What is Destructor (spanish Warship)?

Information about Destructor (spanish Warship)

The Spanish Navy's Destructor (1886)

Destructor was a 19th-century Spanish naval vessel. She was a large torpedo gunboat and a precursor of the destroyer type of vessel. The Spanish Navy officer Fernando Villaamil was its designer.

Genesis

In the 1880s there was a need to counter the threat posed by the new fast torpedo boats giving rise to a new type of torpedo boat which would have greater autonomy, so as to be capable of escorting the larger ships on long voyages.

The Spanish government asked several British shipyards to submit proposals and designs and finally chose in 1885 the design submitted by the shipyard of Mssrs. James and George Thomson of Clydebank, not far from the Yarrow shipyards. She was laid down at the end of the year, launched in 1886, and commissioned in 1887.

Characteristics

Her displacement was 348 tons, and she was equipped with triple expansion engines generating 3,784 HP (2.8 MW), for a maximum speed of 22.6 knots (42 km/h). She was armed with one 90 mm Hontoria cannon, four 57mm (6-pdr) Nordenfeldt cannon, two 37mm (3-pdr) Hotchkiss guns and 5 15in Schwartzkopff torpedo tubes. Her complement was 60 men.

In terms of gunnery, speed (22.5 knots in trials) and dimensions, the speciallised design to chase torpedo boats and her high seas capabilities, Destructor is widely considered a very important example in the evolution of the destroyer class of ships.^[1]The Spanish Destructor is thought to have influenced the design and concept of later destroyers developed by the British Navy.^[2]^[3]

Notes

1. ^ From an article about the American Greyhounds

Quote:

Torpedo boats were considered a major threat and the navies of the world set out to defend against them. In 1884 Capitan de Navio Fernando Villaamil was appointed the second officer in the Ministry of the Spanish Navy and was tasked with the design of a new class of warship intended to fight the then new torpedo boats. Once he reached a conclusion, he chose the J & G Thomson shipyards in Clydebank, Scotland, to build the new vessel. On January 19, 1887, the DESTRUCTOR, the first torpedo boat destroyer, was turned over to the Spanish Navy, with great expectations from the European naval community. Twenty-four hours after leaving Falmouth England, the DESTRUCTOR reached the Spanish coast, making 18 knots through a stormy Bay of Biscay. The ships new design and functions were so different from any past man-of-war, many thought it couldn’t survive at sea. In one day the doubts about the vessel's seaworthiness were answered forever, and her designer and commander had every reason to feel proud.
2. ^ Lion, page 18: J&G Thomson's 1892 design for a TBD is, not unsurprisingly, somewhat reminiscent of their "Destructor" built for the Spanish Navy.
3. ^ Lion, page 66: It was already (J&G Thomson Clydebank shipyard), when asked to tender for TBDs for the Royal Navy, building trasatlantics liners and cruisers to the navy, and had built an interesting torpedo vessel under the prophetic name of "Destructor" ("Destroyer") for Spain. Its first design (for the British navy in 1892) was cleary a successor of the "Destructor".

References

Cheseneau, R & Kolesnik, E (Eds): Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905, Conway Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-85177-133-5
The First Destroyers: Lion, David , Chatham Shipshape Series, London, 1997.

A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes.
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destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range but powerful attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft).
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Fernando Villaamil FernÃ¡ndez-Cueto (November 23, 1845 – July 3, 1898) was a Spanish naval officer, remembered for his internationally recognized professionalism, for being the designer of the first destroyer warship in history and for his heroic death in the naval Battle of
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Clydebank
Gaelic - Bruach Chluaidh

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Yarrow (Shipbuilders), Limited (YSL), often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipyard, now part of BAE Systems Naval Ships which also includes the nearby Govan shipyard. The shipyard is located in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow, Scotland on the River Clyde.
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Thorsten Nordenfelt (1842-1920), was a Swedish inventor and industrialist.

Nordenfelt was born in Ã–rby outside Kinna, Sweden, the son of a colonel. The surname was and is often spelt Nordenfeldt, though Thorsten and his brothers always spelt it Nordenfelt, and the 1881
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Hotchkiss may refer to:

Benjamin B. Hotchkiss - a 19th century American engineer
Hotchkiss et Cie - Hotchkiss Company, a French arms and car manufacturer set up by Benjamin Hotchkiss; full name: SociÃ©tÃ© Anonyme des Anciens

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