River Class Destroyer (1903)

A total of thirty-six of the River Class destroyers entered service in the Royal Navy between 1904 and 1909. Their displacement (about 550 tons) was much greater than the 350 or so tons that had characterised the 27 and 30 knotters, and which had contributed to their poor handling in anything but a glassy sea. The "Rivers" also dispensed with the turtleback hulls of their predecessors and offered a greater radius of action.

Of the "Rivers", Eden, Stour and Test had turbine propulsion; the remainder retained the proven V.T.E. engines.

The ships were re-designated the "E" Class in 1912.

Overview of 36 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Erne	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company	3 Jul, 1902	14 Jan, 1903	Feb, 1904	Wrecked 6 Feb, 1915
Ettrick	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company	9 Jul, 1902	28 Feb, 1903	Feb, 1904	Broken up 1919
Exe	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company	14 Jul, 1902	27 Apr, 1903	Mar, 1904	Broken up 1920
Ribble	Yarrow & Company	4 Jul, 1902	19 Mar, 1904	Jun, 1904	Broken up 1920
Teviot	Yarrow & Company	10 Jul, 1902	7 Nov, 1903	Apr, 1904	Broken up 1919
Usk	Yarrow & Company	30 Jul, 1902	25 Jul, 1903	Mar, 1904	Broken up 1920
Derwent	Hawthorn Leslie & Company	12 Jun, 1902	14 Feb, 1903	Jul, 1904	Mined 2 May, 1917
Eden	Hawthorn Leslie & Company	12 Jun, 1902	13 Mar, 1903	Jun, 1904	Collision 18 Jun, 1916
Foyle	Laird	15 Aug, 1902	25 Feb, 1903	Mar, 1904	Mined 15 Mar, 1917
Itchen	Laird	18 Aug, 1902	17 Mar, 1903	Jan, 1904	Torpedoed 6 Jul, 1917
Kennet	John I. Thornycroft & Company	5 Feb, 1902	4 Dec, 1903	Jan, 1905	Broken up 1919
Jed	John I. Thornycroft & Company	27 Feb, 1903	16 Feb, 1904	Jan, 1905	Broken up 1920
Welland	Yarrow & Company	1 Oct, 1902	14 Apr, 1904	Jul, 1904	Broken up 1920
Cherwell	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company	20 Jan, 1903	23 Jul, 1903	Mar, 1904	Sold 23 Jun, 1919
Dee	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company	5 Mar, 1903	10 Sep, 1903	May, 1904	Sold 23 Jul, 1919
Arun	Laird	27 Aug, 1902	29 Apr, 1903	Feb, 1904	Broken up 1920
Blackwater	Laird	27 Aug, 1902	25 Jul, 1903	Mar, 1904	Collision 1909
Waveney	Hawthorn Leslie & Company	20 Oct, 1902	16 Mar, 1903	Jun, 1904	Broken up 1920
Chelmer	John I. Thornycroft & Company	11 Dec, 1904	8 Dec, 1904	Jun, 1905	Broken up 1920
Colne	John I. Thornycroft & Company	21 Mar, 1904	21 May, 1905	Jul, 1905	Broken up 1919
Gala	Yarrow & Company	1 Feb, 1904	7 Jan, 1905		Collision 1908
Garry	Yarrow & Company	25 Apr, 1904	21 Mar, 1905	Sep, 1905	Broken up 1919
Ness	J. Samuel White	5 May, 1904	5 Jan, 1905	Aug, 1905	Broken up 1919
Nith	J. Samuel White	5 May, 1904	7 Mar, 1905	Oct, 1905	Broken up 1919
Swale	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company	23 Feb, 1904	20 Apr, 1905	Sep, 1905	Broken up 1919
Ure	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company	1 Mar, 1904	25 Oct, 1904	Jun, 1905	Broken up 1919
Wear	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company	7 Mar, 1904	21 Jan, 1905	Aug, 1905	Broken up 1919
Liffey	Laird	22 Mar, 1904	23 Sep, 1904	May, 1905	Broken up 1919
Moy	Laird	22 Mar, 1904	10 Nov, 1904	Jun, 1905	Broken up 1919
Ouse	Laird	22 Mar, 1904	7 Jan, 1905	Sep, 1905	Broken up 1919
Boyne	Hawthorn Leslie & Company	16 Feb, 1904	12 Sep, 1904	May, 1905	Broken up 1919
Doon	Hawthorn Leslie & Company	16 Feb, 1904	8 Nov, 1904	Jun, 1905	Broken up 1919
Kale	Hawthorn Leslie & Company	16 Feb, 1904	8 Nov, 1904	Aug, 1905	Mined 27 Mar, 1918
Rother	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company	23 Mar, 1903	5 Jan, 1904	May, 1905	Broken up 1919
Stour	Laird		3 Jun, 1905		Sold 30 Aug, 1919
Test	Laird		6 May, 1905		Sold 30 Aug, 1919

Armament

Guns

Originally carried the same armament dating back to the "B" class:

• One 12-pdr 12 cwt on a P. I mounting. The gun recoiled 12 inches and the mounting and its sights were capable of 30 degree elevations (9500 yards).
• Five Q.F. 6-pdr on Mark I* mountings recoiling 5 inches. The mounting could elevate 30 degrees, but the sight only 25 degrees (4000 yards). By 1920, two 6-pdrs had been removed.

In 1906 and 1907, the 6-pdrs had been replaced by three additional 12-pdr 8 cwt guns. An order from March 1913 that special sights provided for these be returned indicates that the 8cwt guns were on G. I* mountings and had telescopic sights. Sometime during the war, some of the ships landed two of these 8 cwt weapons to offset the weight of depth charges.

In late-1913, the 12-pdr mountings were equipped with percussion firing gear.

By 1920, the twenty-nine remaining ships had also been fitted with a Q.F. 12-pdr 8 cwt on a converted H.A. mounting.

Torpedoes

Reload tray for River class.

• two single 18-in tubes, on the centreline.

From 1907, the decision was made to standardise the Rivers and the "A" through "D"s with torpedoes set for short range. In the case of the Rivers, the torpedo was to be the Mark VI S.R..

In 1909, as heater torpedo supplies were still growing, these ships were to receive a handsome allotment of six each: Mark VII, Mark VII* or Weymouth Mark Is.

Arrangements were made in 1909 to equip the ships with chocks (for 21-inch Mark I or Mark II torpedoes, curiously) or fixed loading trays (for 18-inch torpedoes) for deck storage of a spare torpedo per tube in time of war. This may have forecast hopes to switch to 21-inch torpedoes, as Waveney was testing an experimental 21-inch tube (weight: 2744 pounds), derrick and winch that same year before transferring the equipment to Rocket, the then-tender to Vernon.

In 1916, the torpedo in use was the 18-in Mark VII.

Other Weapons

During the war, along with "A" to D" classes, these ships were given depth charges. A pair of 12-pdr 8cwt guns were landed in some cases to maintain stability.

Fire Control

By 1915, at least, these ships had fixed voice pipes installed between decks with the last lengths being flexible (one voice pipe for gunnery, one for torpedoes) fitted between bridge and guns, torpedo tubes, and searchlights.

The Technical History and Index indicates that destroyers prior to the Acorn class relied on a visual system for transmitting fire control information.

By mid-1918, these destroyers were among several earlier classes for which "alarm circuits" were to be fitted.

Torpedo Control

In 1907, the ships were to be equipped with Fore Bridge Firing Gear. At least some had this upon completion or prior to 1911, though it may have been removed in some later.

In 1917, it was approved that "D" through "G" class destroyers should receive firing gongs at the tubes, operated from the bridge.

Searchlights

The River class were the last British destroyers to use a single searchlight.

Radio

In 1907 it was decided that all the Rivers (except Test and Stour, which were not yet in hand) would be among 42 destroyers (primarily Tribals and Rivers) and Swift to receive radio equipment fixed to the "D" tune of 700 feet wavelength for transmission and with a Mark II receiver tunable to 8,300 feet. One P.O. telegraphist would be allowed each ship. All ships had their mast fitted with a 12 foot yard 60 feet above the water and received the aft end of the aerial by the awning station, but the placement of the wireless office varied as follows. Liffey, Foyle, Arun, Ouse, Itchen, Moy, Blackwater, Chelmer, Colne, Jed, Kennet, Wear, Rother, Ure, Exe, Swale, Erne, Ettrick, Dee, Cherwell, Nith, Ness, Waveney, Doon, Boyne, Kale, Derwent and Eden had the office on the bridge with an extended chart house, whereas Welland, Gala, Ribble, Teviot, Garry and Usk had their offices on the upper deck between the mast and fore funnel.

The short wavelength meant the sets worked less well during the day than at night, and tests between Portsmouth and Portland showed strength 8 by night and 6 by day. Practical tests with Usk showed the following strengths over 50 miles of water:

Wave length	Signal Strengths from/to
	Large Ship	Scout	T.B.D.
D	-/6	-/6	6/6
R	8/-	6/-	-/-
S	7/-	6/-	-/-
T	7/-	5/-	-/-
U	6/-	5/-	-/-

In 1909, Kale and Colne were definitely reported to receive their equipment.

See Also

• Wikipedia

Bibliography

• Gray, Randal (editor) (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
• March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892-1953. London: Seeley Service & Co. Limited. (on Bookfinder.com).
• Admiralty, Technical History Section (1920). The Technical History and Index: Alteration in Armaments of H.M. Ships during the War. Vol. 4, Part 34. C.B. 1515 (34) now O.U. 6171/20. At The National Archives, Kew, United Kingdom.