Cricket-class coastal destroyer
HMS Cricket | |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Builders: | J S White, Thornycroft, Yarrow, Denny, Hawthorn Leslie, Palmer |
Completed: | 36 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement: |
225-255 t normal ~400 t deep load |
Length: | 175–180 ft (53–55 m) o/a |
Beam: | 17.5–18 ft (5.3–5.5 m) |
Draught: | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
Propulsion: | 2 Yarrow boilers, 3 Parsons turbines generating 3,750 shp on three shafts |
Speed: | 26 kn |
Range: | 20-25 t of oil |
Complement: | 35 |
Armament: |
2 x 12-pounder guns 3 x 18-inch torpedo tubes |
The Cricket-class coastal destroyers were a class of small torpedo boat destroyers intended to complement the Royal Navy's Tribal-class destroyers.
The first Cricket and Dragonfly were ordered in 1905 and launched in early 1906. In practice they were not strong enough for open ocean operations and were reclassified as 1st Class Torpedo boats. The first twelve had been given names but were then given the numbers TB1 to TB12; the following two batches of 12 boats were only ever given numbers and were 10 ft longer. The last boat was launched in 1909. Those that survived the war were sold off from 1920 to 1921
They were built by six different yards (13 by White at Cowes, 9 by Thornycroft at Woolston, Hampshire, 4 each by Denny at Dumbarton and Hawthorn at Hebburn, 3 each by Yarrow at Cubitt Town and Palmers at Jarrow. The boats differed in detail but all had two funnels with one of the torpedo tubes on the stern.
1914 all boats were serving in North Sea Patrol Flotillas or the Nore Local Defence Flotilla. TB 4 and TB 24 won the Battle Honour Belgian Coast 1915. In 1918 four boats were sent to the Mediterranean: TB 17 and TB 18 served at Gibraltar, TB 29 and TB 30 at Malta, where these went to the breakers.
Boats
Name | Number | Builder[1] | Laid down | Launched[1] | Completion[1] | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1905–1906 Programme | ||||||
Cricket | TB 1 | J. Samuel White | 12 September 1905 | 23 January 1906 | December 1906 | Sold October 1920[1] |
Dragonfly | TB 2 | J. Samuel White | 15 September 1905 | 11 March 1906 | January 1907 | Sold October 1920[1] |
Firefly | TB 3 | J. Samuel White | 18 September 1905 | 1 September 1906 | February 1907 | Sold October 1920[1] |
Sandfly | TB 4 | J. Samuel White | 18 September 1905 | 30 October 1906 | April 1907 | Sold May 1920, Wrecked on way to scrapping[1] |
Spider[2] | TB 5 | J. Samuel White | 18 September 1905 | 15 December 1906 | 1907 | Sold for scrapping October 1920. |
Gadfly | TB 6 | Thornycroft | 1 September 1905 | 24 June 1906 | December 1906 | Sold October 1920[1] |
Glowworm | TB 7 | Thornycroft | 25 September 1905 | 20 December 1906 | February 1907 | Sold May 1921[1] |
Gnat | TB 8 | Thornycroft | 4 October 1905 | 1 December 1906 | March 1907 | Sold May 1921[1] |
Grasshopper | TB 9 | Thornycroft | 1 November 1905 | 18 March 1907 | June 1907 | Sank following collision in North Sea, 26 July 1916[3] |
Greenfly | TB 10 | Thornycroft | 2 November 1905 | 15 February 1907 | May 1907 | Mined North Sea, 10 June 1915[4] |
Mayfly | TB 11 | Yarrow | 23 November 1905 | 29 January 1907 | May 1907 | Mined North Sea, 17 March 1916[4] |
Moth | TB 12 | Yarrow | 23 November 1905 | 15 March 1907 | May 1907 | Mined North Sea, 10 June 1915[4] |
1906–1907 Programme | ||||||
TB 13 | J. Samuel White | 14 March 1907 | 10 July 1907 | May 1908 | Sank following collision in North Sea, 26 January 1916[4] | |
TB 14 | J. Samuel White | 18 March 1907 | 26 September 1907 | May 1908 | Sold October 1920[1] | |
TB 15 | J. Samuel White | 20 March 1907 | 19 November 1907 | May 1908 | Sold October 1920[1] | |
TB 16 | J. Samuel White | 12 July 1907 | 23 December 1907 | July 1908 | Sold January 1921[1] | |
TB 17 | Denny | 4 April 1907 | 21 December 1907 | April 1908 | Sold 1919[1] | |
TB 18 | Denny | 4 April 1907 | 15 February 1908 | June 1908 | Sold 1920[1] | |
TB 19 | Thornycroft | 13 March 1907 | 7 December 1907 | 2 June 1908 | Sold May 1921[1] | |
TB 20 | Thornycroft | 20 March 1907 | 21 January 1908 | 19 August 1908 | Sold May 1921[1] | |
TB 21 | Hawthorn | 7 May 1907 | 20 December 1907 | March 1908 | Sold October 1920[1] | |
TB 22 | Hawthorn | 7 May 1907 | 1 February 1908 | March 1908 | Sold October 1920[1] | |
TB 23 | Yarrow | 10 February 1907 | 5 December 1907 | 19 February 1908 | Sold May 1921[1] | |
TB 24 | Palmers | 2 April 1907 | 19 March 1908 | June 1908 | Wrecked off Dover, 28 January 1917[4] | |
1907–1908 Programme | ||||||
TB 25 | J. Samuel White | 30 December 1907 | 28 August 1908 | 22 January 1909 | Sold May 1921[1] | |
TB 26 | J. Samuel White | 30 December 1907 | 28 August 1908 | February 1909 | Sold May 1921[1] | |
TB 27 | J. Samuel White | 2 February 1908 | 29 September 1908 | March 1909 | Sold May 1921[1] | |
TB 28 | J. Samuel White | 27 February 1908 | 29 October 1908 | 8 April 1909 | Sold May 1921[1] | |
TB 29 | Denny | 20 February 1908 | 29 September 1908 | November 1909 | Sold November 1919[1] | |
TB 30 | Denny | 20 February 1908 | 29 September 1908 | January 1910 | Sold November 1919[1] | |
TB 31 | Thornycroft | 8 February 1908 | 10 October 1908 | February 1910 | Sold May 1921[1] | |
TB 32 | Thornycroft | 9 February 1908 | 23 November 1908 | March 1910 | Sold May 1921[1] | |
TB 33 | Hawthorn | 17 January 1908 | 22 February 1909 | June 1910 | Sold August 1922[1] | |
TB 34 | Hawthorn | 7 February 1908 | 22 February 1909 | August 1910 | Sold May 1921[1] | |
TB 35 | Palmers | 4 February 1908 | 19 April 1909 | August 1910 | Sold August 1922[1] | |
TB 36 | Palmers | 20 March 1908 | 6 May 1909 | September 1910 | Sold May 1921[1] |
References
- Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 Friedman 2009, p. 305.
- ↑ HMS Spider
- ↑ Moore 1997, p. 315.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Dittmar, F. J. and J. J. Colledge. "SHIPS OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1914-1919 - in ALPHABETICAL ORDER (Part 2 of 2)", British Warships 1914-1919. Naval-history.net. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- Bibliography
- Friedman, Norman. British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
- Moore, John. Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. London:Studio, 1990. ISBN 1-85170-378-0.
- Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921 1985, Conway Maritime Press pp. 72-73
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