A-class destroyer (1913)
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HMS Daring, the lead ship of the "26-knotter" group
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| Class overview | |
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| Builders: | Various |
| Operators: |
 Royal Navy
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| Built: | 1892–1895 |
| In commission: | 1893–1920 |
| Completed: | 42 |
| Lost: | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Destroyer |
| Displacement: | From 185–340 long tons (188–345 t) |
| Length: | 200–210 ft (61–64 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 26 kn (48 km/h) or 27 kn (50 km/h) |
| Complement: | 46 to 53 |
| Armament: |
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The A class as designated in 1913 was a heterogeneous group of torpedo boat destroyers (TBDs) built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1890s. Some 42 vessels were constructed to the individual designs of their builders to meet Admiralty specifications, the only uniting feature being a specified top speed of 27 knots (50 km/h). In fact the initial six vessels were generally differentiated by a slightly lower speed and were often referred to as "26-knotters" to distinguish them from the following batch of thirty-six vessels; all surviving "27-knotter" vessels were classified by the Admiralty as the A class in 1913 to provide some system to the naming of HM destroyers. All of the "26-knotters" and most of the "27-knotters" had been lost or scrapped before the 1913 classification (and so - strictly speaking - never survived to become 'A' class), but for convenience all 42 ships are listed below. The number of funnels varied from one to four. All vessels had a distinctive "turtleback" forecastle that was intended to clear water from the bow, but actually tended to dig the bow in to anything of a sea, resulting in a very wet conning position.
They generally displaced around 260 tons and had a length of around 200 feet (61 m). All were powered by triple expansion steam engines and had coal-fired water-tube boilers (although initially, some had "locomotive type" fire-tube boilers in lieu). Armament was generally one QF 12 pounder on a bandstand on the forecastle, up to five QF 6 pounder and 2 single tubes for 18-inch (457 mm) torpedoes. The Daring and Havock-class ships initially had a third tube in the bow, fixed to fire straight ahead, but this was found to weigh down the bows and it was possible for the ship to run over its own torpedo when moving at high speed, as such they were later removed and this feature was not repeated in later vessels.
Six ships were ordered under the 1892-93 programme:
Initially six torpedo boat destroyers (the Thornycroft and Yarrow vessels below) were ordered under the 1893-94 Estimates, but a series of follow-up orders raised the programme to thirty-six vessels.
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