H.M. T.B. 63 (1878)

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H.M. T.B. 63 (1878)
Builder: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company[1]
Purchased: 1878[2]
Sold: 1907[3]
H.M. T.B. 63 was a second-class torpedo boat built by Herreshoff, one of the very few foreign-built ships in Royal Navy service.

She was only used in trials against equivalent John I. Thornycroft & Company boats and never put into service.[4]

Construction and Purchase

The vessel that became T.B. 63 was built by the American yacht specialist Nathanael Herreshoff's shipbuilding concern on speculation in 1878. She was 60 feet long and seven feet six inches in width, displacing 15 tons. Her hull was built of both metal and wood, the lower portion being wooden and the topsides steel.[5]

Herreshoff brought the vessel with him on a visit to Britain, where she was purchased by the Admiralty through the intervention of the Director of Naval Construction, Nathaniel Barnaby.[6] D. K. Brown gives the reasons behind the purchase as involving her unusual boiler design, which was "a single 300-foot coil of wrought iron containing water and steam".[7] Although this boiler was thermodynamically efficient and allowed steam to be raised quickly, the welded wrought iron coil itself was unreliable and prone to leaks.

Service

On 17 February, 1879, T.B. 63, together with the Lightning and a Thornycroft second-class torpedo boat left Portsmouth on a cruise as a display for the visiting Controller and First Lord of the Admiralty.[8] The next day she suffered a boiler accident.[9]

During February and March of 1879, T.B. 63 was involved in various trials, including a series of comparative trials alongside a Thornycroft second-class torpedo boat.[10]

In 1881, she was noted as being "not fitted for torpedoes", as it seemed "doubtful whether she has sufficient stability to carry any torpedo gear."[11] Nevertheless T.B. 63 remained in the Royal Navy and was used in experiments until her sale in 1907.[12]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

Armament

Intended to carry two torpedoes, although it seems these were never actually fitted.[14][15]

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 105.
  2. ↑ Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 313.
  3. ↑ Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 313.
  4. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 105.
  5. ↑ Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 313.
  6. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 105.
  7. ↑ Brown. Steam Torpedo Boats. p. 91.
  8. ↑ "Naval and Military Intelligence". The Times. Tuesday, 18 February, 1879. Issue 29494, col D, p. 10.
  9. ↑ "Naval and Military Intelligence". The Times. Thursday, 20 February, 1879. Issue 29496, col F, p. 5.
  10. ↑ "Naval and Military Intelligence". The Times. Friday, 7 March, 1879. Issue 29509, col B, p. 8.
  11. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1881. p. 37.
  12. ↑ Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 313.
  13. ↑ "Naval and Military Intelligence". The Times. Tuesday, 18 February, 1879. Issue 29494, col D, p. 10.
  14. ↑ Brown. Steam Torpedo Boats. p. 91.
  15. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 105.

Bibliography

  • Brown, David K. (2005). Jordan, John. ed. "Steam Torpedo Boats of the Royal Navy". Warship 2005: pp. 73-96.
  • Chesneau, Robert; Kolesnik, Eugene (editors) (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
  • Lyon, David; Winfield, Rif (2004). The Sail & Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy, 1815-1889. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1861760329. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).


Second-class Torpedo Boat H.M. T.B. 63
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