R-class destroyer (1916) explained

The first R class were a class of 62 destroyers built between 1916 and 1917 for the Royal Navy. They were an improvement, specifically in the area of fuel economy, of the earlier destroyers. The most important difference was that the Admiralty R class had two shafts and geared turbines, compared with the three shafts and direct turbines of the Admiralty M class, but in appearance the R class could be distinguished from its predecessors by having the after 4-inch gun mounted in a bandstand. The Admiralty ordered the first two of this class of ships in May 1915. Another seventeen were ordered in July 1915, a further eight in December 1915, and a final twenty-three in March 1916 (of which eleven were to a slightly modified design).

As well as these fifty ships to the standard 'Admiralty' design, twelve more R class were designed and built by the two specialist builders Yarrow Shipbuilders and John I. Thornycroft & Company to their own separate designs. Three were ordered from Thornycroft and four from Yarrow in July 1915, and two from Thornycroft and three from Yarrow in December 1915.

They were the last three-funnelled destroyers ordered by the Royal Navy (although commissioned in 1973 had three funnels, these were not all on the centreline). All of these ships saw extensive service in World War I. Some saw service as minelayers. Eight R-class ships were sunk during the war and all but two of the surviving ships were scrapped in the 1920s and 1930s. One Admiralty R-class vessel,, survived to see service in World War II as a convoy escort, making her the oldest destroyer to see wartime service with the Royal Navy. A second, was transferred to the Royal Siamese Navy as Phra Ruang in September 1920.

Ships in class

The ships of this class were ordered under the 5th through 8th War Emergency Programmes through which the government funded the United Kingdom's increased ship production during World War I. The first two prototypes of this class were ordered in May 1915 as part of the 5th War Programme and larger numbers followed, as summarized in the following table:

War Programme	Ordered	Admiralty R	Admiralty Modified R	Thornycroft R	Yarrow R
5	May 1915	2	-	-	-
6	July 1915	17	-	3	4
7	December 1915	8	-	2	-
8	March 1916	12	11	-	3

Admiralty R-class destroyers

Name	Pennant	Builder	Laid down	Status	Ref
5th War Programme order in May 1915 (2 ships)
	D94, H64, G76, G79, G81	Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson		Sold for scrap
	D95, G41, G81, G82, G86	Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson		Sold for scrap
6th War Programme order in July 1915 (17 ships)
	G15, G18, G53, G83	John Brown & Company, Clydebank		Scrapped
	D84, F45, H85, G81, G90	John Brown & Company, Clydebank		Scrapped
	G85, G88	John Brown & Company, Clydebank		Scrapped
	G86, G90	John Brown & Company, Clydebank		Scrapped
	G43, G82, G88, H76	William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton		Scrapped
		William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton		Scrapped
	F51, F58, F97, FA4	William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton		Scrapped
	F56, F57	William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland		Scrapped
		William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland		Sunk by submarine	^[1]
	G44, G91, H93	J. Samuel White, Cowes		Scrapped
	F55, G98	J. Samuel White, Cowes		Sunk after collision
(renamed Sable)	F18, G93, G94, H36, H58	Harland and Wolff, Govan		Sold for scrap
	D93, F54, F68, G69, H0A	Harland and Wolff, Govan		Sold for scrap
	F15, G14, G19, G21, G82	R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Hebburn on Tyne		Sold for scrap
	G68, G93, G94, H66	Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend-on-Tyne		Sold for scrap
	F47, F49, G17	Alexander Stephen and Sons, Linthouse, Govan		Sold for scrap
	F60, F79	Alexander Stephen and Sons, Linthouse, Govan		Sold for scrap
7th War Programme order in December 1915 (8 ships)
	F51, F59, G52, H78	William Beardmore and Company, Dalmuir		Sold for scrap
	F48, F61	William Beardmore and Company, Dalmuir		Sold for scrap
		John Brown & Company, Clydebank		Sunk by torpedo boat
		John Brown & Company, Clydebank		Sold for scrap
		Harland and Wolff, Govan		Sold for scrap
		Harland and Wolff, Govan		Sold for scrap
	F60, F64, G50, H70		R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Hebburn on Tyne	Sold for scrap
	F65, F66, G60, H90	R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Hebburn on Tyne		Sold for scrap
8th War Programme order in March 1916 (12 ships)
	F12, F85, G07, G08, G79, H67	William Beardmore and Company, Dalmuir		Sold for scrap
	F22, F65, F72, F79, H97	John Brown & Company, Clydebank		Sold for scrap
	F23, F66, F81, F86, H98	John Brown & Company, Clydebank		Sold for scrap
		Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company		Sold for scrap
	F96, G02, G61, H1A	Harland and Wolff, Govan; J. Samuel White, Cowes		Sold for scrap
	F74, F87, G54, H59	Harland and Wolff, Govan; J. Samuel White, Cowes		Sold for scrap
	F75, F82, G80, H72	R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Hebburn on Tyne		Sold for scrap
	F74, F76, G81, H73	R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Hebburn on Tyne		Sold for scrap
		Alexander Stephen and Sons, Linthouse, Govan		Sold for scrap; sunk in transit
		Alexander Stephen and Sons, Linthouse, Govan		Sunk by mines
		Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend-on-Tyne		Sunk by mines
		Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend-on-Tyne		Sunk by mines

Admiralty Modified R-class destroyers

The remaining eleven ships ordered in March 1916 were of the Admiralty Modified R class with a slightly increased breadth of 27 ft, a draught of 11 ft, and a tonnage of 1,085.These ships had two funnels.

Name	Pennant	Builder	Status
8th War Programme order in March 1916 (11 ships)
	G78, G96	J. Samuel White, Cowes	Sold for scrap
	F11, F25, F89	J. Samuel White, Cowes	Sold for scrap
	F07, F81, G80, HA7	Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock	Sold for scrap
		Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend-on-Tyne	Sold for scrap
	F01, F17, F91, H09	William Beardmore and Company, Dalmuir	Sold for scrap
		William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland	Sunk following collision
	F02, F26, F94, H10	William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland	Sold for scrap
	F03, G79, G97, H61	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company	Sold for scrap; sunk in transit
	F04, F99, H62	Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company	Sold for scrap
	F05, F10, H63	Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company	Sold for scrap
	F01, F84, F88, H11	Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock	Sold for scrap

Thornycroft R-class ships

Name	Pennant	Builder	Status
6th War Programme order in July 1915 (3 ships)
	D87, G64, G89, G95	John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston	Sold for scrap
		John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston	Sold to Thailand as Phra Ruang
		John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston	Sold for scrap
7th War Programme order in December 1915 (2 ships)
	D82, F39, F70, F71, H30	John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston	Sold for scrap
	D83, F40, F71, F93, H17	John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston	Sold for scrap

Only a single R-class destroyer was passed on from the Royal Navy for service in another service:

Yarrow R-class ships

These seven ships built by Yarrow Shipbuilders were sometimes classified as the Yarrow Later M-class destroyer. These ships had two funnels.

Name	Builder	Status
6th War Programme order in July 1915 (4 ships)
	Yarrow Shipbuilders	Sold for scrap
	Yarrow Shipbuilders	Sunk by cruisers
	Yarrow Shipbuilders	Sunk by mines
	Yarrow Shipbuilders	Sold for scrap
8th War Programme order in March 1916 (3 ships)
	Yarrow Shipbuilders	Sold for scrap
	Yarrow Shipbuilders	Sold for scrap
	Yarrow Shipbuilders	Sunk by submarine

Bibliography

- British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953 Drawn by Admiralty Permission from Official Records and Returns, Ships' Covers and Building Plans, Edgar J. March 1966, Seeley, Service & Co .
Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981, Maurice Cocker, 1983, Ian Allan
British Destroyers, From Earliest Days to the Second World War Norman Friedman, 2009,

Notes and References

Book: Kemp, Paul . The Admiralty Regrets: British Warship Losses of the 20th Century . 1999 . Sutton Publishing Ltd . 0-7509-1567-6 . 55 . 46471901 .