Rocket-class destroyer
{{short description|Subclass of the A-class destroyers}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
{{no footnotes|date=January 2013}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship class overview |Name=Rocket class |Builders=J & G Thomson, Clydebank |Operators={{navy|United Kingdom}} |Class before={{sclass|Sunfish|destroyer|4}} |Class after={{sclass|Sturgeon|destroyer|4}} |Subclasses= |Built range=1894–1895 |In commission range=1894–1920 |Total ships building= |Total ships planned= |Total ships completed=3 |Total ships cancelled= |Total ships active= |Total ships laid up= |Total ships lost= |Total ships retired= |Total ships scrapped=3 |Total ships preserved= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type=Torpedo boat destroyer |Ship displacement= {{convert|280|LT|t|0|lk=in|abbr=on}} |Ship length= {{convert|200|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship propulsion=4 x Normand boilers, 2 x triple expansion steam engines rated {{convert|4100|hp|0|abbr=on}} |Ship speed={{convert|27|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range= |Ship complement= 53 |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*1 × 12 pounder gun
|Ship armour= |Ship notes= }} |
File:HMS_Surly_during_manoeuvres,_D_Squadron,_Preliminary_Cruise_25_July_1901_RMG_PU0300.jpg
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 {{convert|27|kn}}, 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.Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 87.Manning 1961, p. 39.
{{HMS|Rocket|1894|6}}, {{HMS|Shark|1894|6}} and {{HMS|Surly|1894|6}} were built by J & G Thomson and launched at Clydebank in 1894. The ships displaced 280 tons, were {{convert|200|ft|abbr=on}} long and their Normand boilers produced {{convert|4,100|hp}}. to give a top speed of {{convert|27|kn}}. 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
Notes
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|editor2-last=Kolesnik|editor2-first=Eugene M|title=Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|year=1979 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-133-5|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{Cite Colledge2006}}
- {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War|year=2009|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=978-1-84832-049-9}}
- {{cite book|editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal|title=Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-245-5|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite book |last1=Johnston |first1=Ian |title=Ships for All Nations: John Brown & Company Clydebank 1847–1971 |date=2015 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=978-1-59114-584-4 |edition=2nd}}
- {{cite book|last=March|first=Edgar J.|title=British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans|year=1966|publisher=Seeley, Service|location=London |oclc=164893555}}
{{Rocket class destroyer}}
{{A class destroyer (1913)}}
Category:Ship classes of the Royal Navy
{{UK-mil-ship-stub}}