# Banshee-class destroyer

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The ***Banshee* class** was a class of three [torpedo boat destroyers](/source/Torpedo_boat_destroyer) that served with the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy) into the early part of the Twentieth century.

Under the 1893–1894 Naval Programme, the [British Admiralty](/source/British_Admiralty) placed orders for 36 torpedo-boat destroyers, all to be capable of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph), the "27-knotters", as a follow-on to the six prototype "26-knotters" ordered in the previous 1892–1893 Estimates. As was typical for torpedo craft at the time, the Admiralty left detailed design to the builders, laying down only broad requirements.[1][2]

The three ships, [*Banshee*](/source/HMS_Banshee_(1894)), [*Contest*](/source/HMS_Contest_(1894)) and [*Dragon*](/source/HMS_Dragon_(1894)) were all ordered on 7 February 1894 to be built by [Laird](/source/Cammell_Laird) at [Birkenhead](/source/Birkenhead). Displacing 290 tons, they carried one [12-pounder gun](/source/QF_12_pounder_12_cwt_naval_gun) and five [6-pounder guns](/source/6-pounder_gun), plus two 18-inch [torpedo tubes](/source/Torpedo_tube) in a trainable twin deck mounting. With 4,400 horsepower (3,300 kW) they made a speed of 27 knots (50 km/h).

The ships had a length of 210 ft (64 m), beam 19 ft (5.8 m) and draught of 7 ft (2.1 m) and carried a complement of 2 officers and 51 men. *Banshee* and *Dragon* were deployed to the Mediterranean in 1896 and remained there for the rest of their service lives, until coming home in 1911 to be paid off; *Contest* spent her whole service life in Home waters.

Along with the similar [*Ferret*-class torpedo boat destroyers](/source/Ferret-class_destroyer) built under the 1892-1893 Programme, they were all disposed of in 1911/1912.

## Ships

All three were built by Laird Brothers at Birkenhead (which was to become [Cammell Laird](/source/Cammell_Laird) & Co. in 1903)

Name Yard number Laid down Launched Completed Fate HMS Banshee 598 1 March 1894 17 November 1894 July 1895 Sold for scrap 10 April 1912, to Thos. W. Ward, Briton Ferry HMS Contest 599 1 March 1894 1 December 1894 July 1895 Sold for scrap 11 July 1911, to Thos. W. Ward, Preston. HMS Dragon 600 15 December 1894 7 May 1897 July 1895 Sold for scrap 9 December 1912, to West of Scotland Ship Breaking Co, at Troon.

## See also

- [A-class destroyer (1913)](/source/A-class_destroyer_(1913))

## Bibliography

- *Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905*. London: Conway Maritime Press. 1979. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
- Friedman, Norman (2009). *British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War*. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
- *Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921*. London: Conway Maritime Press. 1985. 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](https://www.worldcat.org/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](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/164893555)

## References

1. Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 87.

1. Manning 1961, p. 39.

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