NAVYPEDIA

Photo

Scourge 1910 trials

Ships

Name	No	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
Beagle	HC5		John Brown, Clydebank	3.1909	16.10.1909	4.1910	sold for BU 11.1921
Bulldog	HC7, HC4		John Brown, Clydebank	3.1909	13.11.1909	7.1910	sold for BU 9.1920
Grasshopper	H17, H60		Fairfield, Govan	4.1909	23.11.1909	7.1910	sold for BU 11.1921
Harpy	D88, H19, H71		White, Cowes	4.1909	27.11.1909	7.1910	sold for BU 11.1921
Renard	H99	691	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead	4.1909	30.11.1909	9.1910	sold for BU 8.1920
Foxhound	H16, H58		John Brown, Clydebank	4.1909	11.12.1909	5.1910	sold for BU 11.1921
Wolverine	H18	692	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead	4.1909	15.1.1910	9.1910	collision 12.12.1917
Mosquito	HA3		Fairfield, Govan	4.1909	27.1.1910	8.1910	sold for BU 8.1920
Basilisk	D89, HC8		White, Cowes	5.1909	9.2.1910	9.1910	sold for BU 11.1921
Scourge	D96, H8A		Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn	3.1909	11.2.1910	8.1910	sold for BU 5.1921
Racoon	HA7	693	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead	5.1909	15.2.1910	10.1910	wrecked 9.1.1918
Scorpion	D90, HC3		Fairfield, Govan	5.1909	19.2.1910	8.1910	sold for BU 10.1921
Savage	D92, HA9		Thornycroft, Woolston	3.1909	10.3.1910	8.1910	sold for BU 5.1921
Rattlesnake	D94, HC7		London & Glasgow Co, Govan	4.1909	14.3.1910	8.1910	sold for BU 5.1921
Pincher	D87, HC2		Denny, Dumbarton	5.1909	15.3.1910	9.1910	wrecked 24.7.1918
Nautilus, 12.1913- Grampus	H07, H38, HA7		Thames Iron Works, Blackwall	4.1909	30.3.1910	9.1911	sold for BU 9.1920

Technical data

Displacement normal, t	945 average
Displacement full, t	~1100
Length, m	80.4 - 83.8 pp
Breadth, m	8.19 - 8.56
Draught, m	2.59 average
No of shafts	3
Machinery	3 Parsons steam turbines, 5 Yarrow boilers Basilisk, Harpy: 3 Parsons steam turbines, 5 White-Forster boilers
Power, h. p.	14300
Max speed, kts	27
Fuel, t	coal 205 - 236
Endurance, nm(kts)
Armament	1 x 1 - 102/40 BL Mk VIII, 3 x 1 - 76/40 12pdr 12cwt QF Mk I, 2 x 1 - 533 TT (4)
Complement	96

Graphics

Project history

For the destroyers of the 1908-09 Programme the Admiralty decided against a repetition of the 'Tribals', partly because of their excessive cost but also because of their frailty. There was also a strong feeling against using oil fuel, which was then difficult to obtain. These arguments were reinformed by a report that a new German destroyer G137 had reached a mean speed of just over 33kts on a displacement of 372t for 4 hours. Understandably there was consternation at a coal-burner achieving the same speed as the oil-burning 'Tribals'. A sketch design was prepared in June 1908, but oil fuel was immediately deleted, and the final design was approved the following month. After orders had been placed a 102mm Mk.VIII was substituted for the 2 12pdr/12cwt mounted side-by-side on the forecastle. The new RGF Mk.VIII 533mm torpedo with the Hardcastle heater was adopted in this class. It ran at 50kts for 900m or 10,900m at 30kts. A major improvement was the siting of the forecastle gun on a raised platform, but the after TT was frequently unusable right aft over the rudder (during the war it was replaced by a 47mm AA gun in some boats). Like the 'Rivers' the Beagles sacrificed nominal speed for a more realistic sea speed. In trials against the 'Tribals' they repeatedly showed superior endurance. Designated the 'G' class from October 1913.

Modernizations

1915-1917, Beagle, Bulldog, Harpy, Foxhound, Basilisk, Scourge, Rattlesnake, Grampus, Renard, Wolverine, Mosquito, Racoon, Pincher: + 1 x 1 - 47/50 3pdr Vickers Mk I

1915-1917, Scorpion: - 1 x 1 - 76/40; + 1 x 1 - 47/50 3pdr Vickers Mk I

1917-1918, Beagle, Bulldog, Harpy, Foxhound, Rattlesnake, Grampus, Grasshopper, Renard, Wolverine, Mosquito, Racoon, Scorpion, Savage, Pincher: + 1 DCT

Naval service

Pincher wrecked 24.7.1918 on the Seven Stones. Racoon wrecked 9.1.1918 on West Coast of Ireland. Wolverine sunk 12.12.1917 in collision with sloop Rosemary  off NW coast of Ireland.