Cricket Class Torpedo Boat (1906)

The thirty-six Cricket Class Torpedo Boats were originally dubbed "coastal destroyers", but were reclassified as first-class torpedo boats before 1907. They were often referred to as "the oily wads" due to their oil-burning nature.

The first twelve ordered were given names but were re-numbered - confusingly - as T.B. 1-12 as part of the denigration to torpedo boats.

Two additional orders of twelve boats each followed, and these boats never had names, but only numbers T.B. 13-36.

The "Crickets" were unusual in being Britain's concerted final step into delivering torpedo boats. Destroyers would take over from here, with the torpedo boat idea eventually collapsing into the truly minute Coastal Motor Boat concept.

Overview of 36 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
T.B. 1	J. Samuel White		23 Jan, 1906		Sold 1920
T.B. 2	J. Samuel White		11 Mar, 1906		Sold 1920
T.B. 3	J. Samuel White		1 Sep, 1906		Sold 1920
T.B. 4	J. Samuel White		30 Oct, 1906		Sold 1920
T.B. 5	J. Samuel White		15 Dec, 1906		Sold 1920
T.B. 6	John I. Thornycroft & Company		24 Jun, 1906		Sold 1920
T.B. 7	John I. Thornycroft & Company		20 Dec, 1906		Sold 1921
T.B. 8	John I. Thornycroft & Company		1 Dec, 1906		Sold 1921
T.B. 9	John I. Thornycroft & Company		18 Mar, 1907		Collision 26 Jul, 1916
T.B. 10	John I. Thornycroft & Company		15 Feb, 1907		Mined 10 Jun, 1915
T.B. 11	Yarrow & Company		29 Jan, 1907		Mined 7 Mar, 1916
T.B. 12	Yarrow & Company		15 Mar, 1907		Mined 10 Jun, 1915
T.B. 13	J. Samuel White		10 Jul, 1907		Collision 26 Jan, 1916
T.B. 14	J. Samuel White		26 Sep, 1907		Sold 1920
T.B. 15	J. Samuel White		19 Nov, 1907		Sold 1920
T.B. 16	J. Samuel White		23 Dec, 1907		Sold 1920
T.B. 17	William Denny & Brothers		21 Dec, 1907		Sold 1919
T.B. 18	William Denny & Brothers		15 Feb, 1908		Sold 1920
T.B. 19	John I. Thornycroft & Company		7 Dec, 1907		Sold 1921
T.B. 20	John I. Thornycroft & Company		21 Jan, 1908		Sold 1921
T.B. 21	Hawthorn Leslie & Company		20 Dec, 1907		Sold 1920
T.B. 22	Hawthorn Leslie & Company		1 Feb, 1908		Sold 1920
T.B. 23	Yarrow & Company		5 Dec, 1907		Sold 1921
T.B. 24	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company		19 Mar, 1908		Collision 28 Jan, 1917
T.B. 25	J. Samuel White		28 Aug, 1908		Sold 1921
T.B. 26	J. Samuel White		28 Aug, 1908		Sold 1921
T.B. 27	J. Samuel White		28 Sep, 1908		Sold 1921
T.B. 28	J. Samuel White		29 Oct, 1908		Sold 1921
T.B. 29	William Denny & Brothers		29 Sep, 1908		Sold 1919
T.B. 30	William Denny & Brothers		29 Sep, 1908		Sold 1919
T.B. 31	John I. Thornycroft & Company		10 Oct, 1908		Sold 1921
T.B. 32	John I. Thornycroft & Company		23 Nov, 1908		Sold 1921
T.B. 33	Hawthorn Leslie & Company		22 Feb, 1909		Sold 1922
T.B. 34	Hawthorn Leslie & Company		22 Feb, 1909		Sold 1921
T.B. 35	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company		19 Apr, 1909		Sold 1922
T.B. 36	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company		6 May, 1909		Sold 1921

Design and Construction

The small vessels had three screws and were oil-fired. One commander regarded these as a great step up from the 27- and 30-knotters he'd served in previously.

The middle shaft had a smaller propellor, and this was the only one which could be reversed, offering deficient backing power and denying them the enhanced manoeuvrability achievable in other ships by backing down an outer engine.

A large wardroom was provided for the captain and his two officers. In most ships, this was partitioned by private expenditures to offer the captain his own room, entered by an overhead ammunition hatch.

The last twelve ships boasted a steam capstan in place of the meager hand-worked ones in the other units.

Tests performed in T.B. 33 in 1909 determined that Mark VI* H. torpedoes fitted with pioneers (a type of net-penetrating head apputenance) would not clear obstructions such as the funnel casing on firing from the foremost or the midship tubes. Tests were called for to see if the same were true in other units.

Armament

The tiny 3-pdr weaponry of the "160 Footers" was replaced by a much more powerful 12-pdr weapon.

• Two 12-pdr guns, seemingly on P. I mountings.^[Inference]
• Three 18-in Light Pattern A.W. Torpedo Tubes on the centreline, one right aft.

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

Career

It was decided in June 1914 that these ships were not to be fitted with searchlight control.

See Also

• Wikipedia