The three Charger-class destroyers were all ordered by the British Admiralty on 12 October 1893 and on completion in early 1896 they served with the Royal Navy until 1911.
As part of the 1893–1894 Naval Estimates, the British Admiralty placed orders for 36 torpedo-boat destroyers, all to be capable of 27 knots (50km/h; 31mph), the "27-knotters", as a follow-on to the six prototype "26-knotters" ordered in the previous 1892–1893 Estimates. As was typical for torpedo craft at the time, the Admiralty left detailed design to the builders, laying down only broad requirements.[1][2]
Charger, Dasher and Hasty were built by Yarrow Shipbuilders to their builders' design at a contract price of £108,600, or £36,200 each,[3] It was originally intended that they would be armed with one 12-pounder quick-firing gun forward and three 6-pounder guns, mounted on the broadside and aft, and three 18-inch torpedo tubes, one fixed in a bow mount and two on a revolving mount abaft the two funnels;[4] however the fixed bow tube fitted in the preceding '26-knotter' type had subsequently been found to throw up too much spray and was removed, and in October 1893 it was agreed that the bow tube should be omitted, giving "a clean sharp stem with no projections"[5] and instead two extra 6-pounder guns were installed en echelon amidships. These three ships - and the similar three Ardent Class destroyers (ordered from Thornycroft in the same week) - were the first TBDs to omit this fixed bow tube. They carried a complement of 2 officers and 48 ratings (comprising 20 deck department and 28 engine room compartment).[6]
These three ships did not quite meet the speed requirement of 27 knots for which they were designed. In three-hour trials they averaged the following power (ihp) and speed:
Their original two locomotive boilers were very troublesome and in their first few years of service the three ships were out of commission most of the time, but these were replaced by four new water-tube boilers (from Thornycroft) in 1899/1900 at Earle's Shipbuilding yard at Kingston upon Hull.[7] This replaced the original closely-spaced twin funnels by three widely-spaced funnels (with the middle funnel twice the size of the others, as it served two boilers), like the majority of the other destroyers of the 1893-1894 Programme, and the ships continued to provide good service - all serving in Home waters until 1911. They were then decommissioned and all three were sold in 1912 to be scrapped.
Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN0-85177-133-5.
Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-84832-049-9.
Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN0-85177-245-5.
Lyon, David (2001) [1996]. The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN1-84067-364-8.
Manning, T. D. (1961). The British Destroyer. Putnam & Co. OCLC6470051.
March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC164893555.
The Havock class was a class of torpedo boat destroyer (TBD) of the British Royal Navy. The two ships, Havock and Hornet, built in London in 1893 by Yarrow & Company, were the first TBDs to be completed for the Royal Navy, although the equivalent pair from J.I. Thornycroft, Daring and Decoy, were ordered five days earlier.
The A class as designated in 1913 was a heterogeneous group of torpedo boat destroyers (TBDs) built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1890s. Some 42 vessels were constructed to the individual designs of their builders to meet Admiralty specifications, the only uniting feature being a specified top speed of 27 knots (50 km/h). In fact the initial six vessels were generally differentiated by a slightly lower speed and were often referred to as "26-knotters" to distinguish them from the following batch of thirty-six vessels; all fifteen surviving "27-knotter" vessels were classified by the Admiralty as the A class in 1913 to provide some system to the naming of HM destroyers. All of the "26-knotters" and most of the "27-knotters" had been lost or scrapped before the 1913 classification, but for convenience all 42 ships are listed below. The number of funnels varied from one to four. All vessels had a distinctive "turtleback" forecastle that was intended to clear water from the bow, but actually tended to dig the bow in to anything of a sea, resulting in a very wet conning position.
The D class as they were known from 1913 was a fairly homogeneous group of torpedo boat destroyers (TBDs) built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1890s. They were all constructed to the individual designs of their builder, John I. Thornycroft & Company of Chiswick, to meet Admiralty specifications. The uniting feature of the class was a top speed of 30 knots and they all had two funnels.
HMS Hornet was a Havock-class torpedo boat destroyer of the British Royal Navy. She was launched in 1893 and sold in 1909 for scrapping. Although the Daring-class torpedo boat destroyers were ordered first, Havock and Hornet were completed faster, making them the first destroyers ever built.
Two Daring-class destroyers were the very first torpedo boat destroyers ("TBDs") to be ordered for the Royal Navy, the order being placed on 27 June 1892.
Two Ferret-class destroyers served with the Royal Navy. Ferret and Lynx were built by Laird, displaced 280 tons and were 199 feet (61 m) in overall length.
The three Ardent-class torpedo boat destroyers were ordered by the British Admiralty on 12 October 1893 and served with the Royal Navy. Built by Thornycroft for a contract price of £110,520 for all three vessels, they displaced 301 tons fully laden, and were 201 feet 8 inches (61.47 m) long overall.
HMS Ardent was a Royal Navy 27 knot torpedo boat destroyer ordered from John I Thornycroft & Company under the 1893 – 1894 Naval Estimates. She was the sixth ship to carry this name.
HMS Boxer was an Ardent-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy, launched on 28 November 1894. She spent several years operating with the Mediterranean Fleet and remained active during the First World War. She was sunk in a collision on 8 February 1918.
HMS Bruizer was an Ardent-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. She was launched on 27 February 1895 by John Thornycroft at Chiswick, and was sold on 26 May 1914.
HMS Charger was a Charger-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. She was launched by Yarrow Shipbuilders at Poplar, London on 15 September 1894, served in home waters and was sold off in 1912.
HMS Hasty was a Charger-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. She was launched by Yarrow Shipbuilders in 1894, served in home waters and was sold off in 1912.
HMS Dasher was a Charger-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. She was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders in 1895, served in home waters and was sold in 1911.
HMS Lynx was a Ferret-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1894 and sold in 1912.
Two Fervent-class destroyers served with the Royal Navy.
HMS Fervent was a Fervent-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. Fervent was launched on 28 March 1895 at Paisley.
Two Swordfish-class destroyers served with the Royal Navy. Swordfish and Spitfire were both built by Armstrong Whitworth at Elswick, Tyne and Wear launching in 1895. Fitted with Yarrow boilers, they could make 27 knots and were armed with one twelve pounder and two torpedo tubes.
Three Handy-class destroyers served with the Royal Navy. Handy, Hart and Hunter were all built by Fairfield.
HMS Handy was a Handy-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. Built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in 1895 she spent most of her time on the China Station, and was sold in Hong Kong during the Great War.
HMS Fame was a two funnel, 30 knot destroyer of the Royal Navy, ordered under the 1894–1895 Naval Estimates. She was launched in 1896, served in Chinese waters for the whole of her life and was sold at Hong Kong in 1921.
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