Banshee-class destroyer

The Banshee class was a class of three torpedo boat destroyers that served with the Royal Navy into the early part of the Twentieth century.

Banshee
Class overview
Name:	Banshee class
Builders:	Cammell Laird
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Salmon class
Succeeded by:	Fervent class
Built:	1894
In commission:	1894 to 1912
Completed:	3
Scrapped:	3
General characteristics
Type:	Torpedo boat destroyer
Displacement:	290 long tons (295 t)
Length:	210 ft (64 m)
Beam:	19 ft (5.8 m)
Draught:	7 ft (2.1 m)
Speed:	27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Complement:	53
Armament:	1 × 12 pounder gun 2 × torpedo tubes

They were all built by Laird at Birkenhead. Displacing 290 tons, they carried one 12-pounder gun and two torpedo tubes. With 4,400 horsepower (3,300 kW) they made a speed of 27 knots (50 km/h).

Banshee had a length of 210 ft (64 m), beam 19 ft (5.8 m) and draught of 7 ft (2.1 m) They carried a complement of 53 officers and men.

Along with the near-identical Ferret-class torpedo boat destroyers they were all disposed of in 1911/1912.

Ships

• HMS Banshee, launched November 1894.
• HMS Contest, launched December 1894.
• HMS Dragon, launched December 1894.

Bibliography

• Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
• Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Lyon, David (2001) [1996]. The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-364-8.
• Manning, T. D. (1961). The British Destroyer. Putnam & Co. OCLC 6470051.
• March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.