Name Spiteful-class Built 1898–1899 Completed 2 | Operators Royal Navy In commission 1899–1920 | |
Builders Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, Jarrow | ||
Two Spiteful class destroyers served with the Royal Navy. These ships were both built by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited at Jarrow, and were part of the group of boats known as the 'thirty knotters'.
Concern about the higher speeds of foreign boats had prompted to Admiralty to order new destroyers capable of 30 knots, rather than the 27 knot requirement which had been standard. The boats were not able to make this speed in bad weather, where they were usually wet and uncomfortable with cramped crew quarters, but they proved their toughness in serving through the Great War, despite being twenty years old. Thanks to their watertight bulkheads, their thin plating and light structure was able to take a great deal of damage and remain afloat, although their plates were easily damaged by rough handling or heavy weather.
The ships were fitted with Reed water tube boilers that generated around 6,300 HP. Both were originally fired using coal, but in 1904 Spiteful was converted to burn fuel oil. They were armed with the standard twelve pounder and two torpedo tubes and carried a complement of 63 officers and men. Ships of this type bore four funnels and were designated B class destroyers in 1913. They were sold off after the end of hostilities.