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Tuesday, 7 August 2012

Victorian and Edwardian Miscellany: Royal Navy: Part 3

The torpedo was the bête noire of warfare in the Victorian era. They were thought to be so powerful that they could easily sink a battleship and yet even the smallest steam launch could carry one or more.

The torpedo gave rise to a specialist type of fast craft whose main task was tactically offensive, the Torpedo Boat. In turn the Torpedo Boat lead to the design of a ship designed to counter it, the Torpedo Boat Destroyer.

TB75 was a typical 1st-class torpedo boat. She was one of 57 similar vessels built in the mid 1880s.


Her particulars were:
  • Displacement: 75 tons
  • Length: 125 feet
  • Beam: 13 feet
  • Maximum Speed: 21 knots
  • Complement: 14
  • Armament: 2 × 3-pounder QF guns; 4 × 14-inch torpedo tubes
HMS Daring was a member of the A-class of 27-knot 'turtle-back' destroyers. These were built between 1894 and 1895, and the 42 ships in the class were not built to an homogeneous design. Each shipbuilder was given the basic specification by the Admiralty ... and built their batch of ships to their particular design.


The class particulars were:
  • Displacement: 220-300 tons
  • Length: 180-206 feet
  • Beam: 18.5-20.5 feet
  • Maximum Speed: 27-28 knots
  • Complement: 45-60
  • Armament: 1 x 12-pounder (3-inch) QF gun; 2-5 × 6-pounder QF guns; 2 × 18-inch torpedo tubes

12 comments:

  1. Destroyers eh? I shouldn't think they'll catch on.

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  2. If you don't change the subject, I'm going to break down and buy that $80.00 copy of "Conway's Navies 1860-1905" I saw on Amazon. I love this period of ship-building. So much pointing toward the future, while still anchored to the past.

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  3. "I'm going to break down and buy that $80.00 copy of "Conway's Navies 1860-1905" I saw on Amazon"

    $80? Not bad. I paid £45 for my new copy back in 1986.

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  4. Bob
    Loving these photos.
    Keep up the good work!

    Cheers

    PD

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  5. Tim Gow,

    A man with your foresight is rarely wrong.

    All the best,

    Bob

    PS. Did your design for inflatable battle-trousers for the Royal Navy ever catch on, by the way?

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  6. Steve Page,

    You don't own a copy of Conway's?

    You really ought to buy a copy; you will never regret it! I bought one when it was first published ... and look what it did for me!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  7. Pat G,

    Many thanks. I am glad that you are enjoying it.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  8. Kaptain Kobold,

    I thought that the price ($80) was not bad for such a great wealth of information and inspiration. Like you, I paid full price when the book was first published ... and have never regretted buying it.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  9. Peter Douglas,

    Again, it has been my pleasure!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  10. I still have not bought Conway, but I picked up a nice copy of the Arco reprint of "Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships 1898" to go with my 1914 edition. Starting with the methods in your gunboat tutorial, I've designed and built forty warships for MoBaS since you started posting these pictures. Thet really revitalized my interest in this wonderful period. Thanks!

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  11. Steven Page,

    My copy of 'Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships 1898' has a special place on my bookshelves. It may not contain lots of technical details, but the illustrations are - to my mind - inspiring ... and don't forget that the book was a result of Fred Jane's desire to have a reference book that interfaced with his Naval War Game ... so if there had been no Naval War Game there would have been no 'Fighting Ships'!

    I would love to see some photographs of the ship models you have made.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete

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