HMAS Tattoo

HMAS Tattoo at Port Melbourne, circa. 1920
History
Australia
Namesake	Military tattoos
Builder	William Beardmore and Company
Laid down	21 December 1917
Launched	28 December 1918
Completed	7 April 1919
Commissioned	Royal Navy: April 1919 RAN: 27 January 1920
Decommissioned	30 June 1933
Motto	Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum No Steps Backward
Fate	Sold for scrap on 4 June 1937
General characteristics
Class and type	Admiralty S-class destroyer
Displacement	1,075 tons
Length	275 ft 11.25 in (84.1058 m) length overall
Beam	26 ft 9.75 in (8.1725 m)
Propulsion	3 × Yarrow boilers, Brown-Curtis turbines, 27,000 shp (20,000 kW), 2 shafts
Speed	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) as designed 33.75 knots (62.51 km/h; 38.84 mph) on power trails 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) economical
Range	2,589 nautical miles (4,795 km; 2,979 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement	6 officers, 93 sailors
Armament	3 × QF 4-inch Mk IV guns 1 × 2-pounder pom-pom 2 × 9.5-inch howitzers 5 × .303-inch machine guns 2 × twin 21-inch torpedo tube sets 2 depth charge throwers 4 depth charge chutes

HMAS Tattoo (H26) was an Admiralty S-class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built for the Royal Navy during World War I, the ship was not completed until 1919, and spent less than eight months in British service before being transferred to the RAN at the start of 1920. After arriving in Australia, Tattoo spent her entire career in Australian waters, and was placed in reserve on several occasions. Tattoo was decommissioned in 1936, and was sold for ship breaking in 1937.