B-class destroyer (1913)
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The B class as designated in 1913 was a heterogeneous group of
torpedo boat destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s (TBDs) built for the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
in the late 1890s. They were constructed to the individual designs of their builders to meet
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...
specifications, the uniting feature being a specified top speed of and four funnels, although the funnel spacings differed between ships. All "30 knotter" vessels with four funnels were classified by the Admiralty as the B class in 1913 to provide some system to the naming of HM destroyers. At the same time all "30 knotter" vessels with three funnels were classified by the Admiralty as the and those with two funnels became the . Fourteen vessels were built by
Laird Brothers Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
at Birkenhead (in 1903 to become part of Cammell Laird,
Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
), seven by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company at Hebburn-on-Tyne, and one each by Armstrong Whitworth at Walker-on-Tyne, William Doxford and Sons at Sunderland, and J & G Thomson (later to become
John Brown and Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its height, from 1900 to the 1950s, it was one of ...
) at Clydebank. All vessels had a distinctive "turtleback"
forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...
that was intended to clear water from the bow, but actually tended to dig the bow into anything of a sea, resulting in a very wet conning position. They generally displaced around 350 tons, one third more than the preceding , giving an increase in speed of over the "27 knotters". Length was around . All were powered by triple expansion steam engines and had
coal-fired Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gen ...
s. However, ''Albacore'', ''Arab'', ''Bonetta'', ''Cobra'' and ''Express'' were builder's specials, and had steam turbines fitted in addition to, or in lieu of, the
reciprocating engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common fea ...
s, giving to for . Armament was one QF 12-pounder gun on a raised platform at the rear of the forecastle, five QF 6-pounder guns (two sited abreast the conning tower, two sited between the funnels and one on the quarterdeck) and 2 single
torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s for 18-inch (450 mm) torpedoes. The last two Palmers boats, built in 1908, were replacements for the ''Gala'' and the C-class ''Tiger'' that had collided and sunk that year. They were generally similar to the River (or E-class) design, but were grouped with the B class as they possessed four funnels and were similarly armed, and made on turbines.


Ships

* (all built by Laird, Birkenhead under the 1894–95 programme) ** , launched 24 September 1895, sold for breaking up 23 July 1919. ** , launched 8 October 1895, wrecked off the Yangtze 17 June 1904. ** , launched 5 November 1895, sold for breaking up 4 November 1919. ** , launched 19 November 1895, sold for breaking up 10 October 1919. * (all built by Laird, Birkenhead under the 1895–96 programme) ** , launched 7 November 1896, sold for breaking up 7 January 1920. ** , launched 21 November 1896, sold for breaking up 7 January 1920. ** , launched 5 December 1896, sold for breaking up 6 October 1919. ** , launched 21 January 1897, sold for breaking up 7 June 1920. ** , launched 6 March 1897, sold for breaking up 17 March 1921. ** , launched 2 June 1897, sold for breaking up 1 July 1921. *''Express'' (built by Laird, Birkenhead as a steam-turbine powered "special" – under the 1896–97 programme) ** , launched 11 December 1897, sold for breaking up 17 March 1920. *''Orwell'' (built by Laird, Birkenhead under the 1897–98 programme) ** , launched 29 September 1898, sold for breaking up 1 July 1920. * (both built by Laird, Birkenhead under the 1899–1900 programme) ** , launched 14 July 1900, sold for breaking up 1 July 1921. ** , launched 25 August 1900, sold for breaking up 1 July 1921. *''Success'' (built by Doxford, Sunderland under the 1899–1900 programme) ** , launched 21 March 1901, wrecked off
Fife Ness Fife Ness ( gd, Rubha Fiobha) is a headland forming the most eastern point in Fife, Scotland. Anciently the area was called Muck Ross, which is a corruption of the Scottish Gaelic ''Muc-Rois'' meaning "Headland of the Pigs". It is situated in t ...
27 December 1914, becoming the first wartime destroyer loss. *Palmers 4-funnelled group (built by Palmers, Jarrow, ''Spiteful'' ordered under the 1897–98 programme, three purchased under the 1899–1900 Estimates and the ''Kangaroo'' purchased under a supplementary programme for 1900–01) ** , launched 11 January 1899, sold for breaking up 14 September 1920. ** , launched 30 March 1899, sold for breaking up 30 August 1919. ** , launched 26 May 1900, rammed and sunk by SS ''Hambourn'' in the
English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
, 26 March 1917. ** , launched 20 December 1900, sold for breaking up 14 September 1920. ** , launched 29 December 1899 and purchased in July 1901, sold for breaking up 23 March 1920. *''Arab'' (built by J & G Thomson, Clydebank as a high-speed "special" under the 1896–97 programme) ** , launched 9 February 1901, sold for breaking up 23 July 1919. *''Cobra'' (built by Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick as a steam-turbine powered "special") ** , launched 28 June 1899 and purchased 8 May 1900, wrecked while on delivery voyage 19 September 1901. *Palmers final group (steam turbine powered) ** , launched 9 October 1906 and purchased 3 May 1909, sold for breaking up 1 August 1919. ** , launched 14 January 1907 and purchased 3 May 1909, sold for breaking up 7 June 1920.


See also

* C-class destroyer (1913) * D-class destroyer (1913)


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{WWI British ships Destroyer classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy