The Capitán Orella class was a series of four torpedo boat destroyers constructed in the United Kingdom and operated by the Chilean Navy. All of the ships were built in 1898 and decommissioned in 1924. The design, based on existing destroyers of the Royal Navy, had several flaws and served as the basis for the next class of Chilean destroyers.
Development and design The torpedo boat destroyers were built by Cammell Laird in the United Kingdom based on the shipyard's design previously built for the Royal Navy. Unlike the British destroyers, the exported design featured four-cylinder engines and were sold to Russia and Chile. The Chilean Navy ordered four—, , , and —which were built in 1896 and known as the Capitán Orella class.
The four destroyers had a length between perpendiculars of with a beam of and a draught of . They displaced and carried a complement of 65. Propulsion was provided by two propellers powered by triple-expansion steam engines supplied by Normand boilers, which produced and gave the ships a design speed of . During sea trialw, the vessels attained speeds of between while developing between . They carried approximately of coal. Armament consisted of one quick-firing gun, five 6-pounder guns, and two torpedo tubes mounted on trainable centreline mountings amidships and aft. The steel-hulled vessels featured a turtleback forecastle and four equally spaced raked funnels.
The ships, alongside others of the type built by Cammell Laird, were criticized for having a wide turning circle and squatting at high speeds. The Capitán Orella-class design was used as the basis for the next generation of Chilean destroyer, which entered service as the three . A primary difference was the removal of one torpedo tube. Built in 1896, all four ships were stricken in 1924.
Ships in class +DataNameBuilderBuiltFateCammell Laird1896Stricken 1924Cammell Laird1896Stricken 1924Cammell Laird1896Stricken 1924Cammell Laird1896Stricken 1924
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