H.M. T.B. 39 (1882)

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H.M. T.B. 39 (1882)
Builder: Yarrow & Company[1]
Purchased: c. April 1885
Launched: 1882[2]
Completed: c. May 1885
Sold: February 1905[3]

H.M. T.B. 39 was one of two first-class torpedo boats of the T.B. 39 class.

Construction

Initially built for Chilean Navy as the Glaura, she and her sister Fresia were sent out in sections for assembly in Chile. The two boats were still unassembled in April 1885, when they were purchased by the Admiralty.[4] Upon completion they were sent north to Esquimalt to defend Canada's Pacific coast as tenders to ironclad Swiftsure, then serving as flagship of the Pacific Station.[5][6]

Service

T.B. 39 and her sister left Coquimbo on 25 May, 1885, stopping at Iquiquo before leaving for Callao on 30 May.[7] Their progress northwards was inevitably slow: after rendezvousing at Paita, Peru in mid-June with other ships of the Pacific Squadron including the ironclads Swiftsure and Triumph, the torpedo boats departed for Alcapulco in company with the sloop Pelican, arriving in early July.[8][9] Soon after their arrival at Esquimalt both boats were taken into dockyard hands for refitting.[10]

As tenders to Swiftsure, these two boats "inevitably were unofficially christened Swift and Sure."[11]

In 1895, she and her sister T.B. 40 were the only two first-class torpedo boats stationed at Esquimault.[12] Both vessels remained at Esquimault for the remainder of their careers and were sold there in February 1905.[13]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 103.
  2. Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 327.
  3. Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 311.
  4. "Naval Notes & News". Hampshire Telegraph & Sussex Chronicle. Saturday, 11 April, 1885. Issue 5417, col B, p. 8.
  5. Brown. Steam Torpedo Boats. p. 81-82.
  6. Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 327.
  7. "News of the Day". Portsmouth Evening News. Monday, 13 July, 1885. Issue 2547, col B, p. 2.
  8. "News of the Day". Portsmouth Evening News. Friday, 7 August, 1885. Issue 2568, col C, p. 2.
  9. "Naval and Military Intelligence". The Morning Post. Tuesday, 25 August, 1885. Issue 35312, col G, p. 5.
  10. "Movements of Her Majesty's Ships". Hampshire Telegraph & Sussex Chronicle. Saturday, 17 October, 1885. Issue 5444, col D, p. 8.
  11. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 103.
  12. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1895. p. 62.
  13. Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 311.

Bibliography


T.B. 39 Class First-class Torpedo Boat
  T.B. 39 T.B. 40  
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