Destroyer built 1903-1907, service until 1918. Sir Jackie Fisher’s Uber Destroyer HMS Swift is very peculiar in the Royal Navy as the world’s largest destroyer of her time when launched in 1907. She was a pet project of Admiral “Jackie” Fisher which also pushed for submarines, and was the mastermind behind HMS Dreadnought and battlecruisers… … Read more
Patrol Submersibles 1904-1906, service until 1918. B-1 to B-11, 11 completed total The B class submersibles were the follow-up of the “A” class directly derived from the first Holland boats built in Britain. These 11 submarines all built at Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness were launched in 1904–06. Apart one lost in a collision, and unlike previous A … Read more
UK Royal Navy (1902-1921) E class: 34 ships. The 34 Royal Navy “river” class destroyers were the first built with a forecastle, on the same admiralty specifications issued to six yards previously involved in the 27 and 30 knotters. Despite the fact turbine destroyers were tested shortly before, only one on the whole had turbines … Read more
HMS Warrior, Achilles, Cochrane, Natal (1904-1907) in service until 1921 A brand new scale for cruisers The Warrior class were mostly derived from the Duke of Edinburgh (DuE) and Black Prince authorized for the 1902 program and they were the first designed by Philips Watts. At the same time, tonnage restrictions were dropped, and these … Read more
Royal Navy (1899-1922): HMS Viper, Cobra, Velox. Royal Navy’s early turbine destroyers were driven by the inability of the 33-knotters to reach their specified top speed using triple expansion engines. In 1897, Charles Parsons stunned the public present during his amazing “mad mile” at 34 knots between lines of battleships present for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. … Read more
United Kingdom (1896-1921) C class: 3 ships: HMLS Albatross, Express, Arab Development At the end of the process of ordering faster and faster “torpedo boat destroyers” the admiralty was found in a predicament, as the technology behind vertical triple expansion engines seemingly had reach its limits. Yet, Various yards affirmed they could achieve speed beyond … Read more
United Kingdom, private yacht tested by the RN (1895-1927, preserved) The Turbinia is the first steam turbine-powered steamship. It was an experimental, private venture by Charles Algernon Parsons, ten years after he invented the concept, in 1884. The concept was proposed by the admiralty but the first trial was unsuccesful. As an engineer certain of … Read more
Patrol Submersibles 1917-45: 32 over the L1, L9 and L50 classes, 30+ cancelled 1918 The L class submersibles were the last built for the RN during the great war, and some saw even action in WW2 as training boats. They were the last of the long line going back to the Holland boats of 1901, … Read more
United Kingdom (1890-1920) c190 cruisers in service by 1914 The Royal Navy started the Great War with the largest contingent of cruisers of any nation on earth, nearly 200. However between new constructions and the need of manpower, many of the late 1880s and early 1890s generation started to be placed in reserve. The typology … Read more
United Kingdom (1895-1921) C class: 40 ships. The lineage of British Destroyers started with the “26-knotters” in 1892 by Yarrow, Thornycroft and Laird, and a ramping-up of production to test many navy yards on a follow-up serie was called the “27-knotters”, but they were disappointing, rarely meeting their design speed, suffering from heavy weather and … Read more
