HMS ''TB 12'' (originally named HMS ''Moth'') was a ''Cricket''-class coastal destroyer or torpedo-boat of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. ''TB 12'' was built by the shipbuilder Yarrow from 1905 to 1907. She was used for local patrol duties in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was sunk by a German mine in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

on 10 June 1915.

Design

The ''Cricket''-class was intended as a smaller and cheaper supplement to the large, fast but expensive ''Tribal''-class, particularly in coastal waters such as the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

. An initial order for twelve ships was placed by the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

in May 1905 as part of the 1905–1906 shipbuilding programme, with five ships each ordered from

Thornycroft Thornycroft was an English vehicle manufacturer which built coaches, buses, and trucks from 1896 until 1977. History In 1896, naval engineer John Isaac Thornycroft formed the Thornycroft Steam Carriage and Van Company which built its f ...

and

J. Samuel White J. Samuel White was a British shipbuilding firm based in Cowes, taking its name from John Samuel White (1838–1915). It came to prominence during the Victorian era. During the 20th century it built destroyers and other naval craft for both the ...

and two from

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Growing to tall, it is characterized by small whitish flowers, a tall stem of fernlike leaves, and a pungent odor. The plan ...

. Yarrow's ships (the different shipbuilders built to their own design, although standardised machinery and armament was fitted) were long overall 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 ster ...

, with a beam of and a draught of . The ships had turtleback

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...

s and two funnels. Two oil-fuelled 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 fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-generat ...

s fed steam to three-stage Parsons

steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

s, driving three propeller shafts. The machinery was designed to give , with a speed of specified. Armament consisted of two 12-pounder (76-mm) 12 cwt guns and three 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes (in three single mounts). The ships had a crew of 39.

Service

Both of Yarrow's two torpedo-boats of the 1905–1906 programme, ''Mayfly'' and ''Moth'' 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 their Poplar, London shipyard on 23 November 1905. In 1906, the ships of the class, including ''Moth'', were redesignated as torpedo-boats, losing their names in the process, with ''Moth'' becoming ''TB 12''. She was launched on 15 March 1907 and was completed in July 1907. In early 1911 ''TB 12'', previously employed at the

Dartmouth Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, also known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

, joined the Nore Flotilla. She was refitted at Sheerness in 1911. On 9 June 1915, following the sinking by a German submarine (probably ''U-10'') of six

fishing smack A smack was a traditional fishing boat used off the coast of Britain and the Atlantic coast of America for most of the 19th century and, in small numbers, up to the Second World War. Many larger smacks were originally Cutter (ship), cutter-rig ...

s, the Nore Local Defence Flotilla launched a large search for the submarine involved, with five destroyers and six torpedo-boats, including ''TB 12'', taking part. At 03:30 on 10 June ''TB 12'' was about 2 miles north east of the Sunk Light Vessel when an explosion wrecked the fore part of the ship. Her sister ship took ''TB 12'' in tow, but shortly afterwards an explosion wrecked ''TB 10'' which broke in two and quickly sank. Attempts to save ''TB 12'' failed and she sank at 10:55. Although it was believed at the time that the ships had been torpedoed, with the destroyer reporting that she had seen a torpedo heading towards ''TB 10'' and that ''Vulture'' herself had been near-missed by another torpedo, the two torpedo-boats had actually been sunk by mines. 23 of ''TB 12''s crew were killed.

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:TB 12 (1907) Torpedo boats of the Royal Navy Ships built in Poplar 1907 ships