HMS Swordfish

[tynebuoy]

1896 Armstrong Mitchell Elswick (616).

[magoonigal]

Link.

http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/S-Ships ... h1896.html

[E28]

However or whoever Armstrong was in business with there was one vessel type he never managed to impress with, least of all the British Admiralty, and that was the Torpedo Boat destroyer or TBD, and this dire pair Swordfish and sister Spitfire were no exception but not quite the worst, as we shall see in due course.

His reputation in everything else he touched was unsurpassed which has always seemed at odds to his company's abysmal record in the construction of fast torpedo vessels.

This is Spitfire, 2nd of Armstrong's pair from the 1893/94 programme and once finally accepted the Admiralty made it clear Armstrong were not to be included in any future tendering process for this type. Credit though, the funnels look really good serving the 4 boilers, miracle they did not fall through the bottom with the boilers as they were so flimsy.
http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/S-Ships ... e1896.html

and this is how it should be done from Palmers in the same river whose TBD's were considered the best although her 2 sisters were actually Lightning and Porcupine.
http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/J-Ships/janus1895.html

Some details courtesy the late David Lyon's The First Destroyers, Chatham publishing 1996.

[E28]

http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/C-Ships/cobra1900.html

Look at this TBD. Cobra was built as a speculative venture with Parsons steam turbines by Armstrongs and was offered on 12 December 1899 to the Admiralty who confirmed acceptance on 8 May 1900 almost 1 year after her launch in June 1899, possibly in dread she could be sold to a Foreign power.

Out with the reciprocating engines and in with the new fangled turbine, with no astern facility. From the outset there were serious concerns about her build quality, considered worse than Swordfish, with a multitude of issues the builder and buyer had to compromise on ultimately. Being coal fired the men needed in the engine rooms alone almost exceeded berths available and her fuel consumption far exceeded that predicted.

She was with Viper the RN's first Turbine TBD, later destroyer, but unlike Viper which was wrecked Cobra simply sank breaking in 2 on her delivery voyage in contentious circumstances, her reserves of strength noted as being less than any other TBD.
A reminder, Cobra was not a contract ship as The Admiralty did not permit this Builder to tender.

Where next for the company as surely the situation can only improve.

[Hornbeam]

Looking at the Spec of the Cobra she must have been hard graft for the Stokers, look at the size of the Stokehold Vents, P.V. or Private Venture building is a risk for the Builder sometimes it works (thinking of the Mosquito aircraft) and in this case it appears not to, building for speed requires lightweight construction although a bit too lightweight for this vessel to break in half, someone's Torsional Rigidity calculation appears to have gone astray.
She is a very smart and as previously mentioned rakish craft.
The 1950's built Eastbourne was a leap into the dark with her lightweight Hull design and her Y100 Plant.

[E28]

Well, in fact the situation did not improve as after all 42 of the 27 knotters and a further 72 of 30 knot TBD's ( later A, B, C, D classes ) were completed the Admiralty needed to consider designs more capable of offensive duties in the open seas with the battleships and cruisers.

An entirely new much larger up gunned TBD with a raised forecastle was the next evolution and these much improved ships were collectively known as the River class ( later E ) where again the 6 selected builders were given free reign of design to the Admiralty spec but the reciprocating engine would be retained* as speed was no longer the be all, it was now sea keeping.

Needless to say Armstrong did not feature, still languishing in the not allowed to tender for TBD category. Patently, this unfortunate state of affairs needed to be resolved being a warship builder of World renown, an opportunity to redeem themselves must soon occur.

The next chance to please and appease their Lordships was still a couple of years away.

* This is H L's Eden which was the only Turbine River built but well and amply illustrates the class despite their many and varied appearances
http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/E-Ships/eden1904.html

[Hornbeam]

Thank You for the info and especially the photographs, certainly a knife edge Bow, It is understandable that the RN stuck with Triple Expansions despite the Steam Turbine being a superb invention. Unfortunately material specs did not keep up with what was required and Turbine Blade failures were quite common disabling the ship, same thing happened in the Merchant Ship world where Owners despite Parsons best efforts were very reluctant to move over to the Turbine as well as the Diesel Engine. It would have to be a catastrophic failure not to be able to get a Triple Expansion going after a breakdown.