HMS Rattlesnake (1910)

History
United Kingdom
NameRattlesnake
NamesakeRattlesnake
BuilderHarland & Wolff, Glasgow
Laid down9 April 1909
Launched14 March 1910
CompletedAugust 1910
Out of service9 May 1921
FateSold to the broken up
General characteristics
Class and typeBeagle-class destroyer
Displacement925 long tons (940 t)
Length270 ft 3 in (82.4 m)
Beam27 ft 6 in (8.4 m)
Draught16 ft 6 in (5 m)
Installed power5 x coal-fired Yarrow boilers, 12,000 shp (8,900 kW)
Propulsion3 x Parsons steam turbines driving 3 shafts
Speed27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement96
Armament

HMS Rattlesnake was a Beagle-class (or G-class) destroyer of the British Royal Navy. The Beagle class were coal-fuelled ships, designed for a speed of 27 kn (31 mph; 50 km/h) and armed with a 4 in (102 mm) gun and two torpedo tubes. Built by Harland & Wolff and launched in 1910, Rattlesnake was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1913, and spent most of the First World War in the Mediterranean. In 1914, the ship was based at Malta, where there was an acute shortage of coal, and was sent on coaling expeditions to Bizerta for supplies. While participating in the Dardanelles campaign in 1915, the destroyer assisted the troops of the Australian First Division in both their advance and retreat, using a searchlight and guns to suppress troops of the Ottoman Army. The destroyer ended the war at Buncrana in the north of Ireland. After the Armistice that ended the war, Rattlesnake was initially transferred to Portsmouth and then sold in 1921 to be broken up.