H.M. T.B. 20 (1880)

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H.M. T.B. 20 (1880)
Builder: Rennie[1]
Ordered: 8 May, 1878[2] (see text)
Launched: 1880[3]
Completed: Purchased 25 May, 1880[4]
Broken up: 1903[5]
H.M. T.B. 20 was one of 19 first-class torpedo boats of the T.B. 1 class.

Construction

A Lightning-type torpedo boat was ordered from Rennie on 8 May, 1878, however the resulting vessel proved unsatisfactory and was rejected by the Royal Navy. T.B. 20 was built in 1880 as a replacement, and the original Rennie boat was sold abroad. She proved slow, reaching barely better than 16¾ knots during her trials.[6][7]

Service

In 1881, there were twenty first-class torpedo boats in all. T.B. 20 was partly fitted for Whitehead torpedoes, and was one of eleven boats serving out of Portsmouth.[8] Some time afterwards T.B. 20 was sent out to Hong Kong, where she would spend the rest of her career, possibly on account of her disappointing performance.[9]

Already slow when new, her speed dropped considerably over the course of her career, and by 1894 she could only make 11 knots with difficulty.[10] Nevertheless she was listed as one of six first-class torpedo boats stationed at Hong Kong in 1895.[11]

In July, 1904, complaints from Vice-Admiral Noel of the China Station about the condition of his T.B.s and T.B.D.s prompted a review of his assets by First Lord of the Admiralty Selborne. Within, it was noted that T.B. 20 was simply "non-effective".[12] Selborne apparently did not know that T.B. 20 had been sold for scrapping at Hong Kong the year before, although it is possible that the later sources are in error.[13][14][15]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 102.
  2. Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 309.
  3. Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 309.
  4. Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 309.
  5. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 102.
  6. Brown. Steam Torpedo Boats. p. 78.
  7. Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 309.
  8. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1881. p. 35.
  9. Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 309.
  10. Brown. Steam Torpedo Boats. p. 78.
  11. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1895. p. 62.
  12. Letter from Selborne to Noel dated 15 July 1904 contained in Noel Papers at the National Maritime Museum. (NOE/5/2).
  13. Brown. Steam Torpedo Boats. p. 78.
  14. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 102.
  15. Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 309.
  16. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1894. p. 196.

Bibliography

  • Brown, David K. (2005). Jordan, John. ed. "Steam Torpedo Boats of the Royal Navy". Warship 2005: pp. 73-96.
  • Chesneau, Robert; Kolesnik, Eugene (editors) (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
  • Lyon, David; Winfield, Rif (2004). The Sail & Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy, 1815-1889. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1861760329. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).


T.B. 1 Class First-class Torpedo Boat
Lightning
  T.B. 1  
Thornycroft Repeat Lightnings
T.B. 2 T.B. 3 T.B. 4 T.B. 5 T.B. 6
  T.B. 7 T.B. 8 T.B. 9  
  T.B. 10 T.B. 11 T.B. 12  
Other Builders
T.B. 13 T.B. 14 T.B. 15 T.B. 17 T.B. 18
  T.B. 19 T.B. 20  
  Torpedo Boats (UK) H.M. T.B. 63 –>
  First-class Torpedo Boats (UK) T.B. 39 Class –>