. Thornycroft & Company (1886)
    • No. 41 - No. 60 (repeats of Nos 25-29)
  • Yarrow & Company, Limited (1886–87)
    • No. 61 - No. 78 (repeats of Nos 30-33)
    • No. 79 (modified from previous design)

100-Footers (purchases)

  • Yarrow & Company, Limited
    • No. 39
    • No. 40
  • Yarrow & Company, Limited
    • No. 80

130-Footers

(ordered under 1887-88 Programme, as repeats of TB.79)

  • Yarrow & Company, Limited
    • No. 82
    • No. 83
    • No. 84
    • No. 85
    • No. 86
    • No. 87

140-Footers

  • Yarrow & Company, Limited
    • No. 88
    • No. 89
    • No. 90
  • John I. Thornycroft & Company
    • No. 91
    • No. 92
    • No. 93
  • J. Samuel White
    • No. 94
    • No. 95
    • No. 96
  • Laird Brothers, Birkenhead
    • No. 97

135-Footers

(ex Royal Indian Marine boats, taken over by RN in 1892 and given numbers in 1901 instead of their original names)

  • John I. Thornycroft & Company
    • No. 100 (ex-Baluchi)
    • No. 102 (ex-Karen)
    • No. 103 (ex-Pathan)
  • Hanna, Donald & Wilson
    • No. 101 (ex-Gurkha)
  • J. Samuel White
    • No. 104 (ex-Mahratta)
    • No. 105 (ex-Sikh)
    • No. 106 (ex-Rajput)

160-Footers

TB.98 class

TB.98 class
Class overview
Builders: Thornycroft
Completed: 4
Lost: 0
Scrapped: 4
General characteristics [1]
Displacement:
  • 185 long tons (188 t) normal
  • 199 long tons (202 t) deep load
Length: 160 ft (48.77 m) pp
Beam: 17 ft 0 in (5.18 m)
Draught: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Propulsion: 3,000 ihp (2,200 kW)
Speed: 25 kn (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Complement: 32
Armament:
NumberBuilderLaunched[2]Notes[2]
TB.98Thornycroft22 January 1901Sold for scrap 30 June 1920
TB.99Thornycroft1901Sank 1907 but salvaged and returned to service[3]
Sold for scrap 29 July 1920
TB.107Thornycroft2 July 1901Sold for scrap 29 July 1920
TB.108Thornycroft30 August 1901Sold for scrap 29 July 1920

TB.109 class

TB.109 class
Class overview
Builders: Thornycroft
Completed: 5
Lost: 0
Scrapped: 5
General characteristics [1]
Displacement:
  • 200 long tons (200 t) normal
  • 199 long tons (202 t) deep load
Length: 164 ft 9 in (50.22 m) wl
Beam: 17 ft 3 in (5.26 m)
Draught: 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Propulsion: 3,050 ihp (2,270 kW)
Speed: 25 kn (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Complement: 32
Armament:
NumberBuilder[4]Launched[4]Notes[4]
TB.109Thornycroft22 July 1902Sold for scrap 27 March 1920
TB.110Thornycroft5 September 1902Sold for scrap 27 March 1920
TB.111Thornycroft31 October 1902Sold for scrap 10 February 1920
TB.112Thornycroft15 January
1903		Sold for scrap 10 February 1920
TB.113Thornycroft12 February 1903Sold for scrap 19 December 1919

TB.114 class

TB.114 class
Class overview
Builders: J S White
Completed: 4
Lost: 1
Scrapped: 3
General characteristics [1]
Displacement: 205 long tons (208 t)
Length: 165 ft (50.29 m) pp
Beam: 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m)
Draught: 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Propulsion: 2,900 ihp (2,200 kW)
Speed: 25 kn (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Complement: 32
Armament:
NumberBuilder[4]Launched[4]Notes[4]
TB.114J Samuel White8 June 1903Sold for scrap 1919
TB.115J Samuel White19 November 1903Sold for scrap 1919
TB.116J Samuel White21 December 1903Sold for scrap 22 October 1921
TB.117J Samuel White18 February 1904Sunk following collision with merchant vessel Kamourska in English Channel 10 June 1917
3 killed[5]

Cricket class

No further 1st Class torpedo boats were ordered until 1905, when twelve coastal destroyers were ordered under the 1905-06 Programme. In 1906 these were re-classified as torpedo boats and their original names were replaced by the numbers TB.1 to TB.12. To avoid confusion with the surviving early 1st Class torpedo boats, those survivors bearing numbers up to TB.79 inclusive were renumbered to include a "0" before the number (e.g. TB.79 became TB.079). Twelve more of these new torpedo boats were ordered in the 1906-07 Programme, to enlarged designs, and a final twelve in the 1907-08 Programme; these were numbered TB.13 to TB.36.

2nd class torpedo boats

The first 50 small torpedo boats were to be carried on larger ships or given to dedicated torpedo boat carriers, such as HMS Vulcan and HMS Hecla. The later boats were designed as harbour defence ships and coastal boats, but their small size meant their endurance and seakeeping abilities would be quite modest.

  • John I. Thornycroft & Company
    • No. 51 - No. 62
  • Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol RI
    • No. 63
  • John I. Thornycroft & Company
    • No. 64 - No. 73
  • Yarrow & Company, Limited
    • No. 74, No. 75
  • John I. Thornycroft & Company
    • No. 76 - No. 95
  • Yarrow & Company, Limited
    • No. 96, No. 97
  • John I. Thornycroft & Company
    • No. 98
    • No. 99, No. 100

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Friedman 2009, p. 289.
  2. 1 2 Dittmar and Colledge 1972, p. 79.
  3. ↑ Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 104.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dittmar and Colledge 1972, p. 80.
  5. ↑ Kindell, Don. "1st - 30th JUNE 1917: in date, ship/unit & name order". World War 1 - Casualty Lists of the Royal Navy and Dominion Navies. naval-history.net. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  • Chesneau, Roger and Kolesnik, Eugene (Ed.) Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860–1905. Conway Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4
  • Dittmar, F.J. and Colledge, J.J. British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allen, 1972. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
  • Friedman, Norman. British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
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