Havock class destroyer

The "Havock" class was a class of torpedo boat destroyer (TBD) of the British Royal Navy. The two ships, "Havock" and "Hornet", built in London in 1893 by Yarrow & Company, were the first TBDs in the Royal Navy.

The invention of the self-propelled torpedo by Robert Whitehead and Austrian Navy Captain Giovanni Luppis in 1866, combined with the introduction of small fast torpedo boats (invented by John Ericsson in the late 19th centuryFact|date=April 2008) posed a threat to battleships: large numbers of torpedo boats could overwhelm a battleship's defences and sink it, or distract the battleship and make it vulnerable to opposing capital ships. Torpedo boats proved devastatingly effective in the Chilean Civil War of 1891.

The defence against torpedo boats was clear: small warships accompanying the fleet that could screen and protect it from attack by torpedo boats. Several European navies developed vessels variously known as torpedo boat "catchers", "hunters" and "destroyers". However, the early designs lacked the range and speed to keep up with the fleet they were supposed to protect. In 1892, the Third Sea Lord, Rear Admiral Jackie Fisher ordered the development of a new design of ships equipped with the then novel water-tube boilers and quick-firing small calibre guns.

Six ships of the new design were ordered:
* "Havock" and "Hornet" from Yarrow.
* "Daring" and "Decoy" from John I. Thornycroft & Company (the "Daring" class).
* "Ferret" and "Lynx" from Laird, Son & Company (these and three other ships made up the "Banshee" class).These boats all featured a turtleback (i.e rounded) forecastle that was characteristic of early British TBDs. In 1913, all surviving ships were grouped into the A-class of older "27-knotter" TBDs.

"Havock" was launched first, on 12 August 1893. Her sea trials on 28 October 1893 were successful, her top speed indicating that she was capable of keeping up with battleships. However, her bow torpedo tube proved to be useless as the ship would usually outrun her own torpedo. It also tended to cause the bows to dig into the sea, resulting in a very wet turtleback. As such it (and later, the turtleback) was absent in later destroyers.

"Havock" and "Hornet" did not survive to see World War I, being broken up in 1912 and 1909 respectively.

References

* "The British Destroyer", T. D. Manning, Putnam, 1961.
* "Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981", Maurice Cocker, Ian Allan, 1983, ISBN 0-7110-1075-7

External links

* [http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/hms_hornet.htm "Havock" and "Hornet" from battleships-cruisers.co.uk]

ee also

List of destroyer classes of the Royal Navy