The Talisman class were a quartet of destroyers ordered for the Ottoman Navy before the First World War, but were taken over in November 1914 and completed for the Royal Navy.
Description The Talismans were designed by Armstrong Whitworth for the Ottoman Navy, but were sub-contracted to Hawthorn Leslie and Company for building.Friedman, p. 143 They displaced . The ships had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . They were powered by three Parsons direct-drive steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Yarrow boilers. The turbines developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The ships carried a maximum of of fuel oil. The ships' complement was 102 officers and ratings.Gardiner & Gray, p. 78 The hull form was considered particularly successful and was adopted for the V and W class of 1917, arguably the peak of destroyer development at the time.
The Talisman-class ships were heavily armed for their time, shipping five single QF Mark IV guns. Two of the guns were side by side on the forecastle. The other guns were carried on the centreline; one between the first and second funnels, one after the searchlight platform and one on a bandstand on the quarterdeck. All the guns had half-shields. The ships were designed to accommodate three above water twin mounts for torpedoes, but only two mounts were fitted in British service.Friedman, p. 142
Ships Originally to have been renamed Napier, Narborough, Offa and Ogre respectively, they were re-allocated "T" names in February 1915. Name Ship builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Newcastle upon Tyne 7 December 1914 15 July 1915 1 January 1916 Sold for breaking up 9 May 1921. 17 December 1914 26 August 191518 March 1916 1 July 1915 20 November 191524 March 1916 1915 5 January 1916 May 1916 Sunk by the German battleship during Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916.
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