Thornycroft type destroyer leader

	HMS Keppel
Class overview
Builders	Thornycroft
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Admiralty V-class leader
Succeeded by	Admiralty type leader
Built	1916–1925
In commission	1917–1945
Planned	7
Completed	5
Cancelled	2
Lost	1
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer leader
Displacement	1,480 tons standard; 2,009 tons full load;
Length	329 ft (100 m) o/a
Beam	31 ft 6 in (9.60 m)
Draught	12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Propulsion	4 × Yarrow-type boilers; Brown-Curtis single reduction turbines; 2 shafts; 40,000 shp (29,830 kW);
Speed	38 kn (70 km/h) (trials); 36 kn (67 km/h) (service);
Range	500 tons oil
Complement	164
Armament	5 × BL 4.7 in (120 mm) Mark I guns; 1 × 12 pdr (3 in) HA Mark VIII; 2 × triple 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes;

The Thornycroft type leader or Shakespeare class were a class of five destroyer leaders designed by John I. Thornycroft & Company and built by them at Woolston, Southampton for the Royal Navy towards the end of World War I. They were named after historical naval leaders. Only Shakespeare and Spenser were completed in time for wartime service. The other three were completed after the war, Broke and Keppel after being towed to Royal dockyards for completion, and two further ships - 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 Thornycroft design characteristics, the most noticeable being the broad, slab-sided funnels.

The design was used as the basis for several ships built for foreign navies in the 1920s.

Regele Ferdinand-class destroyer built in Italy for the Romanian Navy
Churruca-class destroyer built in Spain for the Spanish Navy and Argentine Navy
Mendoza-class destroyer built in Britain for the Argentine Navy

Ships

The first two ships to this design were ordered under the War Emergency Programme, in April 1916:

HMS Shakespeare; laid down 2 October 1916, launched 7 July 1917 and completed 10 October 1917. Badly damaged by mine in June 1918, sold for breaking up and handed over 2 September 1936.
HMS Spenser; laid down 9 October 1916, launched 22 September 1917 and completed 12 December 1917. Saw wartime service, sold for breaking up and handed over 29 September 1936.

A third was ordered in April 1917:

HMS Wallace; laid down 15 August 1917, launched 26 October 1918 and completed 14 February 1919. Converted to a WAIR anti-aircraft escort in 1939. Served mainly on east coast and during the Allied invasion of Sicily. Sold for breaking up 20 March 1945.

Four more were ordered from Thornycroft in April 1918, but with the end of the War the first pair were completed by HM Dockyards and the second pair were cancelled; the second ship was initially named Rooke, but was renamed Broke in April 1921:

HMS Keppel; launched 23 April 1920, completed 1925 by HM Dockyard Portsmouth. Sold for breaking up July 1945. The ship's bell was saved, and is located adjacent to the cricket pavilion of the Haileybury and Imperial Service College
HMS Broke; launched 16 September 1920, completed January 1925 by HM Dockyard Pembroke. Sustained damage 8 November 1942 during naval assault upon Algiers during Operation Torch, and foundered the next day.

Two more vessels were ordered at the same time, to be built to this design by Cammell Laird, but it was subsequently decided to build these instead to the Admiralty type flotilla leader design and in the event both were subsequently cancelled:

HMS Saunders; Cancelled, December 1918.
HMS Spragge; Cancelled, December 1918.

References

Cocker, Maurice Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981, 1983, Ian Allan ISBN 0-7110-1075-7
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946, Ed. Robert Gardiner, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0-87021-913-8
M. J. Whitley Destroyers of World War II, An International Encyclopedia, Arms and Armour Press, 1988, ISBN 1-85409-521-8

Thornycroft-type destroyer leader
Completed	Broke Keppel Shakespeare Spenser Wallace
Canceled	Spragge Saunders
Preceded by: Admiralty-type leader Followed by: A-class destroyer
List of destroyers of the Royal Navy

v t e British naval ship classes of the First World War
Aircraft/Seaplane carriers	Empress^S^V Riviera^S^V Engadine^S^V Ark Royal^S Ben-my-Chree^S^V Campania^S^V Raven II^S^V Anne^S^V Vindex^S^V Manxman^S^V Furious^M Pegasus^S^V Nairana^S^V Argus^S^V Vindictive^S^V
Dreadnought battleships	Dreadnought^S Bellerophon St Vincent Neptune^S Colossus Orion King George V Erin^S Agincourt^S Iron Duke Canada^S Queen Elizabeth Revenge
Pre-dreadnought battleships	Royal Sovereign Majestic Canopus Formidable London Duncan King Edward VII Swiftsure Lord Nelson
Battlecruisers	Invincible Indefatigable Lion Queen Mary^S Tiger^S Renown Courageous Admiral^S^A
Armoured cruisers	Cressy Drake Monmouth Devonshire Duke of Edinburgh Warrior Minotaur
Heavy cruisers	Hawkins^A
Light cruisers	Town^G Arethusa C^G^C Danae^C Emerald^A
Protected cruisers	Apollo Astraea Eclipse Blake Pearl Edgar Powerful Diadem Arrogant Pelorus Highflyer Challenger Topaze
Scout cruisers	Adventure Forward Pathfinder Sentinel Boadicea Blonde Active
Destroyer flotilla leaders	Swift^S Faulknor Marksman Parker Thornycroft (or Shakespeare)^C Admiralty (or Scott)^C
Destroyers	A^G B^G C^G D^G E^G F G H I K L Admiralty M Hawthorn M Thornycroft M Yarrow M Yarrow Later M Medea Arno^S R^G S^G^C Talisman V and W^G^C
Torpedo boats	TB 81^S TB 98 TB 109 TB 114 Cricket^G
Monitors	Marshal Ney Abercrombie Lord Clive Humber Gorgon M15 M29 Erebus
Minesweepers	Racecourse Hunt Dance
Gunboats	Fly Insect
Submarines	A B C D E F G H^C J K L^C M^C R^C Swordfish^S V
Sloops	P Cadmus Flower Acacia Azalea Arabis Anchusa Aubrietia 24^C
naval trawlers	Castle Mersey
A All completed after the war C One or more completed after the war G Grouping of several classes M converted from Courageous class S Single ship of class V Conversions

v t e British naval ship classes of the Second World War
Aircraft carriers	Courageous Eagle Ark Royal Illustrious Implacable Audacious^C Malta^X
Light aircraft carriers	Argus Hermes Unicorn Colossus Majestic^C Centaur^C
Escort carriers	Archer^AV Audacity^V Avenger^AV Attacker^A Ruler^A Activity^V Pretoria Castle^V Nairana^V
Battleships	Queen Elizabeth Revenge Nelson King George V Lion^X Vanguard^C
Battlecruisers	Renown Hood
Heavy cruisers	Hawkins County York
Light cruisers	C Danae Hawkins Emerald Leander Arethusa Town Dido Fiji Minotaur Neptune^X Minotaur (1947)^X
Destroyer leaders	Thornycroft type (Shakespeare) Admiralty type (Scott)
Destroyers	R S V & W Town^A Ambuscade Amazon A & B C & D E & F G & H I Tribal J, K & N Hunt L & M O & P Q & R S & T U & V W & Z C Battle Weapon^C G^X Daring^C,P
Frigates	River Captain^A Colony^A Loch Bay
Corvettes	Flower Castle
Sloops	24 Bridgewater Hastings Banff^A Shoreham Grimsby Kingfisher Bittern Egret Black Swan
Minelayers	Adventure Abdiel Plover Linnet M Agamemnon^V Menestheus^V Port Napier^V Port Quebec^V Southern Prince^V Teviot Bank^V
Minesweepers	Hunt Halcyon Bangor MMS Auk^A Algerine Cybele
Netlayers	Guardian Protector Bar Net
Submarines	H L Odin Parthian Rainbow S River Grampus T U P611 V Amphion X XE
Coastal	Harbour defence motor launch Fairmile B motor launch Motor torpedo boat Motor gunboat Steam gun boat Insect-class gunboat Dragonfly-class river gunboat Type Two 63 ft HSL
Other	Trawlers Castle Basset Isles Portuguese Tree Dance Shakespearian Round Table Monitors Erebus Roberts Seaplane carriers Pegasus Albatross Submarine depot ship Adamant Bonaventure Forth Maidstone Titania Merchant aircraft carriers Fighter catapult ships Armed merchant cruisers Ocean boarding vessels
A American built X Cancelled C Completed after the war C,P Laid down and completed after the war V Conversions

Ships

See also

References