HMS ''TB 81'', originally named ''Swift'', was a

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 ...

that served with 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 ...

. She was built in 1884–1885 by the shipbuilder J Samuel White as a private venture, and was purchased for the Royal Navy in 1885, and was one of the largest torpedo boats of her time. She remained in service into 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 ...

, when she was employed as a patrol boat, finally being sold for scrap in 1921.

Construction and design

In 1884, the shipbuilder

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 ...

began work on a new,

, named ''Swift'' as a private venture (i.e. without an order from a customer). ''Swift'' was much larger than contemporary torpedo boats, and was intended to double as a "torpedo-boat catcher", to defend against enemy torpedo-boats, as an early form of

torpedo-boat destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived in ...

. ''Swift'' was flush-decked, with a strengthened ram bow for ramming hostile torpedo boats. The ship was long overall,

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 .

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was normal and full load. The ship was powered by a single three-cylinder

compound 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 heat ...

, rated at . This drove a single propeller shaft. ''Swift'' reached a speed of during

sea trials A sea trial or trial trip 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 o ...

, which corresponded to a more realistic sea speed of during service use. Tandem rudders were fitted, allowing ''Swift'' to be the most manoeuvrable British torpedo boat of the time, despite being the largest, having a turning circle of . Two funnels were fitted, side-by-side, ahead of the ship's

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armoured, from which an officer in charge can conn (nautical), conn (conduct or control) the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for t ...

. She was designed to carry differing armament suites depending on the role she was employed in. For the anti-torpedo boat role, the ship could carry six 3-pounder (47 mm) guns together with a 14-inch torpedo tube in the bow, while for the torpedo boat role, two more torpedo tubes could be carried at the expense of two of the guns. She had a crew of 25. A war scare with Russia in 1884–1885 led to large orders for new torpedo boats being placed, including 20 from Thornycroft, 22 from Yarrow and 5 from White, with these orders being supplemented by buying two boats building for Chile by Yarrow and buying ''Swift'', which was about to begin trials.

Service

After purchase, the Royal Navy was uncertain whether to complete ''Swift'' as a torpedo-boat catcher or as a normal torpedo boat, before deciding to use her as a torpedo boat, and fitting her with the appropriate armament of three torpedo tubes and four guns. She was renamed ''TB 81'' in 1887. In August 1894 ''TB 81'' took part in that year's Naval Manoeuvres, and in July 1896 again took part in the Manoeuvres, while in 1897 she took place in the Jubilee Fleet Review at Spithead. On 3 August 1901, during the 1901 Naval Manoeuvres, ''TB 81'' was trying to intercept the prototype turbine-powered destroyer when both ships ran aground on the Renonquet reef off

Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...

in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

. While ''TB 81'' was refloated and repaired, ''Viper'' was wrecked. ''TB 81'' was reboilered in 1905. In April 1913, ''TB 81'' was in commission with a nucleus crew at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. ''TB 81'' served as a patrol boat during the

, operating out of

and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, and being fitted with

hydrophone A hydrophone () is a microphone designed for underwater use, for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones contains a piezoelectric transducer that generates an electric potential when subjected to a pressure change, such as a ...

s and

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

s. On 15 May 1917, ''TB 81'' was directed by a

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...

towards a submarine which the aircraft had spotted and attacked in the English Channel. ''TB 81'' detected a possible submarine contact on her hydrophone, and waited until a submarine (possibly or ) surfaced. ''TB 81'' gave chase, and the submarine dived. The torpedo boat dropped a depth-charge and brought up a patch of oil. The attack was credited as a "possible" success by naval intelligence. ''TB 81'' was paid off in 1919 and was sold for scrap to J. E. Thomas of Newport on 22 October 1921.

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:TB 81 (1885) Torpedo boats of the Royal Navy Ships built on the Isle of Wight 1885 ships