HMS Albatross (1898)
_in_Mediterranean_colours.jpg)
Albatross in Mediterranean colours, sometime before 1904
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Albatros |
| Ordered: | 1896 – 1897 Naval Estimates |
| Builder: | John I. Thornycroft & Company, Chiswick |
| Cost: | £68,311 |
| Yard number: | 317 |
| Laid down: | 27 November 1896 |
| Launched: | 19 July 1898 |
| Commissioned: | July 1900 |
| Out of service: | 1919 |
| Fate: | Sold 7 June 1920 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Thornycroft three funnel - 33 knot destroyer |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | |
| Beam: | 21 ft 3 in (6.5 m) |
| Draught: | 8 ft 4 1⁄2 in (2.6 m) |
| Installed power: | 7,645 ihp (5,701 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 31.4 kn (58.2 km/h) (on trials) |
| Range: |
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| Complement: | 69–73 officers and men |
| Armament: |
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| Service record | |
| Operations: | World War I 1914–1918 |
HMS Albatross was an experimental torpedo boat destroyer of the Royal Navy authorised under the 1896–97 Naval Estimates and built by John I. Thornycroft & Company of Chiswick on the River Thames. She was contracted to be faster, larger and more powerful than existing designs.
She was laid down on 27 November 1896, at John I. Thornycroft & Company's Chiswick yard as yard number 318, and launched on 19 July 1898. She was 227 feet 0 inches (69.2 m) in length, had a beam of 21 feet 3 inches (6.5 m) and a draught of 8 feet 4 1⁄2 inches (2.6 m). The ship displaced 430 tons under a standard load and up to 490 tons under a full load. She featured a large fore-bridge, a mast close to bridge, a turtleback bow, both torpedo tubes aft of third funnel and three equal-sized funnels. She had a Thornycroft stern and dual rudders, which made her very responsive to the helm.
She carried one 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun, five 6-pounder 8 cwt naval guns and two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.
She was propelled by four Thornycroft coal-fired water-tube boilers. The boilers were arranged with the forward boiler venting through the forward funnel, a pair venting through the midships funnel and a single boiler venting through the aft funnel. The boilers supplied steam pressure to three vertical triple-expansion steam engines that turned three shafts developing 7,500 indicated horsepower under a forced draft to achieve the designed speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph). The engine rooms were placed aft of the boiler rooms. She carried 105 tons of coal and had a range of 1,545 nautical miles (2,861 km) at a nominal speed of 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph). She had a crew of up to 73 officers and men.
She was delivered to Chatham Dockyard in late January 1900 for completion and her trials.Albatross had difficulty making her contract speed even in ideal conditions. Her best speed was 31.5 kn (58.3 km/h; 36.2 mph). The triple-expansion steam engine had reached its limitation, and therefore to generate more speed, it would require a change in technology. In June 1897 Charles Parsons had demonstrated the turbine-powered Turbinia at the Spithead Naval Review. The next group of special destroyers would use this type of powerplant. She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in July 1900. The total cost by acceptance was £68,311.
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