Zebra-class destroyer
| History | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Name: | HMS Zebra |
| Ordered: | 7 February 1894 |
| Builder: | Thames Iron Works, Bow Creek |
| Laid down: | 1 July 1894 |
| Launched: | 13 December 1895 |
| Commissioned: | January 1900 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap, 30 July 1914 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | none |
| Displacement: | |
| Length: | |
| Beam: | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Draught: | 7 ft (2.133600 m) |
| Installed power: | 4,800 ihp (3,600 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 27 kn (31 mph; 50 km/h) (trials) |
| Complement: | 50 |
| Armament: |
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HMS Zebra was a "Twenty-seven Knotter" destroyer of the Royal Navy, later classified as part of the A Class. Zebra was built by Thames Iron Works and launched in 1895 as the fifth Royal Navy ship to be named Zebra. Entering service in 1900, Zebra was sold for scrap in 1914.
HMS Zebra was ordered on 7 February 1894 from Thames Iron Works, Blackwall, London as part of the British Admiralty's 1893–1894 shipbuilding programme, one of 36 "Twenty-seven Knotter" destroyers ordered from 14 different shipbuilders for this programme.
These destroyers were not of a standard design, with the Admiralty laying down broad requirements, including a trial speed of 27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h), a "turtleback" forecastle and a standard armament of a QF 12 pounder 12 cwt (3 in (76 mm) calibre) gun on a platform on the ship's conning tower (in practice the platform was also used as the ship's bridge), with a secondary armament of five 6-pounder guns, and two 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes. Thames Iron Work's design had three funnels, with the forward funnel widely separated from the other two, with one of the two torpedo tubes positioned in this gap. Three White water-tube boilers fed four-cylinder reciprocating steam engines rated at 4,800 ihp (3,600 kW) and driving two shafts.
Zebra was laid down on 1 July 1894 and launched on 13 December 1895. Thames Iron Works was relatively inexperienced in building torpedo craft (it had previously built the hull of a single torpedo boat as a subcontractor for Maudslay, Sons and Field (who supplied the engines for Zebra) and it took a long time for the ship to be completed and to complete trials (where she eventually reached the contract speed of 27 knots), not being accepted by the Navy until January 1900.
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