TB 114-class torpedo boat

The TB 114-class was a class of four 160-foot torpedo boats built for the British Royal Navy in 1903–1905 by the shipbuilder J. Samuel White. All four ships served in local defence flotillas during the First World War, with one of the ships being sunk in 1918. The remaining three ships were withdrawn from use after the end of the war, with the last of the class sold for scrap in 1921.

Ship's badge of HMS Torpedo Boat 114
Class overview
Name: TB 114-class torpedo boat
Builders: J S White, Cowes
Operators:  Royal Navy
Preceded by: TB 109 class
Succeeded by: Cricket class
Completed: 4
Lost: 1
Retired: 3
General characteristics
Displacement: 205 long tons (208 t) deep load
Length: 165 ft 0 in (50.29 m) pp
Beam: 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m)
Draught: 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Installed power: 2,900 ihp (2,200 kW)
Propulsion: 1 × triple-expansion steam engine
Speed: 25 kn (29 mph; 46 km/h)
Armament:
  • 3× 3-pounder (47 mm) guns
  • 3 × 18 inch torpedo tubes

Construction and design

In the 1902–1903 shipbuilding programme, the British Admiralty placed an order with the shipbuilder J. Samuel White for four '160-foot' torpedo boats, as a follow-on to four '160-foot' torpedo boats ordered from the rival shipyard Thornycroft under the 1899–1900 and 1900–1901 shipbuilding programmes (the TB 98 class) and five more ships of similar design ordered from Thornycroft under the 1901–1902 shipbuilding programme (the TB 109 class). These '160-foot' torpedo boats allowed the replacement of worn out older torpedo boats.[lower-alpha 1][2][3] The 1902–1903 torpedo boats (the TB 114-class) were the last '160-foot' torpedo boats built for the Royal Navy. Torpedo-boat construction did not resume until the 1905–1906 programme, when orders were placed for a new class of "Coastal destroyers". These were of similar size to the '160-foot' boats, but were turbine-powered, with the lighter machinery allowing a heavier armament to be carried.[4]

The 1902–1903 torpedo boats were slightly larger than those built by Thonycroft, but were still of basically similar design.[2][3] They were 165 feet 0 inches (50.29 m) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 17 feet 6 inches (5.33 m) and a draught of 7 feet 0 inches (2.13 m). Displacement was 205 long tons (208 t) deep load.[5] A triple expansion steam engine rated at 2,900 indicated horsepower (2,200 kW) drove a single propeller shaft, giving a speed of 25 knots (29 mph; 46 km/h).[5][6] The ship had a turtleback[lower-alpha 2] forecastle and had two funnels.[2]

The ships were fitted with three 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes. Two single tubes were mounted on the beam of the ship, just aft of the forecastle, where they could fire nearly directly ahead, with the third tube on the ship's centreline further aft. Three 3-pounder (47 mm) guns, two forward and one aft, completed the ship's armament.[8]

Service

In November 1911, TB 115 was a tender to the torpedo school HMS Actaeon.[9] Three of the ships (TB 114, TB 115 and TB 117) were part of The Nore torpedo boat flotilla and manned with nucleus crews in February 1913, with TB 116 part of the Portsmouth Flotilla.[10] TB 114, the senior officer's boat of the Nore flotilla, collided with TB 18 on 1 April 1913, with TB 114 being badly holed and under repair at HMNB Chatham for 14 days following the accident.[11][12]

The four ships remained part of the Nore and Portsmouth flotillas in July 1914, on the eve of the outbreak of the First World War.[13] During the First World War they served with local defence flotillas at the Nore and Portsmouth, being limited to local defence duties owing to their small size and limited endurance.[14] On 13 October 1914 TB 116, part of the Portsmouth defence flotilla, spotted the German submarine U-20 off Culver Cliff on the east coast of the Isle of Wight. TB 116 opened fire on the submarine and attempted to ram, but the submarine dived to safety.[15][16] TB 117 was sunk in a collision with a merchant ship, the SS Kamouraska, in the English Channel on 10 June 1917.[17] The three remaining ships of the class remained in service with local defence flotillas in December 1918,[18] but by January 1919, only TB 116 was in service, as a tender at Portsmouth.[19] TB 114 and TB 115 were sold for scrap in 1919,[17] with TB 116, which had been used for cadet training,[20] being sold in 1921.[17]

Ships
NumberBuilder[17]Launched[17]Notes[17]
TB 114J Samuel White8 June 1903Sold for scrap 1919
TB 115J Samuel White19 November 1903Sold for scrap 1919
TB 116J Samuel White21 December 1903Sold for scrap 22 October 1921
TB 117J Samuel White18 February 1904Sunk following collision with merchant vessel Kamourska in English Channel 10 June 1917
3 killed[21]

See also

References
  1. Over 50 torpedo boats, most 125-foot boats, were ordered as a result of the 1885 war-scare with Russia.[1]
  2. A fore deck with exaggerated camber designed to throw off sea water at high speeds.[7]
  1. Friedman 2009, p. 34
  2. Friedman 2009, pp. 64–65
  3. Chesneau & Kolesnik 1979, p. 104
  4. Friedman 2009, p. 65
  5. Friedman 2009, p. 289
  6. Dittmar & Colledge 1972, p. 85
  7. Gardiner & Lambert 1992, p. 188
  8. Friedman 2009, pp. 65, 289
  9. "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective: Sheerness Dockyard". The Naval Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 34. November 1911. p. 110.
  10. "Torpedo Craft and Submarine Flotillas at Home Ports: In Commission with Nucleus Crews". The Naval List. March 1913. p. 270b. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  11. "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective: Sheerness Dockyard". The Naval Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 35. May 1913. p. 394.
  12. "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective: Sheerness Dockyard". The Naval Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 35. June 1913. p. 419.
  13. "Torpedo Craft and Submarine Flotillas at Home Ports: In Active Commission". The Naval List. August 1914. p. 270c. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  14. Dittmar & Colledge 1972, pp. 78, 80
  15. Naval Staff Monograph No. 24 1924, p. 100
  16. Corbett 1920, p. 211
  17. Dittmar & Colledge 1972, p. 80
  18. "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c.: VII.—Local Defence and Escort Flotillas". December 1918. p. 16. Retrieved 21 December 2018. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  19. "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c.: VII.—Local Defence and Minesweeping Flotillas". January 1919. p. 16. Retrieved 21 December 2018. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  20. Parkes & Prendergast 1920, p. 129
  21. Kindell, Don. "1st - 30th JUNE 1917: in date, ship/unit & name order". World War 1 - Casualty Lists of the Royal Navy and Dominion Navies. naval-history.net. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  • Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
  • Corbett, Julian S. (1920). Naval Operations: Vol. I: To The Battle of the Falklands December 1914. History of the Great War. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
  • Dittmar, F. J.; Colledge, J. J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allen. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
  • 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; Lambert, Andrew, eds. (1992). Steam, Steel & Shellfire: The Steam Warship 1815–1905. Conway's History of the Ship. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-564-0.
  • Monograph No. 24: Home Waters Part II: September and October 1914. Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). XI. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1924.
  • Parkes, Oscar; Prendergast, Maurice, eds. (1920). Jane's Fighting Ships 1920. Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd. Retrieved 31 August 2019 – via Hathitrust.
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