Rocket-class destroyer explained

Three Rocket-class destroyers served with the Royal Navy.

Under the 1893–1894 Naval Estimates, the British Admiralty placed orders for 36 torpedo-boat destroyers, all to be capable of, the "27-knotters", as a follow-on to the six prototype "26-knotters" ordered in the previous 1892–1893 Estimates. As was typical for torpedo craft at the time, the Admiralty left detailed design to the builders, laying down only broad requirements.^{[1] [2]}

, and were built by J & G Thomson and launched at Clydebank in 1894. The ships displaced 280 tons, were 200feet long and their Normand boilers produced . to give a top speed of . They were armed with one 12-pounder and two torpedo tubes. They carried a complement of 53 officers and men.

In September 1913 the Admiralty re-classed all the surviving 27-knotter destroyers as A Class although this only applied to Surly as the other two ships had been sold for scrap in 1912.

See also

• A-class destroyer (1913)

Bibliography

• Book: Chesneau. Roger. Kolesnik. Eugene M. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. 1979 . Conway Maritime Press. London. 0-85177-133-5. amp.
  • Book: Friedman, Norman. British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. 2009. Seaforth Publishing. Barnsley, UK. 978-1-84832-049-9.
• Book: Gardiner. Robert. Gray. Randal. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. 1985. Conway Maritime Press. London. 0-85177-245-5. amp.
• Book: Johnston . Ian . Ships for All Nations: John Brown & Company Clydebank 1847–1971 . 2015 . Naval Institute Press . Annapolis, Maryland . 978-1-59114-584-4 . 2nd.
• Book: March, Edgar J.. British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. 1966. Seeley, Service. London . 164893555.

Notes and References

1. Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 87.
2. Manning 1961, p. 39.