The Dryad-class torpedo gunboat was the last class of torpedo gunboat built for the Royal Navy. This type of vessel was rapidly replaced by the faster torpedo boat destroyer, and all of the class were converted to minesweepers during World War I, with the exception of Hazard, which became a submarine depot ship.

Design Ordered under the Naval Defence Act of 1889, which established the "Two-Power Standard", the ships were contemporary with the first torpedo boat destroyers, a type which subsequently superseded the torpedo gunboats. With a length overall of , a beam of and a displacement of 1,070 tons, these torpedo gunboats were not small ships by the standard of the time; they were larger than the majority of World War I destroyers.

Machinery They were equipped with two sets of vertical triple-expansion steam engines, with two locomotive-type boilers, driving through twin screws. This layout produced giving them a speed of ; Halcyon was uprated to produce 6000 ihp, giving her a speed of approximately . They carried between 100 and 160 tons of coal and were manned by 120 sailors and officers.

Armament The armament when built comprised two QF guns, four 6-pounder guns and a single 5-barrelled Nordenfelt machine gun. Hussar as built mounted only one QF 4.7-inch gun, two 12-pounders and one 6-pounder. The primary weapon was five 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo tubes,British "18 inch" torpedoes were 17.72 inches (45.0 cm) in diameter with two reloads. On conversion to minesweepers in 1914 two of the five torpedoes were removed.

Ships

NameShip BuilderLaunchedFateChatham Dockyard22 November 1893Tender to the Navigation School in 1906. Became a minesweeper in 1914. Relegated to harbour service and renamed Hamadryad in January 1918. Sold for breaking on 24 September 1920Pembroke Dockyard17 February 1894Depot ship for submarines in 1901. Collided with the submerged submarine HMS A3 on 2 February 1912, killing 14 submariners. Sank in collision with the Western Australia in the English Channel on 28 January 1918Devonport Dockyard20 February 1894Became a minesweeper in 1914. Sold for breaking on 23 February 1920Devonport Dockyard6 April 1894Transferred to HM Coastguard in 1905. Became a minesweeper in 1914. Sold for breaking on 6 November 1919Devonport Dockyard3 July 1894Became a minesweeper in 1914. Sold in December 1920 and resold for breaking on 13 July 1921

See also ARA Patria

Notes

References

Bibliography