Cricket class

Cricket class
The HMS Cricket
Overview
Type	Torpedo boat
units	36
Shipyard	13 J. Samuel White 9 John I. Thornycroft 3 Yarrow & Co. 4 William Denny 4 Hawthorn Leslie 3 Palmers Shipbuilding
Keel laying	September 1905 to March 1908
Launch	January 1906 to April 1909
Commissioning	December 1906 to September 1910
Whereabouts	six losses scrapped in World War 1919-1922
Technical specifications
displacement	1st lot: 225 to 255 tons; Max. 400 tn 2nd / 3rd Lot: 256 to 306 tons; Max. 400 tons
length	53.3 oa. / 50.9 pp. (175 ft) 1st lot 56.4 oa. / 53.9 pp (185 ft)
width	5.3 m (17.5 ft) 1st lot 5.5 m 2nd / 3rd Come on
Draft	1.8 m (6 ft) 1st lot 2.0 m 2nd / 3rd lot Come on
crew	35 men
drive	2 Yarrow boilers, 3 Parsons turbines , 3750/4000 hp, 3 shafts
speed	26  kn
Armament	2 × 76 mm L / 40-12pdr cannons 3 450 mm torpedo tubes
1st lot	TB 1 to TB 12, initially names
2nd lot	TB 13 to TB 24
3rd lot	TB 25 to TB 36

The Cricket- class destroyers were ordered by the Royal Navy to complement the Tribal-class destroyers for the coastal area. The first batch of twelve boats of the small torpedo boat destroyers was given names. However, they and the two subsequent orders for twelve other boats each were soon reclassified as 1st class torpedo boats and were then given the numbers TB 1 to TB 36.
Six boats were lost in the World War; the remaining 30 boats were scrapped from 1919 to 1922.

Building history

Since the commissioning of HMS Havock in early 1894, the Royal Navy had commissioned around 150 torpedo boat destroyers by 1904. In addition, she had still ordered torpedo boats, but only about 20 boats. The boats last delivered by Thornycroft ( TB 98 / TB 99 , TB 107 / TB 108 , TB 109 to TB 113 ) and White ( TB 114 to TB 117 ) from 1901 to 1905 had a size of 200 tn, were 50 m long and reached 25 kn. They were referred to as the "160 Footer Class Torpedo Boat".

The next boats of this size were the Cricket ordered by White in 1905 and the Dragonfly by Thornycroft, which were launched in 1906. The new type was initially referred to as the "Coastal Destroyer" because the boats were not suitable for oceanic use. The boats, displacing 225 to 255 tn, were 53.3 m long overall. Their most important innovation was the drive with oil-fired boilers, Parsons turbines and three shafts. The armament with two 76 mm 12pdr guns was also much stronger than the three 47 mm 3pdr Hotchkiss cannons of the previous torpedo boats, with identical torpedo armament with three 450 mm torpedo tubes. In 1906 these boats were reclassified as "1st class torpedo boats". The names of the twelve ordered boats were also given up and the boats were labeled as TB 1 to TB 12 .

Two more series of twelve boats each followed. These were 10 feet longer and slightly wider. The cricket class was built at six different yards with slight differences. With 13 boats, White was the main supplier in Cowes ; There were also nine boats from Thornycroft in Chiswick , four each from Denny in Dumbarton and Hawthorn in Hebburn (BauN ° 418/419, 424/425) and three each from Yarrow in Cubitt Town and Palmers in Jarrow (BauN ° 725, 802/803 ). All boats had two funnels and one of the three torpedo tubes mounted directly on the stern.

Mission history

At the beginning of the First World War in 1914, the boats were divided into three flotillas: the 7th and 8th destroyer flotilla, which provided escort services in the North Sea, and the Nore Local Defense Flotilla.

In addition to 21 old destroyers, the 7th Destroyer Flotilla deployed twelve cricket- class torpedo boats ( TB 1, TB 2, TB 3, TB 4, TB 5, TB 13, TB 14, TB 15, TB 16, TB 21, TB 22, TB 24 ) a. In the autumn of 1914 she temporarily surrendered four boats ( TB 4, TB 13, TB 22, TB 24 ) to the 9th Destroyer Flotilla. In March 1915, the 7th Flotilla surrendered all torpedo boats.

The twelve other boats of the first two series were of the cricket class ( TB 6, TB 7, TB 8, TB 9, TB 10, TB 11, TB 12, TB 17, TB 18, TB 19, TB 20, TB 23 ) 1914 with the "Nore Local Defense Flotilla", where they were used alongside eleven old destroyers and eight older torpedo boats. On June 10, 1915, the class suffered the first two war casualties , when TB 10 (23 dead) and TB 12 (23 dead) were lost to mine hits. The two boats were on a search trip from Harwich in the Thames estuary for reported submarines with three other sister boats and five old destroyers. First, an explosion occurred on TB 12 . TB 10 took over part of the crew and tried to tow the heavily damaged sister boat. It was hit about 40 minutes later, broke and immediately sank. It was not a torpedo attack by a submarine, as initially suspected, but the boats had come across a mine barrier laid by UC 11 . Renewed towing attempts , supported by the destroyer Cynthia , ultimately failed and TB 12 also sank. In October 1915 the flotilla TB 17 and TB 18 surrendered to the 5th destroyer flotilla in the Mediterranean. Newly joined TB 2 for flotilla, which after the service at the 7th flotilla in Newhaven had done service. In 1916 the flotilla suffered two more losses when TB 11 was lost by a mine hit on March 7 and TB 9 was lost in the North Sea after a collision on July 26, 1916 . In the last year of service, the "Nore Local Defense Flotilla" had six old destroyers of the A- (one), B- (one), C- (two) and D-class (two), six boats of the cricket class, seven older torpedo boats, a gunboat and several barges before it was practically disbanded in early 1919.

Eleven boats of the third construction lot ( TB 25, TB 26, TB 27, TB 28, TB 29, TB 30, TB 31, TB 32, TB 34, TB 35, TB 36 ) were next to the 8th destroyer flotilla at the beginning of the war thirteen old "B" , "C" and "D" class destroyers in action. Only TB 33 was not operational at the start of the war and only joined the flotilla in autumn. In October 1915, the flotilla TB 29 and TB 30 , which together with the boats TB 17 and TB 18 of the Nore flotilla, moved to the 5th destroyer flotilla in the Mediterranean. New to the flotilla was TB 13 , which had previously been used with the 7th, 9th and most recently with the 6th destroyer flotilla. This boat was lost on January 26, 1916 in a collision in which nine men lost their lives. The 8th destroyer flotilla was disbanded in March 1918. The last two old destroyers came to the “Irish Sea Flotilla” and the remaining ten boats of the cricket class with the depot ship Tyne to the “Methil Convoy Flotilla” on the Firth of Forth .

After the autumn of 1914, the 9th destroyer time, four Cricket boats used ( TB 4 TB 13, TB 22, TB 24 ) had taken over from the 7th flotilla went in March 1915 four Cricket boats used ( TB 4 TB 13, TB 15 , TB 24 ) from the 7th Flotilla to the 6th Destroyer Flotilla in Dover . TB 4 and TB 24 were awarded the Battle Honor Belgian Coast 1915 here . In autumn 1915, TB 13 was handed over to the 8th Flotilla. On January 28, 1917, TB 24 was lost after a collision off Dover. TB 4 and TB 15 remained with the flotilla until the summer of 1918.

HMS TB 30

In October 1915 two boats from each of the aforementioned flotillas ( TB 17 / TB 18 , TB 29 / TB 30 ) went to the 5th destroyer flotilla in the Mediterranean. They served there to support the submarine tenders Aquarius , then St. George and were assigned to the British "Aegean Squadron" in March 1918 with four older torpedo boats. After the end of the war and the arrival of modern destroyers, TB 17 and TB 18 went to Gibraltar , TB 29 and TB 30 to Malta , where they were also canceled.

Final fate

The boats no longer used in the surveillance flotillas served in smaller local security units until the end of the war. After the war ended, they were decommissioned and all sold for demolition until 1922.

The boats of the cricket class

Surname	Number	Shipyard	Keel laying	Launch	in service	Final fate
Household 1905–1906
Cricket	TB 1	White	09/12/1905	01/23/1906	12.1906	October 1920 for demolition
Dragonfly	TB 2	White	09/15/1905	03/11/1906	01.1907	October 1920 for demolition
Firefly	TB 3	White	September 18, 1905	1.09.1906	02.1907	October 1920 for demolition
Sandfly	TB 4	White	September 18, 1905	10/30/1906	04.1907	May 1920 for demolition, stranded on the way
Spider	TB 5	White	September 18, 1905	12/15/1906	1907	October 1920 for demolition
Gadfly	TB 6	Thornycroft	1.09.1905	06/24/1906	12.1906	October 1920 for demolition
Glowworm	TB 7	Thornycroft	09/25/1905	December 20, 1906	02.1907	May 1921 for demolition
Gnat	TB 8	Thornycroft	October 4, 1905	1.12.1906	03.1907	May 1921 for demolition
Grasshopper	TB 9	Thornycroft	1.11.1905	03/18/1907	06.1907	07/26/1916 Sunk after a collision in the North Sea
Greenfly	TB 10	Thornycroft	November 2nd, 1905	02/15/1907	05.1907	06/10/1915 sunk after a mine hit in the North Sea
Mayfly	TB 11	Yarrow	11/23/1905	01/29/1907	05.1907	Mar 17, 1916 sank after a mine hit in the North Sea
Moth	TB 12	Yarrow	11/23/1905	03/15/1907	05.1907	06/10/1915 sunk after a mine hit in the North Sea
Household 1906–1907
	TB 13	White	03/14/1907	07/10/1907	05.1908	01/26/1916 Sunk after a collision in the North Sea
	TB 14	White	03/18/1907	09/26/1907	05.1908	October 1920 for demolition
	TB 15	White	03/20/1907	11/19/1907	05.1908	October 1920 for demolition
	TB 16	White	07/12/1907	December 23, 1907	07.1908	January 1921 for demolition
	TB 17	Denny	4.04.1907	December 21, 1907	04.1908	1919 for demolition
	TB 18	Denny	4.04.1907	02/15/1908	06.1908	1920 for demolition
	TB 19	Thornycroft	03/13/1907	December 7, 1907	2.06.1908	May 1921 for demolition
	TB 20	Thornycroft	03/20/1907	01/21/1908	08/19/1908	May 1921 for demolition
	TB 21	Hawthorn	May 7, 1907	December 20, 1907	03.1908	October 1920 for demolition
	TB 22	Hawthorn	May 7, 1907	1.02.1908	03.1908	October 1920 for demolition
	TB 23	Yarrow	02/10/1907	December 5, 1907	02/19/1908	May 1921 for demolition
	TB 24	Palmers	2.04.1907	03/19/1908	06.1908	28/01/1917 stranded off Dover
Household 1907–1908
	TB 25	White	12/30/1907	08/28/1908	01/22/1909	May 1921 for demolition
	TB 26	White	12/30/1907	08/28/1908	02.1909	May 1921 for demolition
	TB 27	White	2.02.1908	09/29/1908	03.1909	May 1921 for demolition
	TB 28	White	02/27/1908	October 29, 1908	April 8, 1909	May 1921 for demolition
	TB 29	Denny	02/20/1908	09/29/1908	11.1909	November 1919 for demolition
	TB 30	Denny	02/20/1908	09/29/1908	01.1910	November 1919 for demolition
	TB 31	Thornycroft	February 8, 1908	10/10/1908	02.1910	May 1921 for demolition
	TB 32	Thornycroft	February 9, 1908	11/23/1908	03.1910	May 1921 for demolition
	TB 33	Hawthorn	January 17, 1908	02/22/1909	06.1910	August 1922 for demolition
	TB 34	Hawthorn	February 7, 1908	02/22/1909	08.1910	May 1921 for demolition
	TB 35	Palmers	4.02.1908	04/19/1909	08.1910	August 1922 for demolition
	TB 36	Palmers	03/20/1908	May 6, 1909	09.1910	May 1921 for demolition

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 160th class
2. ↑ 7th DF on dreadnoughtproject
3. ↑ Nore LDF ( Memento of the original from December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on dreadnoughtproject  
4. ↑ 8th DF on dreadnoughtproject
5. ↑ 6th DF on dreadnoughtproject
6. ↑ 5th DF on dreadnoughtproject
7. ^ ^{A b c d} Friedman: British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. P. 305.
8. ↑ HMS Spider ( Memento of the original from June 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ Jane's, p. 315.
10. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Dittmar, FJ and JJ Colledge. " SHIPS OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1914-1919 - in ALPHABETICAL ORDER (Part 2 of 2). British Warships 1914-1919. On Naval-history.net.

literature

• Maurice Cocker: Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981. Ian Allen, 1983, ISBN 0-7110-1075-7 .
• Norman Friedman: British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley 2009, ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9 .
• TD Manning: The British Destroyer. Putnam 1961.
• Antony Preston: Destroyers. Hamlyn, ISBN 0-60032955-0 .
• Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Conway Maritime Press (1985), pp. 72f.
• Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. (Ed. John Moore), Studio, London 1990, ISBN 1-85170-378-0 .

Web links

Commons : Cricket- class torpedo boats  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Cricket- class coastal destroyers
• Cricket- class torpedo boat