R class destroyer (1916)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

R class

 RN Ensign
General characteristics
Displacement: 975 tons - standard
1,035 tons - for those built by Thornicroft
930 tons - for those built by Yarrow
Length: 276 ft (84.12 m)
Beam: 26 ft 9 in (8.15 m)
Draught: 9 ft 10 in (2.99 m)
Propulsion: 3 boilers
2 geared Brown Curtis steam turbines, 27,000 shp
Speed: 36 kts
Range: 3,440 nm at 15 kts
Complement: 82
Armament:

3 x 4 in L/40 QF Mark IV, mounting P Mk. IX
1 x single 2 pdr "pom-pom" Mk. II
2 x twin tubes for 21 in torpedoes
For the R class of destroyers built in 1942, see Q and R class destroyer

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 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 4in 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 (of which eleven were to a slightly modified design).

As well as these fifty ships to the standard 'Admiralty' design, twelve more 'R' class were designed and built by the two specialist builders Yarrow Shipbuilders and J I Thornycroft to their own separate designs. Three were ordered from Thornycroft and four from Yarrow in July 1915, and two from Thornycroft and three from Yarrow in December 1915.

They were the last three-funnelled destroyers ordered by the Royal Navy (although HMS Bristol commissioned in 1973 had 3 funnels, these were not all on the centreline). All of these ships saw extensive service in World War I. Some saw service as minelayers. Eight R class ships were sunk during the war and all but two of the surviving ships were scrapped in the 1920s and 1930s. One Admiralty R class vessel, HMS Skate survived to see service in World War II as a convoy escort, making her the oldest destroyer to see wartime service with the RN. A second, HMS Radiant was transferred to the Royal Siamese Navy as Phra Ruang in September 1920 and survives to this day as a hulk.

Contents

[edit] Admiralty R class ships

Seventeen ships ordered in July 1915.

Eight ships ordered in December 1915.

Twenty-three ships ordered in March 1916, of which twelve were to the same design as the previous batch.

[edit] Admiralty Modified R class ships

The remaining eleven ships ordered in March 1916 were of the Admiralty Modified R class with a slightly increased breadth of 27ft, a draught of 11ft, and a tonnage of 1,085.

[edit] Thornycroft R class ships

[edit] Yarrow R class ships

These seven ships were sometimes classified as the Yarrow Later M class, and will be found in the article under that heading.

[edit] See also