{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{no footnotes|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image= H. M. S. Viper.jpg |image_caption=HMS ''Viper'' }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/class overview |name= |builders=Hawthorn Leslie and Company |operators={{navy|United Kingdom}} |class_before= |class_after= |subclasses= |cost= |built_range= |in_service_range= |in_commission_range= 1899–1915 |total_ships_building= |total_ships_planned= |total_ships_completed=2 |total_ships_canceled= |total_ships_active= |total_ships_laid_up= |total_ships_lost=2 |total_ships_retired= |total_ships_preserved= }}
|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class= |type=Torpedo boat destroyer |displacement={{convert|344|LT|t|0|lk=in|abbr=on}} |length={{convert|210|ft|m|abbr=on}} |beam={{convert|21|ft|m|abbr=on}} |height= |draught={{convert|7|ft|m|abbr=on}} |propulsion=Parsons turbines, {{convert|10000|ihp|0|abbr=on}} |speed={{convert|36.5|kn|lk=in}} |range= |boats= |complement=68 |armament=*1 × 12 pounder gun *5 × 6 pounder guns *2 × torpedo tubes |armour= |notes= }} }} The '''''Viper'' class''' was a group of two torpedo boat destroyers (or "TBDs") built for the British Royal Navy in 1899.
They were notable for being the first warships to use steam turbine propulsion. They had Parsons turbines on four shafts, with two propellers on each, one inboard and one outboard of the shaft A-bracket.
{{HMS|Viper|1899|2}} was ordered and built for the Royal Navy in 1899 by Hawthorn Leslie and Company at Hebburn on the River Tyne. ''Python'' was built as a speculative venture by Hawthorns and was purchased in 1902.
{{stack|thumb|Turbine of HMS ''Velox''}} ''Viper'' and another turbine-powered ship, the Vickers special-type {{HMS|Cobra|1899|2}} were both lost to accidents in 1901: ''Viper'' foundered on rocks in fog during naval manoeuvres near Alderney on 3 August 1901, while ''Cobra'' broke her back in a storm in the North Sea on 18 September 1901. Since then the Royal Navy has not used snake names for destroyers; ''Python'' was renamed ''Velox'' soon after. ''Velox'' was rated as a C-class destroyer in 1913, that is, one of a heterogeneous group of 30-knot torpedo boat destroyer with three funnels.
The ships were considered successes when acquired, achieving speeds of up to 36 knots on trials. All subsequent British destroyers from the River or E class of 1903 (only 3 of which employed turbines) to the County class of 1960 used steam turbine machinery.
==Ships== * {{HMS|Viper|1899|2}}, launched 6 September 1899, wrecked near Alderney on 3 August 1901. *''Python'', later renamed {{HMS|Velox|1902|2}}, launched 11 February 1902, mined and sunk off Nab light vessel, 25 October 1915.
==Citations== {{Reflist}}
==References== * {{cite book |last=Lyon |first=David |title=The First Destroyers |year=1996 |isbn=1-84067-364-8 |ref=Lyon, The First Destroyers }}
{{C class destroyer}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viper class}} Category:Destroyer classes Category:Ship classes of the Royal Navy Category:Viper-class destroyers