Bainbridge-class destroyer

The ''Bainbridge''-class destroyers were a class of United States Navy Torpedo Boat Destroyers (TBDs) built between 1899 and 1903. The first class so designated, they comprised the first 13 of 16 TBDs authorized by Congress in 1898 following the Spanish–American War. One ship of the class was lost at sea during service in World War I: , which collided with the British merchant ship SS ''Rose'' in 1917. The balance were decommissioned in 1919 and sold postwar in 1920, eleven to Joseph G. Hitner of Philadelphia, and the to the Denton Shore Lumber Company in Tampa, Florida.

Subclasses

Some sources subdivide the ''Bainbridge'' class into subsidiary classes based on their builders' differing designs.Gardiner and Chesneau, pp. 157-158
* the first five vessels - ''Bainbridge'', ''Barry'', ''Chauncey'', ''Dale'' and ''Decatur'' - shared a raised forecastle and had two widely-spaced pairs of funnels.
* ''Hopkins'' and had a turtledeck forward and may be considered to be ''Hopkins'' class. These had their two single torpedo tubes replaced by two twin torpedo tubes during World War I; total torpedoes remained at four.
* and had a turtledeck forward, Fore River boilers, carried their funnels in only one group of four, and may be considered to be ''Lawrence'' class. In 1906 two additional 6-pounder guns were substituted for the two 3-inch guns to save weight.
* , and carried one twin torpedo tube instead of two singles beginning in World War I and may be considered to be ''Paul Jones'' class.
* was equipped with Seabury boilers and was the fastest of the 400-tonners on trials at , but her trial displacement of is described as unrealistically light.Bauer and Roberts, p. 168Friedman, pp. 9-19, 452-453

Design

Origins

Some references, including contemporary ones, describe four ocean-going torpedo boats launched in 1898-1899 as the first US destroyers based on their tonnage, which ranged from . These were , , , and . ''Stringham'', the largest of these, was larger than some contemporary British destroyers. However, at the ''Bainbridge''s were considerably larger and had a significantly greater gun armament than the four 6-pounders of the torpedo boats.

The ''Bainbridge'' class were produced on the recommendation of an 1898 war plans board formed to prosecute the Spanish–American War and chaired by Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt. The poor sea-keeping qualities of existing torpedo boats (such as the ) and the existence of Spanish torpedo boat destroyers (such as the ) were cited as reasons for the US to build its own destroyers. The 13 ''Bainbridges'' were officially designated as the Navy's first TBDs when authorized by an Act of Congress on 4 May 1898 under the fiscal year 1899 program (with the remaining three being ).

Due to construction difficulties the ''Bainbridge''s were completed 1901–02, thus too late for the Spanish–American War. However, the destroyer type was instituted in the US Navy, as it had been in the Royal Navy around 1895 with the A-class destroyers. No further torpedo boats were constructed for the US Navy until the outbreak of World War II in Europe, and by then they had no design relationship to destroyers (see PT boats). The Imperial German Navy of 1898–1918 used the term "torpedo boat" for anything up to a large destroyer in size.

Armament

At 420 long tons normal displacement, the ''Bainbridge''s were twice as big as most previous torpedo boats. The extra displacement was used for a greatly increased gun armament and a sufficient engineering plant to rival the torpedo boats in speed ( vs. ). The torpedo armament remained at two torpedo tubes; although the torpedo boat's mission was being transferred to the destroyer, apparently increased gun armament was more important to the designers than increased torpedo armament.

The gun armament of two /50 caliber guns and five 6-pounder () guns was a great increase over the four 6-pounder guns of the torpedo boat ''Farragut''. It reflected a desire to quickly disable torpedo boats before they could get within range of friendly battleships. Future destroyer classes included progressive increases in armament.

The class was equipped with one or two depth charge racks during World War I for the anti-submarine mission.Friedman, p. 68

Engineering

The best available technologies of coal-fired boilers and triple-expansion engines were used for propulsion, although steam turbines would be adopted in the next generation of US destroyers, beginning with the launched in 1908. The need for faster destroyers was to be a significant driver of naval propulsion technology throughout the type's future development.

''Bainbridge'' had four Thornycroft boilers supplying steam to two triple-expansion engines totaling (design). She made on trials at . Normal coal capacity was .

''Hopkins'' also had four Thornycroft boilers supplying steam to two triple-expansion engines totaling 7,000 ihp (design). She made on trials at . Normal coal capacity was lower though, at .

''Lawrence'' had four Normand boilers supplying steam to two triple-expansion engines totaling (design). She made on trials 8,400 ihp. Normal coal capacity was even lower, at only .

An interesting note on destroyers is that they have continuously increased in size since their inception. The ''Bainbridge''s were under full load; some s in service in 2013 displace full load, more than the standard displacement limit on 1920s "Treaty cruisers".

Service

A few ''Bainbridge''s were deployed to the Philippines 1904-1917. During the US participation in World War I, these were redeployed to the Mediterranean as convoy escorts. Others of the class served in the Atlantic, on the US East Coast, or guarded the Panama Canal. ''Chauncey'' collided with the British merchant ship SS ''Rose'' in 1917 and was lost. Following the Armistice, the remainder were sold for scrapping or merchant conversion in 1920.

Ships in class

Note that, although the ships are listed below with the prefix "DD-" before their official numbers, this classification was not created until 1911, and until then these vessels were officially categorised as "Destroyer No. 1" to "Destroyer No. 13".

See also

*

References

*

Bibliography

*
*
*
* Simpson, Richard V. ''Building The Mosquito Fleet, The US Navy's First Torpedo Boats''. Charleston, South Carolina:Arcadia Publishing, 2001, .
*

External links

Tin Can Sailors @ Destroyers.org - ''Bainbridge'' class destroyer







* ttp://www.destroyers.org/Class/cl-main.htm Tin Can Sailors @ Destroyers.org - Destroyer classes

DestroyerHistory.org ''Bainbridge'' class destroyer

DestroyerHistory.org ''Hopkins'' class destroyer

DestroyerHistory.org ''Lawrence'' class destroyer

DestroyerHistory.org First US destroyers

{{WWI US ships

Destroyer classes