T.B. 98 Class Torpedo Boat (1901)

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In 1901, Britain began launching first-class torpedo boats built to a 160-foot length. The inaugural order for four such boats was the Thornycroft-built T.B. 98 Class Torpedo Boats.

Overview of 4 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name Builder Laid Down Launched Completed Fate
T.B. 98 John I. Thornycroft & Company 22 Jan, 1901 Broken up 1920
T.B. 99 John I. Thornycroft & Company 1901 Broken up 1920
T.B. 107 John I. Thornycroft & Company 2 Jul, 1901 Broken up 1920
T.B. 108 John I. Thornycroft & Company 30 Aug, 1901 Broken up 1920

Design & Construction

The boats had three trainable 18-in tubes on the deck, two on the beams forward and one centreline aft.[1] The boats were also armed with three 3-pdr guns, arranged in the same pattern.[2]

In mid-1904, the Royal Navy ordered the replacement of two 5-barrel .45-in Nordenfelt machine guns with .45-in Maxim guns on each of fifty-seven first-class torpedo boats. This figure must have included most or all of this class.[3]

The four boats displaced 185 tons and made 25 knots on 3000 I.H.P.. However, they could only steam six hours at full speed, which seriously compromised their standing as true first-class torpedo boats.

Service History

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 104.
  2. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 104.
  3. Principal Questions Dealt with by the Director of Naval Ordnance, 1904. pp. 327-331.

Bibliography


T.B. 98 Class First-class Torpedo Boat
  T.B. 98 T.B. 99 T.B. 107 T.B. 108  
<– 140 Footer Class Torpedo Boats (UK) T.B. 109 Class –>
<– 140 Footer Class First-class Torpedo Boats (UK) T.B. 109 Class –>