The Thornycroft type leader or ''Shakespeare'' class were a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

of five destroyer leaders designed by John I. Thornycroft & Company and built by them at

Woolston, Southampton Woolston is a suburb of Southampton, Hampshire, located on the eastern bank of the River Itchen. It is bounded by the River Itchen, Sholing, Peartree Green, Itchen and Weston. The area has a strong maritime and aviation history. The forme ...

for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

towards the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. They were named after historical naval leaders. Only ''Shakespeare'' and ''Spenser'' were completed in time for wartime service. The other three were completed after the war, ''Broke'' and ''Keppel'' after being towed to

Royal dockyard Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial ...

s for completion, and two further ships - ''Saunders'' and ''Spragge'' - were cancelled. The function of a leader was to carry the flag staff of a destroyer

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish language, Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' (Naval fleet, fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a Tactical formation, formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually ...

, therefore they were enlarged to carry additional crew, offices and signalling equipment, allowing a fifth gun to be carried. These ships were very similar to the

Admiralty type leader The Admiralty type leader, sometimes known as the ''Scott'' class, were a class of eight destroyer leaders designed and built for the Royal Navy towards the end of World War I. They were named after Scottish historical leaders. The function o ...

, but had Thornycroft design characteristics, the most noticeable being the broad, slab-sided funnels. The design was used as the basis for several ships built for foreign navies in the 1920s. * built in Italy for the Romanian Navy * built in Spain for the Spanish Navy and Argentine Navy * built in Britain for the Argentine Navy

Ships

The first two ships to this design were ordered under the

War Emergency Programme War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regul ...

, in April 1916: *; laid down 2 October 1916, launched 7 July 1917 and completed 10 October 1917. Badly damaged by mine in June 1918, sold for breaking up and handed over 2 September 1936. *; laid down 9 October 1916, launched 22 September 1917 and completed 12 December 1917. Saw wartime service, sold for breaking up and handed over 29 September 1936. A third was ordered in April 1917: *; laid down 15 August 1917, launched 26 October 1918 and completed 14 February 1919. Converted to a WAIR

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

escort in 1939. Served mainly on east coast and during the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allies of World War II, Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers (Fascist Italy (192 ...

. Sold for breaking up 20 March 1945. Four more were ordered from Thornycroft in April 1918, but with the end of the War the first pair were completed by HM Dockyards and the second pair were cancelled; the second ship was initially named ''Rooke'', but was renamed ''Broke'' in April 1921. Two more vessels were ordered at the same time, to be built to this design by

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

, but it was subsequently decided to build these instead to the

Admiralty type flotilla leader The Admiralty type leader, sometimes known as the ''Scott'' class, were a class of eight destroyer leaders designed and built for the Royal Navy towards the end of World War I. They were named after Scottish historical leaders. The function o ...

design and in the event both were subsequently cancelled: *; launched 23 April 1920, completed 1925 by HM Dockyard Portsmouth. Sold for breaking up July 1945. The ship's bell was saved, and is located adjacent to the cricket pavilion of the

Haileybury and Imperial Service College Haileybury is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) near Hertford in England. It is a member of the Rugby Group and, though originally a major boys' public school in the Victorian era, it is now co-educational, enr ...

*; launched 16 September 1920, completed January 1925 by HM Dockyard Pembroke. Sustained damage 8 November 1942 during naval assault upon Algiers during Operation Torch, and foundered the next day. *; Cancelled, December 1918. *; Cancelled, December 1918.

References

*Cocker, Maurice ''Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981'', 1983, Ian Allan *'' Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946'', Ed. Robert Gardiner, Naval Institute Press, *

M. J. Whitley Michael J Whitley (died 2000) or Mike J Whitley was a naval historian with a particular interest in the Kriegsmarine, who wrote and maintained several reference works on warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and p ...

''Destroyers of World War II, An International Encyclopedia'', Arms and Armour Press, 1988, {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornycroft Type Leader Destroyer classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy

Ships

See also

References