HMS Rattlesnake (1910)
HMS Rattlesnake was a Beagle-class (or G-class) destroyer of the British Royal Navy. The Beagle class were coal-fuelled ships, designed for a speed of 27 kn (31 mph; 50 km/h) and armed with a 4 in (102 mm) gun and two torpedo tubes. Built by Harland & Wolff and launched in 1910, Rattlesnake was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1913, and spent most of the First World War in the Mediterranean. In 1914, the ship was based at Malta, where there was an acute shortage of coal, and was sent on coaling expeditions to Bizerta for supplies. While participating in the Dardanelles campaign in 1915, the destroyer assisted the troops of the Australian First Division in both their advance and retreat, using a searchlight and guns to suppress troops of the Ottoman Army. The destroyer ended the war at Buncrana in the north of Ireland. After the Armistice that ended the war, Rattlesnake was initially transferred to Portsmouth and then sold in 1921 to be broken up.
Sister ship Scourge | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | Rattlesnake |
| Namesake | Rattlesnake |
| Builder | Harland & Wolff, Glasgow |
| Laid down | 9 April 1909 |
| Launched | 14 March 1910 |
| Completed | August 1910 |
| Out of service | 9 May 1921 |
| Fate | Sold to the broken up |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Beagle-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 925 long tons (940 t) |
| Length | 270 ft 3 in (82.4 m) |
| Beam | 27 ft 6 in (8.4 m) |
| Draught | 16 ft 6 in (5 m) |
| Installed power | 5 x coal-fired Yarrow boilers, 12,000 shp (8,900 kW) |
| Propulsion | 3 x Parsons steam turbines driving 3 shafts |
| Speed | 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) |
| Range | 2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 96 |
| Armament |
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