The ''Cobra'' class (also known as the ''Python'' class) was a class of four

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of s ...

s built by the British shipbuilder

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

for the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (german: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', hu, Császári és Királyi Haditengerészet) was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the A ...

in the late 1890s. All four ships served through the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

and were

scrapped Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

in 1919.

Design and construction

In 1895, the

purchased one

each from the British shipbuilder

and the German shipbuilder

Schichau-Werke The Schichau-Werke (F. Schichau, Maschinen- und Lokomotivfabrik, Schiffswerft und Eisengießerei GmbH) was a German engineering works and shipyard based in Elbing, Germany (now Elbląg, Poland) on the Frisches Haff (Vistula Lagoon) of then-East ...

, two specialist builders of torpedo vessels. The two torpedo boats, which carried identical armament, were evaluated against each other. While there was little to choose between the seaworthiness of the two ships, the German-built ship, , suffered vibration at high speed, while the Yarrow-built torpedo-boat, , did not suffer such vibration and the Yarrow design was chosen for further development, with four more torpedo-boats ordered from Yarrow to a modified design. The new torpedo boats were long at the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that ind ...

and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the stern ...

, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy * Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy ** Laser beam * Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized g ...

of and a draught of . Two coal-fired Yarrow

water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gene ...

s fed a single three-cylinder

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

which drove a single propeller shaft. The machinery was rated at giving a speed of , although was generated during

sea trials A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

, when ''Python'' reached a speed of . The ships were armed by two L/33 Skoda guns and three

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed abo ...

s, (except ''Kigyo'' which was only fitted with two torpedo tubes), with two forward on the sides of the ship, where they could fire almost dead ahead, and one on the ships' centreline aft. The ships had a crew of 21.

Service

The four ships were

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

at Yarrow's Poplar,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

shipyard in 1897–1898 and completed in 1898–1900. In 1910, all Austro-Hungarian torpedo-boats were redesignated, replacing their names by numbers, with the ''Cobra'' class becoming ''Tb 13'' – ''Tb 16''. On the outbreak of the

three of the torpedo-boats (''Tb 13'', ''Tb 15'' and ''Tb 16'') were based at

Cattaro Kotor ( Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrati ...

as part of the local defence forces, serving as escorts and minesweepers throughout the war, while ''Tb 14'' was used as a salvage vessel for the naval air station at Pola (now

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, later transferring to

Šibenik Šibenik () is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik-Knin County, and is also the ...

. All four ships survived the war, and were allocated to France and Britain under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1919 (with ''Tb 13'', ''Tb 15'' and ''Tb 16'' going to France and ''Tb 14'' going to Britain) and were scrapped in 1920.

Ships

* –

1897, launched 1898, completed 1899. Renamed ''Tb 16'' in 1910. * – laid down 1897, launched September 1898, completed 1898. Renamed ''Tb 15'' in 1910. * – laid down 1898, launched 11 April 1899, completed 31 January 1900. Renamed ''Tb 14'' in 1910. * – laid down 1898, launched 11 April 1899, completed 12 October 1899. Renamed ''Tb 13'' in 1910.

Citations

References

* * * * {{Austro-Hungarian Navy classes Torpedo boats of the Austro-Hungarian Navy World War I torpedo boats of Austria-Hungary Ships built in Poplar