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History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS TB81
Builder	J. Samuel White, Cowes
Laid down	1884
Acquired	1885
Fate	Scrapped 1921
General characteristics
Displacement	137 long tons (139 t) normal
Length	153 ft 8.5 in (46.85 m) o/a
Beam	17 ft 6 in (5.33 m)
Draught	9 ft 6 in (2.90 m)
Installed power	1,300 ihp (970 kW)
Propulsion	1 × three-cylinder compound steam engine
Speed	23.75 kn (27.33 mph; 43.99 km/h)
Complement	25
Armament	4× 3-pounder (47 mm) guns; 3 × 14 inch torpedo tubes;

HMS TB 81, originally named Swift, was a torpedo boat that served with the British Royal Navy. She was built in 1884–1885 by the shipbuilder J Samuel White as a private venture, and was purchased for the Royal Navy in 1885, and was one of the largest torpedo boats of her time. She remained in service into the First World War, when she was employed as a patrol boat, finally being sold for scrap in 1921.

Construction and design

In 1884, the shipbuilder J. Samuel White began work on a new, torpedo boat, named Swift as a private venture (i.e. without an order from a customer). Swift was much larger than contemporary torpedo boats, and was intended to double as a "torpedo-boat catcher", to defend against enemy torpedo-boats, as an early form of torpedo-boat destroyer.^[1]

Swift was flush-decked, with a strengthened ram bow for ramming hostile torpedo boats.^[2]^[3] The ship was 153 feet 8+1⁄2 inches (46.85 m) long overall, 150 feet (45.72 m) between perpendiculars with a beam of 17 feet 6 inches (5.33 m) and a draught of 9 feet 6 inches (2.90 m).^[4] Displacement was 137 long tons (139 t) normal^[5] and 166 long tons (169 t) full load.^[6]

The ship was powered by a single three-cylinder compound steam engine,^[6] rated at 1,300 indicated horsepower (970 kW).^[5] This drove a single propeller shaft.^[6] Swift reached a speed of 23.79 knots (27.38 mph; 44.06 km/h) during sea trials,^[6] which corresponded to a more realistic sea speed of 18 knots (21 mph; 33 km/h) during service use.^[5] Tandem rudders were fitted, allowing Swift to be the most manoeuvrable British torpedo boat of the time, despite being the largest, having a turning circle of 225 feet (69 m).^[2] Two funnels were fitted, side-by-side, ahead of the ship's conning tower.^[4]^[6]

She was designed to carry differing armament suites depending on the role she was employed in. For the anti-torpedo boat role, the ship could carry six 3-pounder (47 mm) guns together with a 14-inch torpedo tube in the bow, while for the torpedo boat role, two more torpedo tubes could be carried at the expense of two of the guns. She had a crew of 25.^[3]

A war scare with Russia in 1884–1885 led to large orders for new torpedo boats being placed, including 20 from Thornycroft, 22 from Yarrow and 5 from White, with these orders being supplemented by buying two boats building for Chile by Yarrow and buying Swift, which was about to begin trials.^[7]^[8]

Service

After purchase, the Royal Navy was uncertain whether to complete Swift as a torpedo-boat catcher or as a normal torpedo boat, before deciding to use her as a torpedo boat, and fitting her with the appropriate armament of three torpedo tubes and four guns. She was renamed TB 81 in 1887.^[3]^[6]

In August 1894 TB 81 took part in that year's Naval Manoeuvres,^[9] and in July 1896 again took part in the Manoeuvres,^[10] while in 1897 she took place in the Jubilee Fleet Review at Spithead.^[11]^[12]

On 3 August 1901, during the 1901 Naval Manoeuvres, TB 81 was trying to intercept the prototype turbine-powered destroyer Viper when both ships ran aground on the Renonquet reef off Alderney in the Channel Islands. While TB 81 was refloated and repaired, Viper was wrecked.^[6]^[3] TB 81 was reboilered in 1905.^[3] In April 1913, TB 81 was in commission with a nucleus crew at Portsmouth.^[13]

TB 81 served as a patrol boat during the First World War, operating out of Portsmouth and Portland, and being fitted with hydrophones and depth charges.^[6]^[3]^[14] On 15 May 1917, TB 81 was directed by a seaplane towards a submarine which the aircraft had spotted and attacked in the English Channel. TB 81 detected a possible submarine contact on her hydrophone, and waited until a submarine (possibly UB-36 or UB-20) surfaced. TB 81 gave chase, and the submarine dived. The torpedo boat dropped a depth-charge and brought up a patch of oil. The attack was credited as a "possible" success by naval intelligence.^[15]

TB 81 was paid off in 1919 and was sold for scrap to J. E. Thomas of Newport on 22 October 1921.^[6]^[14]

Citations

^ Friedman 2009, pp. 8, 34
^ ^a ^b Warship International 1974, pp. 85–86
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Chesneau & Kolesnik 1979, p. 103
^ ^a ^b Friedman 2009, p. 8
^ ^a ^b ^c Friedman 2009, p. 289
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Warship International 1974, p. 85
^ Chesneau & Kolesnik 1979, pp. 2, 103
^ Friedman 2009, p. 34
^ Brassey 1895, pp. 62–63, 67
^ Brassey 1897, pp. 148–158
^ Brassey 1898, p. facing page 12
^ "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective: The Ships which will take part in the Review". The Marine Engineer. Vol. XIX. June 1897. p. 95.
^ "Torpedo Craft and Submarine Flotillas at Home Ports: With Nucleus Crews". The Navy List. April 1913. p. 270b. Retrieved 26 July 2018 – via National Library of Scotland.
^ ^a ^b Dittmar & Colledge 1972, p. 79
^ Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, pp. 57–58

References

Brassey, T. A., ed. (1895). The Naval Annual 1895. Portsmouth, UK: J Griffin and Co.
Brassey, T. A., ed. (1897). The Naval Annual 1897. Portsmouth, UK: J Griffin and Co.
Brassey, T. A., ed. (1898). The Naval Annual 1898. Portsmouth, UK: J Griffin and Co.
Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
Dittmar, F. J.; Colledge, J. J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
Monograph No. 35: Home Waters Part IX: 1st May 1917 to 31st July 1917. Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XIX. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1939.
"Warship Information Service: Answers: 34/73) British Torpedo-Boat No. 81". Warship International. Vol. XI, no. 1. 1974. pp. 85–86.