"R" Class Destroyer (1916)

A total of 62 destroyers of the "R" Class were completed in 1916-1917 as part of the War Emergency Programme.

There was a mix of Admiralty design vessels (39) and a diverse set of builder's specials (12 ships). Feedback on the performance of the early units led to the final 11 being adapted into the Modified "R" Class, which had slightly different armament, a bridge placed further aft, and an altered arrangement of boiler rooms that permitted two of the the three funnels to be trunked together.

Overview of 62 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Radstock	Swan Hunter		3 Jun, 1916		29 Apr, 1927
Raider	Swan Hunter		17 Jul, 1916		29 Apr, 1927
Romola	John Brown & Company		14 May, 1916		13 Mar, 1930
Rowena	John Brown & Company		1 Jul, 1916		Handed over 21 Jul, 1937
Restless	John Brown & Company		12 Aug, 1916		Handed over 23 Nov, 1936
Rigorous	John Brown & Company		30 Sep, 1916		5 Nov, 1926
Rocket	William Denny & Brothers		2 Jul, 1916		16 Dec, 1926
Rob Roy	William Denny & Brothers		28 Aug, 1916		13 Jul, 1926
Redgauntlet	William Denny & Brothers		23 Nov, 1916		Jul, 1927
Redoubt	William Doxford & Sons		28 Oct, 1916		13 Jul, 1926
Recruit	William Doxford & Sons		9 Dec, 1916		Mined 9 Aug, 1917
Sturgeon	Alexander Stephen & Sons		11 Jan, 1917		16 Dec, 1926
Sceptre	Alexander Stephen & Sons		18 Apr, 1917		16 Dec, 1926
Salmon	Harland & Wolff		7 Oct, 1916		Handed over 28 Jan, 1937
Sylph	Harland & Wolff		15 Nov, 1916		16 Dec, 1926
Sarpedon	Hawthorn Leslie & Company		1 Jun, 1916		13 Jul, 1926
Sable	J. Samuel White		28 Jun, 1916		Aug, 1927
Setter	J. Samuel White		18 Aug, 1916		Collision 17 May, 1917
Sorceress	Swan Hunter		29 Aug, 1916		29 Apr, 1927
Satyr	William Beardmore & Company		27 Dec, 1916		16 Dec, 1926
Sharpshooter	William Beardmore & Company		27 Feb, 1917		29 Apr, 1927
Simoom	John Brown & Company		30 Oct, 1916		Torpedoed 23 Jan, 1917
Skate	John Brown & Company		11 Jan, 1917		4 Mar, 1947
Starfish	Hawthorn Leslie & Company		27 Sep, 1916		21 Apr, 1928
Stork	Hawthorn Leslie & Company		15 Nov, 1916		7 Oct, 1927
Skilful	Harland & Wolff		3 Feb, 1917		13 Jul, 1926
Springbok	Harland & Wolff		9 Mar, 1917		16 Dec, 1926
Tancred	William Beardmore & Company		30 Jun, 1917		17 May, 1928
Tarpon	John Brown & Company		10 Mar, 1917		4 Aug, 1927
Telemachus	John Brown & Company		21 Apr, 1917		26 Jul, 1927
Tempest	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company		26 Jan, 1917		Handed over 28 Jan, 1937
Tetrarch	Harland & Wolff		20 Apr, 1917		28 Jul, 1934
Tenacious	Harland & Wolff		21 May, 1917		26 Jun, 1928
Thisbe	Hawthorn Leslie & Company		8 Mar, 1917		31 Aug, 1936
Thruster	Hawthorn Leslie & Company/C. A. Parsons & Company		10 Jan, 1917		1937
Tormentor	Alexander Stephen & Sons		22 May, 1917		19 Nov, 1929
Tornado	Alexander Stephen & Sons		4 Aug, 1917		Mined 23 Dec, 1917
Torrent	Swan Hunter		26 Nov, 1916		Mined 23 Dec, 1917
Torrid	Swan Hunter		10 Feb, 1917		Handed over 27 Jan, 1937
Rosalind	John I. Thornycroft & Company		14 Oct, 1916		13 Jul, 1926
Radiant	John I. Thornycroft & Company		25 Nov, 1916		21 Jun, 1920
Retriever	John I. Thornycroft & Company		15 Jan, 1917		26 Jul, 1927
Taurus	John I. Thornycroft & Company		10 Mar, 1917		18 Feb, 1930
Teazer	John I. Thornycroft & Company		21 Apr, 1917		6 Feb, 1931
Sabrina	Yarrow & Company		24 Jul, 1916		5 Nov, 1926
Strongbow	Yarrow & Company		30 Sep, 1916		Sunk 17 Oct, 1917
Surprise	Yarrow & Company		25 Nov, 1916		Mined 23 Dec, 1917
Sybille	Yarrow & Company		5 Feb, 1917		5 Nov, 1926
Truculent	Yarrow & Company		24 Mar, 1917		29 Apr, 1927
Tyrant	Yarrow & Company		19 May, 1917		Apr, 1938
Ulleswater	Yarrow & Company		4 Aug, 1917		Torpedoed 15 Aug, 1918
Ulster	William Beardmore & Company		10 Oct, 1917		Apr, 1928
Undine	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company		22 Mar, 1917		Apr, 1928
Tower	Swan Hunter		5 Apr, 1917		17 May, 1928
Trenchant	J. Samuel White		23 Dec, 1917		15 Nov, 1928
Tristram	J. Samuel White		24 Feb, 1917		9 May, 1921
Tirade	Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company		21 Apr, 1917		15 Nov, 1921
Ursula	Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company		2 Aug, 1917		19 Nov, 1929
Ulysses	William Doxford & Sons		24 Mar, 1917		Collision 29 Oct, 1918
Umpire	William Doxford & Sons		9 Jun, 1917		7 Jan, 1930
Urchin	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company		7 Jun, 1917		7 Jan, 1930
Ursa	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company		23 Jul, 1917		13 Jul, 1926

Performance

The ships' capacity for 300 tons of fuel, delivered the following endurance.

The Modified "R" delivered much the same endurance. It's actually surprising that someone thought it worthwhile documenting them separately, given the variance between individual ships.

Knots	Tons / hour	Endurance (hours)	radius (nm)
Where Modified "R" differs, data is displayed as "R" / Modified "R"
14	1.7	170	2,380
16	2.0	142	2,272
18	2.6	110	1,980
20	3.4/3.6	80	1,600
22	4.5/4.4	63/64	1,386/1,408
24	5.5/5.8	50	1,200
26	7.2/7.5	40/38	960/988
28	9.0	30	840
30	11.5/11.0	24/26	720/780

Machinery

Generators

In 1916, it was stated that "new destroyers" have two 26.25 kw dynamos arranged in parallel. It is likely that this applied to this class.

Armament

4-in Guns

Modified "R" class (11 ships):

• three 4-in Q.F. Mark V guns on C.P. III mountings capable of 30 degree elevation, increasing extreme range by 20%.

Others (51 ships):

• three 4-in Q.F. Mark IV guns on P. IX mountings, as in the preceding "M" class destroyers.

Other Guns

By 1920, some or all had one 2-pdr pom-pom for air defence.

Torpedoes

• two double revolving 21-in torpedo tubes on the centreline

These, along with those in Fearless may have been among the first A.W. tubes built with screw plugs to permit the alteration of range and depth and perhaps gyro angle to be adjusted, the stop and charging valve to be access, and the collision head to be filled while the torpedo was in the tube.

In 1917, at least some of these ships were using 21-in Mark II*** torpedoes and 21-in Mark II***** torpedoes.

In mid-1920, it was ordered that the "R" class should use 21-in Mark II** torpedoes through 21-in Mark II***** torpedoes.

Fire Control

Mid-1916 Outfit

Experiments from February with two Grand Fleet destroyers employing dumaresqs and Vickers Range Clocks and voicepipes showed definite advantages over ships using unaided spotting and voicepipes, even when the crews had no special training in the new equipment. Tests were also conducted to find a rangefinder suitable to the lively and cramped platform that destroyers provided. This led to an order on 3 April, 1916 that each T.B.D. of "M" class and later should be equipped with:

• one Waymouth-Cooke sextant rangefinder
• one Vickers Range Clock
• one Dumaresq
• range and deflection receivers at each gun

Two ratings, trained before coming aboard, were added to the crew to work the equipment. The clocks and rangefinders were issued in the following three months, and the dumaresqs a few months later. The data instruments did not become available in numbers until 1917. By mid-1917, the whole system was broadly in place in the destroyers of the Grand Fleet and in the Harwich Force.

Directors

The first installations of the British Destroyer Director Firing System were being effected in May 1918. The 1918 handbook on the destroyer directors indicates that these ships carried them.

In 1918, it was ordered that those destroyers with director installations were to additionally receive:

• a voice pipe from T.S. to director
• a fire gong at director worked from existing push in T.S.
• a fire gong push on fore bridge to be added, wired in parallel to that in the T.S.
• the repeat receivers on the fore bridge were to be positioned so as to be visible to the director sightsetter.

Torpedo Control

Electrical Torpedo Control Instruments
found in most or all "R" class destroyers

A single sighting position was located high up in the centre of the bridge, thus requiring only a single set of firing pushes or keys as well as keys for operating a buzzer at the forward torpedo mount and a rattler at the aft mount.

The control position had a single Mark I deflection transmitter and separate order transmitters and keys for the forward and aft tubes. Each torpedo mount had a combined receiver for these signals.

In 1921, it was approved that all "R" class destroyers should land their Torpedo Deflection Sight Mark IIs so they could be replaced by replaced by Torpedo Deflection Sight Mark IIIs.

Alterations

By November 1918, those ships operating with the Twentieth Destroyer Flotilla, Telemachus, Tarpon and Venturous, were fitted to carry 44 mines. The torpedo tubes and guns removed when the mines were shipped could be placed back aboard with enough notice.

See Also

• Wikipedia

Bibliography

• Admiralty, Technical History Section (1920). The Technical History and Index: Alteration in Armaments of H.M. Ships during the War. Vol. 4, Part 34. C.B. 1515 (34) now O.U. 6171/20. At The National Archives, Kew, United Kingdom.
• March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892-1953. London: Seeley Service & Co. Limited. (on Bookfinder.com).
• Gray, Randal (editor) (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).