List of torpedo boats of the United States Navy

USS Cushing (TB-1)
Ships of the United States Navy
Ships in current service
Ships grouped alphabetically
Ships grouped by type

This list of steam-driven torpedo boats of the United States Navy includes all ships with the hull classification symbol TB, running from TB-1 of 1890 to TB-35 of 1901. It does not include the Patrol Torpedo (PT) boats of World War II.

The first torpedo-boat to serve with the United States Navy was the experimental Stiletto of 31 tons, built in 1885-86 as a yacht by the Herreschoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol, Rhode Island. Designated WTB-1 (for "Wooden Torpedo Boat"), she was purchased under the Act of 3 March 1887 for use as a torpedo boat for experimental purposes and commissioned in July 1887. She measured 94 ft overall (88 ft 6in waterline) x 11 ft 6in x 3 ft, and had a 1-shaft vertical compound engine of 359 ihp, achieving 18.2 knots. She was stricken on 27 January 1911 and sold on 18 July 1911.

The authorisation for the following steel torpedo-boats was as follows:

  • Act of 3 August 1886: TB-1
  • Act of 30 June 1890: TB-2
  • Act of 26 July 1894: TB-3 to TB-5
  • Act of 2 March 1895: TB-6 to TB-8
  • Act of 10 June 1896: TB-9 to TB-18
  • Act of 3 March 1897: TB-19 to TB-23
  • Act of 4 May 1898: TB-24 to TB-35 (also the first sixteen TBDs - see Bainbridge-class destroyer)

Re-classification in 1918

On 1 August 1918 all 17 surviving torpedo boats were redesignated as Coast Torpedo Boats and given numbers in place of their original names[1] and were subsequently sold for breaking up in 1919 and 1920.

Cushing class torpedo boat

Ericsson class torpedo boat

Foote class torpedo boats

Porter class torpedo boats

Rowan class torpedo boat

Dahlgren class torpedo boats

Farragut class torpedo boat

Davis class torpedo boats

Morris class torpedo boat

Talbot class torpedo boats

MacKenzie class torpedo boats

Stringham class torpedo boat

Goldsborough class torpedo boat

Bailey class torpedo boat

Somers class torpedo boat

Manley class torpedo boat

Bagley class torpedo boats

Blakely class torpedo boats

List of torpedo boats

Hull No. Ship Name Shipyard Authorised Laid down Launched Commissioned Fate
TB-1 Cushing Herreshoff, Bristol, Rhode Island 3 August 1886 April 1888 23 January 1890 22 April 1890 Stricken 6 April 1912; sunk as target 24 September 1920.
TB-2 Ericsson Iowa Iron Works, Dubuque, Iowa 30 June 1890 21 July 1892 12 May 1894 18 February 1897 Stricken 6 April 1912; sunk as target.
TB-3 Foote Columbian Iron Works, Baltimore, Maryland 26 July 1894 1 May 1896 1 October 1896 7 August 1897 Renamed CTB-1 on 1 August 1918; sold 19 July 1920.
TB-4 Rodgers Columbian Iron Works, Baltimore, Maryland 26 July 1894 6 May 1896 10 November 1896 1 April 1898 Renamed CTB-2 on 1 August 1918; sold 19 July 1920.
TB-5 Winslow Columbian Iron Works, Baltimore, Maryland 26 July 1894 8 May 1896 6 January 1897 29 December 1897 Stricken 12 July 1910 and sold in January 1911.
TB-6 Porter Herreshoff, Bristol, Rhode Island 2 March 1895 February 1896 9 September 1896 20 February 1897 Stricken 7 November 1912 and sold 30 December 1912.
TB-7 DuPont Herreshoff, Bristol, Rhode Island 2 March 1895 February 1896 30 March 1897 3 September 1897 Renamed CTB-3 on 1 August 1918; sold 19 July 1920.
TB-8 Rowan Moran Brothers, Seattle, Washington 2 March 1895 22 June 1896 8 April 1898 1 April 1899 Stricken 29 October 1912 and used as target, sold 3 June 1918.
TB-9 Dahlgren Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine 10 June 1896 11 December 1897 29 May 1899 16 June 1900 Renamed CTB-4 on 1 August 1918; sold 19 July 1920.
TB-10 Craven Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine 10 June 1896 6 December 1897 25 September 1899 9 June 1900 Stricken 14 November 1913 and sunk as target in 1913.
TB-11 Farragut Union Iron Works, San Francisco 10 June 1896 26 July 1897 16 July 1898 22 March 1899 Renamed CTB-5 on 1 August 1918; sold 9 September 1919.
TB-12 Davis Wolf & Zwicker, Portland, Oregon 10 June 1896 2 March 1897 4 June 1898 10 May 1899 Stricken 12 November 1913; sold 21 April 1920
TB-13 Fox Wolf & Zwicker, Portland, Oregon 10 June 1896 4 March 1897 4 July 1898 8 July 1899 Stricken 31 August 1916; sold as mercantile Ace 31 August 1920.
TB-14 Morris Herreshoff, Bristol, Rhode Island 10 June 1896 19 November 1897 13 April 1898 11 May 1898 Renamed CTB-6 on 1 August 1918; sold 10 October 1924.
TB-15 Talbot Herreshoff, Bristol, Rhode Island 10 June 1896 8 April 1897 14 November 1897 4 April 1898 Renamed USS Berceau (YFB 3) 11 April 1918; sold 18 July 1944.
TB-16 Gwin Herreshoff, Bristol, Rhode Island 10 June 1896 14 April 1897 15 November 1897 4 April 1898 Renamed USS Cyane (YFB 4) 11 April 1918; sold 24 September 1925.
TB-17 MacKenzie Charles Hillman Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 10 June 1896 15 April 1897 19 February 1898 1 May 1899 Stricken 10 March 1916 and used as target.
TB-18 McKee Columbian Iron Works, Baltimore, Maryland 10 June 1896 11 September 1897 5 March 1898 16 May 1898 Stricken 6 April 1912 and used as target; sunk 24 September 1920.
TB-19 Stringham Harlan & Hollingsworth, Wilmington, Delaware 3 March 1897 21 March 1898 10 June 1899 7 November 1905 Stricken 26 November 1915 and used as target ship 1915; sold 18 March 1923.
TB-20 Goldsborough Wolf & Zwicker, Portland, Oregon;
completed by Puget Sound Navy Yard 		3 March 1897 14 July 1898 29 July 1899 9 April 1908 Renamed CTB-7 on 1 August 1918; sold 8 September 1919.
TB-21 Bailey Gas Engine & Power Co., Morris Heights, N.Y. 3 March 1897 30 April 1898 5 December 1899 10 June 1901 Renamed CTB-8 on 1 August 1918; sold 10 March 1920.
TB-22 Somers G. Schichau, Elbing, Germany (purchased during Spanish-American War on 25 March 1898) 3 March 1897 1893 1897 28 March 1898 Renamed CTB-9 on 1 August 1918; sold 19 July 1920.
TB-23 Manley Yarrow & Co, Poplar, London (purchased during Spanish-American War on 13 April 1898) 3 March 1897 - ca. 1894 never commissioned Renamed USS Levant (YFB) 11 April 1918; sold 21 April 1920.
TB-24 Bagley Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine 4 May 1898 4 January 1900 25 September 1900 18 October 1901 Renamed CTB-10 on 1 August 1918; sold 9 April 1919.
TB-25 Barney Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine 4 May 1898 3 January 1900 28 July 1900 21 October 1901 Renamed CTB-11 on 1 August 1918; sold 19 July 1920.
TB-26 Biddle Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine 4 May 1898 21 February 1900 18 May 1901 26 October 1901 Renamed CTB-12 on 1 August 1918; sold 19 July 1920.
TB-27 Blakely George Lawley & Sons, South Boston, Mass. 4 May 1898 12 January 1899 22 November 1900 27 December 1904 Renamed CTB-13 on 1 August 1918; sold 10 March 1920.
TB-28 DeLong George Lawley & Sons, South Boston, Mass. 4 May 1898 24 January 1899 23 November 1900 12 October 1902 Renamed CTB-14 on 1 August 1918; sold 19 July 1920.
TB-29 Nicholson Lewis Nixon, Elizabethport, N.J. 4 May 1898 6 December 1898 23 September 1901 10 January 1905 Stricken 3 March 1909 and used as Target No.6.
TB-30 O'Brien Lewis Nixon, Elizabethport, N.J. 4 May 1898 29 December 1898 24 September 1900 15 July 1905 Stricken 3 March 1909 and used as Target No.5.
TB-31 Shubrick William R. Trigg Co., Richmond, Va. 4 May 1898 11 March 1899 31 October 1899 31 May 1901 (first log started 19 November 1901) Renamed CTB-15 on 1 August 1918; sold 10 March 1920.
TB-32 Stockton William R. Trigg Co., Richmond, Va. 4 May 1898 18 March 1899 27 December 1899 14 March 1901 (first log started 14 November 1901) Stricken 15 November 1913 and sunk as target September 1916.
TB-33 Thornton William R. Trigg Co., Richmond, Va. 4 May 1898 16 March 1899 15 May 1900 9 June 1902 Renamed CTB-16 on 1 August 1918; sold 28 August 1920.
TB-34 Tingey Columbian Iron Works, Baltimore, Maryland 4 May 1898 29 March 1899 25 March 1901 7 January 1904 Renamed CTB-17 on 1 August 1918; sold 10 March 1920.
TB-35 Wilkes Gas Engine & Power Co., Morris Heights, New York 4 May 1898 3 June 1899 28 September 1901 18 September 1902 Stricken 15 November 1913 and sunk as target 1914.

See also

References

  1. ^ Paul H. Silverstone, US Warships of World War I, Ian Allan Ltd, 1970.
  • Blackford, Charles Minor. Torpedoboat Sailor. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, 1968.
  • Chesneau, Roger, Eugène M. Koleśnik, and N. J. M. Campbell. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. New York: Mayflower Books, 1979.
  • Fock, Harald. Fast Fighting Boats, 1870–1945 Their Design, Construction, and Use. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 1978.
  • Gardiner, Robert, Randal Gray, and Przemysław Budzbon. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press, 1985.
  • Mooney, James L. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Washington: Naval Historical Center, Dept. of the Navy, 1991.
  • Moore, John Evelyn. Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. New York: Military Press, 1990.