Thornycroft type leader

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Thornycroft type leader

General Characteristics
Displacement: 1,480 tons standard, 2,009 tons fullload
Length: 329 ft o/a
Beam: 31.5 ft
Draught: 12.5 ft
Propulsion: 4 Yarrow-type boilers, Brown-Curtis single reduction turbines, 2 shafts, 40,000 shp
Speed: 38 kts (trials), 36 kts (service)
Range: 500 tons oil, ?
Complement: 164
Armament: 5 x 4.7 in BL Mark I
1 x 12 pdr (3 in) HA Mark VIII
2 x triple tubes for 21 in torpedoes

The Thornycroft type leader or Shakespeare class were a class of destroyer leaders designed and built for the Royal Navy towards the end of World War I by J I Thornycroft. They were named after historical naval leaders. Only Shakespeare and Spenser were completed in time for warime service. The rest were completed after the war, Broke and Keppel after being towed to Royal dockyards, and Saunders and Spragge were cancelled. The function of a leader was to carry the flag staff of a destroyer flotilla, therefore they were enlarged to carry additional crew, offices and signalling equipment, allowing a fifth gun to be carried. These ships were very similar to the Admiralty type leader, but had broad, slab-sided funnels characteristic of Thornycroft designs.


Thornycroft type leader
General Characteristics
Displacement:	1,480 tons standard, 2,009 tons fullload
Length:	329 ft o/a
Beam:	31.5 ft
Draught:	12.5 ft
Propulsion:	4 Yarrow-type boilers, Brown-Curtis single reduction turbines, 2 shafts, 40,000 shp
Speed:	38 kts (trials), 36 kts (service)
Range:	500 tons oil, ?
Complement:	164
Armament:	5 x 4.7 in BL Mark I 1 x 12 pdr (3 in) HA Mark VIII 2 x triple tubes for 21 in torpedoes

Ships

Broke, (ex-Rooke); completed 1920 by HM Dockyard Pembroke. Lost 8 November 1942 due to damage sustained during naval assault upon Algiers during Operation Torch.
Keppel; completed 1921 by HM Dockyard Portsmouth. Scrapped 1945.
Wallace; completed 1919. Converted to anti-aircraft escort in 1939. Served mainly on east coast and during the Allied invasion of Sicily.
Spenser; Saw wartime service, scrapped 1936
Shakespeare; Badly damaged by mine in June 1918, scrapped 1936
Broke; Cancelled, 1918
Spragge; Cancelled, 1918

Bibliography

Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981, Maurice Cocker, 1983, Ian Allan ISBN 0711010757
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946, Ed. Robert Gardiner, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0870219138
Destroyers of World War II, An International Encyclopedia, M. J. Whiteley, Arms and Armour Press, 1988, ISBN 1845095218

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