HMS Radiant (1916)

	HTMS Phra Ruang at Bangkok on 29 November 1955
History
United Kingdom
Name	Radiant
Ordered	July 1915
Builder	Thornycroft
Launched	25 November 1916
Commissioned	February 1917
Fate	Sold on 21 June 1920
Badge
Thailand
Name	Phra Ruang
Namesake	Phra Ruang
Acquired	September 1920
Decommissioned	1957
Stricken	1959
General characteristics
Type	R-class destroyer
Displacement	Normal: 1,035 long tons (1,052 t); Full: 1,208 long tons (1,227 t);
Length	276 ft (84.1 m)
Beam	26 ft 9 in (8.15 m)
Draught	9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)
Installed power	3 × boilers; 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW);
Propulsion	2 × geared Brown Curtis steam turbines, ; 2 × shafts;
Speed	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range	3,440 nmi (6,370 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Complement	82
Armament	3 × QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mark IV guns, mounting P Mk. IX; 1 × 76.2 mm (3.00 in) gun; 1 × 2-pounder (40-mm) "pom-pom" Mk. II anti-aircraft gun ; 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2×2);

Last updated December 25, 2022

HMS Radiant was an R-class destroyer which fought in the First World War as part of the Royal Navy before being transferred to the Royal Thai Navy, in which she served until well after the Second World War.^[1]

Royal Navy service

She was built by John I. Thornycroft & Company at Woolston and launched 25 November 1916.^[2]Radiant served with the 10th Destroyer Flotilla of Harwich Force from April 1917 until February 1919.^[3] During the night of 23 December 1917, while escorting of a convoy off the coast of Holland, she came to the rescue of the Harwich Force destroyers Torrent, Surprise and Tornado after the destroyers ran into a German minefield. Torrent struck a mine, and when attempting a rescue, Surprise and Tornado also hit mines, resulting in the three destroyers being lost.^[4]Radiant picked up all survivors that could be found.^[5] This accounted for twelve officers and sailors, with the losses of 252 officers and men from the three destroyers.

After the First World War, she was briefly assigned to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet before paying off and being laid up in reserve as part of the Nore Command until sold.^[6]

Thai Navy service

She was sold back to Thornycroft on 21 June 1920, who then sold her on to the Royal Thai Navy in September 1920.^[7] She was renamed HTMS Phra Ruang (Thai : เรือหลวงพระร่วง). It is believed that in order to finance her acquisition King Rama VI and other senior figures donated personally to the finance fund, making this the first publication donation of money to procure a warship in Thailand. The Royal Prince Admiral Abhakara Kiartivongse went to England to negotiate the purchase personally and command the ship during its subsequent voyage from England to Thailand.^[8]

On 29 January 1943, the submarine USS Trout launched three torpedoes at a destroyer believed to be Phra Ruang and watched each run true to the target. However, all proved to be duds.

Because of her continued service in the Thai Navy, the destroyer was the last survivor of the Royal Navy's First World War destroyers. She was used as a training ship toward the end of her career, removed from the effective list in 1957,^[9] and stricken in 1959.^[10]^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Notes

↑ Contrary to a common misconception, the vessel preserved at the Prince Abhakara memorial in Chumphon ( 10°23′54″N99°16′45″E / 10.39833°N 99.27917°E / 10.39833; 99.27917 ) is the 1930s-era Italian-built torpedo boat Chumphon, not Phra Ruang (ex-Radiant).^[11]

Related Research Articles

The first R class were a class of 62 destroyers built between 1916 and 1917 for the Royal Navy. They were an improvement, specifically in the area of fuel economy, of the earlier Admiralty M-class destroyers. The most important difference was that the Admiralty R class had two shafts and geared turbines, compared with the three shafts and direct turbines of the Admiralty M class, but in appearance the R class could be distinguished from its predecessors by having the after 4-inch gun mounted in a bandstand. The Admiralty ordered the first two of this class of ships in May 1915. Another seventeen were ordered in July 1915, a further eight in December 1915, and a final twenty-three in March 1916.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abhakara Kiartivongse</span> Prince of Chumphon

Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartivongse, Prince of Chumphon, was the 28th child of King Chulalongkorn. He was commonly revered as "The Father of the Thai Navy".

HMS Boyne was a Hawthorn Leslie type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Boyne in Ireland, the site of a British military victory in 1689, she was the fifth ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1692 for a two deck ship-of-the-line.

HMS Doon was a Hawthorn Leslie type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Doon in western Scotland, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS Kale was a Hawthorn Leslie type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903–1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the Kale Water in the Scottish Borders, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS Colne was a Thornycroft type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903–1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Colne in eastern England, north east of London, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS Arun was a Laird Type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1902–1903 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Arun in southern England she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS Foyle was a Laird-type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1902–1903 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Foyle in Ireland, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS Itchen was a Laird-type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1901–1902 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Itchen in southern England near Southampton, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS Moy was a Laird Type River-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Named after the River Moy in Ireland, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS Ness was a White Type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Ness in northern Scotland, flowing through Inverness, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS Cherwell was a Palmer Type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1902 – 1903 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Cherwell in south central England near Oxford, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS Jed was a Thornycroft type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Jed in southern Scotland, she was the second ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1814 for a 26-gun sixth rate ship sold in 1833.

HMS Angler was a two-funnel, 30-knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895 – 1896 Naval Estimates. She was the second ship to carry this name. She was launched in 1897, served at Chatham and Portsmouth and was sold for breaking in 1920.

HMS Ariel was a two funnel, 30 knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895 – 1896 Naval Estimates. Named after Shakespeare's "airy spirit", or the biblical spirit of the same name, she was the ninth ship of the name to serve in the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1897, served at Chatham and Malta, and was wrecked in a storm in 1907.

HMS Coquette was a two funnel, 30-knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1896 – 1897 Naval Estimates. She was the fifth ship to carry this name. She was launched in 1897, served in home waters before World War I, and as a tender to the gunnery school at Sheerness during the war. She was sold for breaking in 1920.

HMS Torrent was a Royal Navy R-class destroyer constructed and then operational in the First World War. She was sunk, with most of her crew in 1917. On 23 December 1917 Surprise, HMS Torrent, and Tornado sank after entering an Imperial German minefield.

HMS Surprise was a Royal Navy R-class destroyer constructed and then operational in the First World War. She was sunk, with most of her crew in 1917. On 23 December 1917 HMS Surprise, Torrent, and Tornado sank after entering an Imperial German minefield.

HMS Tornado was a Royal Navy R-class destroyer constructed and then operational in the First World War. She was sunk, with most of her crew in 1917. On 23 December 1917 HMS Surprise, HMS Torrent, and HMS Tornado sank after entering an Imperial German minefield.

HMS Taurus was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during World War I. Ordered from Thornycroft in 1915 and launched in 1917, the vessel operated as part of the Harwich Force until the end of hostilities. Shortly after entering service, Taurus formed part of the destroyer shield for the Royal Navy's bombardment of Ostend that successfully sank the German destroyer S20. After the War, the destroyer was reduced to the Reserve Fleet and sold to be broken up in 1930.

References

↑ "HMS Radiant". The Dreadnought Project. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
↑ "HMS Radiant". Royal Navy History. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
↑ The Admiralty, Supplement to The Navy List (various editions 1917-19).
↑ "HMS Surprise". Clyde Maritime. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
↑ Pare, Andy. Call the Hands. Lodge Books, 2015, R Class Destroyer, p.126
↑ The Admiralty, The Navy List (various editions 1919-20).
↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919, Ian Allan Publishing, 1972, p. 71.
↑ "Thai Naval Force Development". Global Security. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
↑ Raymond Blackman, ed. Jane's Fighting Ships 1958-59, Sampson Low, Marston, 1958, p.320.
↑ Robert Gardiner, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995, Naval Institute Press, 1995, p.461.
↑ กรีฑา พรรธนะแพทย์ (May 2002). "ร.ล.พระร่วง – ร.ล.ชุมพร". Nawikkasat (in Thai). pp. 31–37. ISSN 0125-4324. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

Bibliography

Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
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. OCLC 164893555.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[12] Contrary to a common misconception, the vessel preserved at the Prince Abhakara memorial in Chumphon ( 10°23′54″N99°16′45″E / 10.39833°N 99.27917°E / 10.39833; 99.27917 ) is the 1930s-era Italian-built torpedo boat Chumphon, not Phra Ruang (ex-Radiant).^[11]

[1] "HMS Radiant". The Dreadnought Project. Retrieved 23 September 2016.

[2] "HMS Radiant". Royal Navy History. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2016.

[3] The Admiralty, Supplement to The Navy List (various editions 1917-19).

[4] "HMS Surprise". Clyde Maritime. Retrieved 23 September 2016.

[5] Pare, Andy. Call the Hands. Lodge Books, 2015, R Class Destroyer, p.126

[6] The Admiralty, The Navy List (various editions 1919-20).

[7] Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919, Ian Allan Publishing, 1972, p. 71.

[:0-8] "Thai Naval Force Development". Global Security. Retrieved 23 September 2016.

[9] Raymond Blackman, ed. Jane's Fighting Ships 1958-59, Sampson Low, Marston, 1958, p.320.

[10] Robert Gardiner, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995, Naval Institute Press, 1995, p.461.

[11] กรีฑา พรรธนะแพทย์ (May 2002). "ร.ล.พระร่วง – ร.ล.ชุมพร". Nawikkasat (in Thai). pp. 31–37. ISSN 0125-4324. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[lower-alpha 1]

[11]

History
HTMS Phra Ruang at Bangkok on 29 November 1955
United Kingdom
Name	Radiant
Ordered	July 1915
Builder	Thornycroft
Launched	25 November 1916
Commissioned	February 1917
Fate	Sold on 21 June 1920
Badge
Thailand
Name	Phra Ruang
Namesake	Phra Ruang
Acquired	September 1920
Decommissioned	1957
Stricken	1959
General characteristics
Type	R-class destroyer
Displacement	Normal: 1,035 long tons (1,052 t) Full: 1,208 long tons (1,227 t)
Length	276 ft (84.1 m)
Beam	26 ft 9 in (8.15 m)
Draught	9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)
Installed power	3 × boilers 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × geared Brown Curtis steam turbines, 2 × shafts
Speed	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range	3,440 nmi (6,370 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Complement	82
Armament	3 × QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mark IV guns, mounting P Mk. IX 1 × 76.2 mm (3.00 in) gun 1 × 2-pounder (40-mm) "pom-pom" Mk. II anti-aircraft gun 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2×2)