Tribal class destroyer (1905)
Encyclopedia
The Tribal or F class was a class
Ship class
A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....
of destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
built for the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. Twelve ships were built between 1905 and 1908 and all saw service during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, where they saw action in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
and English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
as part of the 6th Flotilla and Dover Patrol
Dover Patrol
The Dover Patrol was a Royal Navy command of the First World War, notable for its involvement in the Zeebrugge Raid on 22 April 1918. The Dover Patrol formed a discrete unit of the Royal Navy based at Dover and Dunkirk for the duration of the First World War...
s.
Design
The preceding River or E classRiver class destroyer
The River-class destroyer was a heterogeneous class of torpedo boat destroyer built to assorted builders' designs for the Royal Navy at the turn of the 20th century, which saw extensive service in World War I...
destroyers of 1903 had made 25.5 knots (50 km/h) on the 7000 ihp provided by triple expansion steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
s and coal-fired
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s. In November 1904, the First Sea Lord
First Sea Lord
The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; it was formerly known as First Naval Lord. He also holds the title of Chief of Naval Staff, and is known by the abbreviations 1SL/CNS...
"Jackie" Fisher proposed that the next class of destroyers should make at least 33 knots (64.7 km/h) and should use oil-fired boilers and steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s as a means of achieving this. This resulted in a larger ship to provide the required doubling of installed power over their predecessors, but also pushed the design to the limits of capability of contemporary technology. As a result, the Tribals were severely compromised and a somewhat retrograde step after the excellent River class; they were lightly built and proved to be fragile in service. More alarmingly however, they were only provided with 90 tons of bunkerage, and with high fuel consumption resulting from the unheard of power of 12500 shp, they were very uneconomical and had a severely limited radius of action; Afridi and Amazon once used 9.5 tons of oil each simply to raise steam for a three-mile (5 km) return journey to a fuel depot.
Design details were left to the individual builders, as was Royal Navy practice at the time for destroyers. As a result there was some heterogeneity of appearance, with the number of funnels varying from three to six in Viking; the latter, with two single and two pairs of funnels becoming the only six-funneled destroyer ever built. With a light mainmast aft, they were the first British destroyers to have two masts.
Armament was increased over the E class from four to five QF 12 pounder guns
QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun
The QF 12 pounder 12 cwt gun was a common calibre naval gun introduced in 1894 and used until the middle of the 20th century. It was produced by Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick and used on Royal Navy warships, and exported to allied countries...
, with the number of torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es remaining at two 18-inch (450-mm) tubes
British 18 inch torpedo
There have been a number of 18 inch torpedoes in service with the United Kingdom. These have been used on ships of the Royal Navy and aircraft of both the Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force...
. From the sixth ship, Saracen, onwards, however, the armament was again increased, to a pair of BL 4 inches (101.6 mm) guns
BL 4 inch naval gun Mk VIII
The BL 4-inch gun Mark VIII was a British medium-velocity wire-wound naval gun introduced in 1908 as an anti-torpedo boat gun in smaller ships whose decks could not support the strain of the heavier and more powerful Mk VII gun.-Mk VIII History:...
, with one gun mounted on a small shelter deck forward and another on the quarterdeck
Quarterdeck
The quarterdeck is that part of a warship designated by the commanding officer for official and ceremonial functions. In port, the quarterdeck is the most important place on the ship, and is the central control point for all its major activities. Underway, its importance diminishes as control of...
.
Ships
Five vessels were ordered and built under the 1905-06 Programme.- AfridiHMS Afridi (1907)HMS Afridi was a Tribal class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched in 1907 and sold for scrap in 1919.During the First World War she served in the North Sea and the English Channel with the 6th Destroyer Flotilla and as part of the Dover Patrol....
, built by Vickers ArmstrongVickers ArmstrongVickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927...
, Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, launched 8 May 1907, sold for breaking up 1919 - CossackHMS Cossack (1907)HMS Cossack was a Tribal class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched in 1907 and sold in 1919.During the First World War she served in the North Sea and the English Channel with the 6th Destroyer Flotilla....
, built by Cammell-Laird, BirkenheadBirkenheadBirkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
, launched 16 February 1907, sold for breaking up 1919 - GhurkaHMS Ghurka (1907)HMS Ghurka was a Tribal-class destroyer built in 1907 for the Royal Navy.During the First World War, she served in the North Sea and the English Channel with the 6th Destroyer Flotilla. She was sunk on 8 February 1917 after hitting a German mine. Only five of the crew survived. The wreck is located...
, built by HawthornHawthorn Leslie and CompanyR. & W. Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilding and locomotive manufacturer. The Company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982.-History:...
, Newcastle upon Tyne, launched 29 April 1907, mined and sunk off Dungeness Buoy 8 February 1917 - MohawkHMS Mohawk (1907)HMS Mohawk was a Tribal class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched in 1907 and sold for scrap in 1919.During the First World War she served in the North Sea and the English Channel with the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, being damaged by a mine in 1915 and fighting in the Battle of Dover Strait in...
, built by J S White, CowesCowesCowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...
, launched 15 March 1907 - TartarHMS Tartar (1907)thumb|right|300px|Engine room of the HMS Tartar. Photo caption from [[Popular Mechanics]] magazine March 1909HMS Tartar was a Tribal class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched in 1907 and sold in 1921. During the First World War she served in the North Sea and the English Channel with the 6th...
, built by J I Thornycroft, Woolston, launched 25 June 1907, sold for breaking up 1921
Five more vessels were proposed, but only two were ordered and built under the 1906-07 Programme.
- AmazonHMS Amazon (1908)HMS Amazon was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched in 1908 and sold in 1919. During the First World War she served in the North Sea and the English Channel with the 6th Destroyer Flotilla.-References:...
, built by J I Thornycroft, Woolston, launched 29 July 1908, sold for breaking up 1919 - SaracenHMS Saracen (1908)HMS Saracen was a Tribal class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched in 1908 and sold in 1919. During the First World War she served in the North Sea and the English Channel with the 6th Destroyer Flotilla.-References:...
, built by J S White, Cowes, launched 31 March 1908, sold for breaking up 1919
A final five vessels were ordered and built under the 1907-08 Programme.
- CrusaderHMS Crusader (1909)HMS Crusader was a Tribal class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched in 1909 and sold for scrap in 1920. During the First World War she served in the North Sea and the English Channel with the 6th Destroyer Flotilla.-References:...
, built by J S White, Cowes, launched 20 March 1909, sold for breaking up 1920 - MaoriHMS Maori (1909)HMS Maori was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched in 1909 and sunk in 1915. During the First World War, she served in the North Sea and the English Channel with the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, being sunk by a mine in 1915 off Zeebrugge....
, built by William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton, completed May 24, 1909, mined and sunk off Wirlingen Light Ship, ZeebruggeZeebruggeZeebrugge is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with hotels, cafés, a marina and a beach.-Location:...
, 7 May 1915 - NubianHMS Nubian (1909)HMS Nubian was a Royal Navy Tribal class destroyer. Her bows were destroyed by a torpedo from a German destroyer on the night of 26–27 October 1916 off Folkestone during the Battle of Dover Strait. She was taken in tow and run ashore near Dover....
, built by J I Thornycroft, Woolston, launched 21 April 1909, torpedoed and damaged by German destroyers in action off FolkestoneFolkestoneFolkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
, 27 October 1916 - VikingHMS Viking (1909)HMS Viking was a Tribal class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched in 1909 and sold for scrap in 1919.During the First World War she served in the North Sea and the English Channel with the 6th Destroyer Flotilla.-References:...
, built by Palmers, JarrowJarrowJarrow is a town in Tyne and Wear, England, located on the River Tyne, with a population of 27,526. From the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding, and was the starting point of the Jarrow March against unemployment in 1936.-Foundation:The Angles re-occupied...
, launched 14 September 1909, sold for breaking up 1919 - ZuluHMS Zulu (1909)The first HMS Zulu was an Tribal Class destroyer launched 16 September 1909 at Hawthorn Leslie Shipyard and commissioned in March, 1910....
, built by Hawthorn, Newcastle upon Tyne, launched 16 September 1909, mined and damaged 27 October 1916
Following the damage to Nubian and Zulu in October 1916, it was proposed on 8 November 1916 that the two undamaged 'ends' might be joined together, which was completed at Chatham Royal Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
7 June 1917 by joining the undamaged fore section of Zulu and the rear section of Nubian respectively. The resulting destroyer was commissioned on 7 June 1917 as Zubian
HMS Zubian
HMS Zubian was a First World War Royal Navy Tribal-class destroyer constructed from the forward end of HMS Zulu and the rear and mid sections of HMS Nubian. The name Zubian is a portmanteau of the names of the original ships....
, which was sold for scrapping 1919.