96-400: P2V can refer to: Lockheed P-2 Neptune , a maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft Physical-to-Virtual , on a virtualized computer platform See also [ edit ] PV2 (disambiguation) [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title formed as
192-645: A destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet , convoy , or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were originally conceived in 1885 by Fernando Villaamil for the Spanish Navy as a defense against torpedo boats , and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBDs) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats". Although
288-616: A self-propelled torpedoes in the Battle of Caldera Bay in 1891, thus surpassing its main function of hunting torpedo boats. Fernando Villaamil , second officer of the Ministry of the Navy of Spain , designed his own torpedo gunboat to combat the threat from the torpedo boat. He asked several British shipyards to submit proposals capable of fulfilling these specifications. In 1885, the Spanish Navy chose
384-668: A " black op " unit, the 34th Squadron, better known as the Black Bat Squadron , of the Republic of China Air Force ; these were painted in ROCAF markings. The ROCAF P2V-7U/RB-69A's mission was to conduct low-level penetration flights into mainland China to conduct ELINT/ferret missions including mapping out China's air defense networks, inserting agents via airdrop, and dropping leaflets and supplies. The agreement for plausible deniability between US and Republic of China (ROC) governments meant
480-506: A carrier-based nuclear strike aircraft by modifying the P2V Neptune for carrier takeoff using jet assisted takeoff ( JATO ) rocket boosters, with initial takeoff tests in 1948. However, the Neptune could not land on a carrier, therefore the crew had to either make their way to a friendly land base after a strike, or ditch in the sea near a U.S. Navy vessel. It was replaced in this emergency role by
576-569: A crew of 60. In terms of gunnery, speed, and dimensions, the specialised design to chase torpedo boats and her high-seas capabilities, Destructor was an important precursor to the TBD. The first classes of ships to bear the formal designation TBD were the Daring class of two ships and Havock class of two ships of the Royal Navy. Early torpedo gunboat designs lacked the range and speed to keep up with
672-633: A destroyer was the German U-19 , rammed by HMS Badger on 29 October 1914. While U-19 was only damaged, the next month, HMS Garry successfully sank U-18 . The first depth-charge sinking was on 4 December 1916, when UC-19 was sunk by HMS Llewellyn . The submarine threat meant that many destroyers spent their time on antisubmarine patrol. Once Germany adopted unrestricted submarine warfare in January 1917, destroyers were called on to escort merchant convoys . US Navy destroyers were among
768-454: A displacement of 9,200 tons, and with an armament of more than 90 missiles, guided-missile destroyers such as the Arleigh Burke class are actually larger and more heavily armed than most previous ships classified as guided-missile cruisers. The Chinese Type 055 destroyer has been described as a cruiser in some US Navy reports due to its size and armament. Many NATO navies, such as
864-516: A doubt magnificent fighting vessels... but unable to stand bad weather". During the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, the commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy TBD Akatsuki described "being in command of a destroyer for a long period, especially in wartime... is not very good for the health". Stating that he had originally been strong and healthy, he continued, "life on a destroyer in winter, with bad food, no comforts, would sap
960-535: A further three similar classes were produced around 1930. The Le Fantasque class of 1935 carried five 138 millimetres (5.4 in) guns and nine torpedo tubes, but could achieve speeds of 45 knots (83 km/h), which remains the record speed for a steamship and for any destroyer. The Italians' own destroyers were almost as swift; most Italian designs of the 1930s were rated at over 38 knots (70 km/h), while carrying torpedoes and either four or six 120 mm guns. Germany started to build destroyers again during
1056-522: A gunship, as an overland reconnaissance and sensor deployment aircraft, and in its traditional role as a maritime patrol aircraft. The Neptune was also utilized by the US Army's 1st Radio Research Company (Aviation), call sign "Crazy Cat", based at Cam Ranh Air Base in South Vietnam, as an electronic "ferret" aircraft intercepting low-powered tactical voice and morse code radio signals. The US Army operated
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#17328526684541152-531: A letter–number combination. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=P2V&oldid=1259130974 " Category : Letter–number combination disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Lockheed P-2 Neptune The Lockheed P-2 Neptune (designated P2V by
1248-436: A low level electronic reconnaissance from Da Nang Air Base , flying over Thanh Hóa Province on 20 August 1963 to investigate an air resupply drop zone that turned out to be a trap for a ROCAF C-123B airdrop mission 10 days earlier due to the air-inserted agents having been captured and turned. Next year, an air defense radar mapping mission was also flown by 34th Squadron's RB-69A/P2V-7U aircraft into North Vietnam and Laos on
1344-446: A maximum speed of 22.6 knots (41.9 km/h), which made her one of the faster ships in the world in 1888. She was armed with one 90 mm (3.5 in) Spanish-designed Hontoria breech-loading gun, four 57 mm (2.2 in) ( 6-pounder ) Nordenfelt guns, two 37 mm (1.5 in) (3-pdr) Hotchkiss cannons and two 15-inch (38 cm) Schwartzkopff torpedo tubes. The ship carried three torpedoes per tube. She carried
1440-425: A safe altitude. The jets were also started and kept running at flight idle during low-altitude (500-foot (150 m) during the day and 1,000-foot (300 m) at night) anti-submarine and/or anti-shipping operations as a safety measure should one of the radials develop problems. Normal crew access was via a ladder on the aft bulkhead of the nosewheel well to a hatch on the left side of the wheel well, then forward to
1536-450: A service life of 15,000 hours. Neptune Aviation Services proposes to replace them with British Aerospace 146 aircraft, which have an estimated service life of 80,000 hours and carry upwards of 3,000 US gal (11,000 L; 2,500 imp gal) of retardant. The third production P2V-1 was chosen for a record-setting mission, ostensibly to test crew endurance and long-range navigation but also for publicity purposes: to display
1632-622: A single hit. In most cases torpedo and/or dual-purpose gun armament was reduced to accommodate new anti-air and anti-submarine weapons. By this time the destroyers had become large, multi-purpose vessels, expensive targets in their own right. As a result, casualties on destroyers were among the highest. In the US Navy, particularly in World War II, destroyers became known as tin cans due to their light armor compared to battleships and cruisers. The need for large numbers of antisubmarine ships led to
1728-408: A skeleton, and my bones are full of rheumatism ." In 1898, the US Navy officially classified USS Porter , a 175-foot (53 m) long all steel vessel displacing 165 tons, as a torpedo boat, but her commander, LT. John C. Fremont, described her as "...a compact mass of machinery not meant to keep the sea nor to live in... as five-sevenths of the ship are taken up by machinery and fuel, whilst
1824-547: A stop-gap modern maritime patrol aircraft until sufficient numbers of the Avro Shackleton could enter service. The Neptunes were used from between 1952 and March 1957, being used for airborne early warning experiments as well as for maritime patrol. In Australia, the Netherlands, and the US Navy, its tasks were taken over by the larger and more capable P-3 Orion, and by the 1970s, it was in use only by patrol squadrons in
1920-431: A threat to large capital ships near enemy coasts. The first seagoing vessel designed to launch the self-propelled Whitehead torpedo was the 33-ton HMS Lightning in 1876. She was armed with two drop collars to launch these weapons; these were replaced in 1879 by a single torpedo tube in the bow. By the 1880s, the type had evolved into small ships of 50–100 tons, fast enough to evade enemy picket boats. At first,
2016-404: A turtleback (i.e. rounded) forecastle that was characteristic of early British TBDs. HMS Daring and HMS Decoy were both built by Thornycroft , displaced 260 tons (287.8 tons full load), and were 185 feet in length. They were armed with one 12-pounder gun and three 6-pounder guns, with one fixed 18-in torpedo tube in the bow plus two more torpedo tubes on a revolving mount abaft
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#17328526684542112-569: The Dryad class – all built for the Royal Navy during the 1880s and the 1890s. In the 1880s, the Chilean Navy ordered the construction of two Almirante Lynch class torpedo gunboats from the British shipyard Laird Brothers, which specialized in the construction of this type of vessel. The novelty is that one of these Almirante Lynch -class torpedo boats managed to sink the ironclad Blanco Encalada with
2208-465: The Durandal -class torpilleur d'escadre . The United States commissioned its first TBD, USS Bainbridge , Destroyer No. 1, in 1902, and by 1906, 16 destroyers were in service with the US Navy. Torpedo boat destroyer designs continued to evolve around the turn of the 20th century in several key ways. The first was the introduction of the steam turbine . The spectacular unauthorized demonstration of
2304-466: The Battle of Jutland , which involved pitched small-boat actions between the main fleets, and several foolhardy attacks by unsupported destroyers on capital ships. Jutland also concluded with a messy night action between the German High Seas Fleet and part of the British destroyer screen. The threat evolved by World War I with the development of the submarine , or U-boat . The submarine had
2400-504: The French , Spanish , Dutch , Danish , and German , use the term " frigate " for their destroyers, which leads to some confusion. The emergence and development of the destroyer was related to the invention of the self-propelled torpedo in the 1860s. A navy now had the potential to destroy a superior enemy battle fleet using steam launches to fire torpedoes. Cheap, fast boats armed with torpedoes called torpedo boats were built and became
2496-673: The National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola . Lockheed produced seven main variants of the P2V. In addition, Kawasaki built the turboprop-powered P-2J in Japan. There are a few Neptunes that have been restored and are on display in museums and parks. Data from Combat Aircraft since 1945 General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Destroyer In naval terminology,
2592-813: The North American AJ Savage (transferred to the Pacific Fleet in October 1952) the first nuclear strike aircraft that was fully capable of carrier launch and recovery operations; it was also short-lived in that role as the US Navy was adopting fully jet powered nuclear strike aircraft. In 1954 under Project Cherry , the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) obtained five newly built P2V-7 and converted these into P2V-7U/RB-69A variants by Lockheed's Skunk Works at Hangar B5 in Burbank, California , for
2688-702: The United States Navy prior to September 1962) is a maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft. It was developed for the US Navy by Lockheed to replace the Lockheed PV-1 Ventura and PV-2 Harpoon , and was replaced in turn by the Lockheed P-3 Orion . Designed as a land-based aircraft, the Neptune never made a carrier landing, but a small number were converted and deployed as carrier-launched (using JATO assist), stop-gap nuclear bombers that would have to land on shore or ditch. The type
2784-558: The Westinghouse J34 jet engines on P2Vs burned the 115–145 Avgas fuel of the piston engines, instead of jet fuel. The jet pods were fitted with intake doors that remained closed when the J-34s were not running. This prevented windmilling, allowing for economical piston-engine-only long-endurance search and patrol operations. In normal US Navy operations, the jet engines were run at full power (97%) to assure takeoff, then shut down upon reaching
2880-569: The 1930s as part of Hitler's rearmament program. The Germans were also fond of large destroyers, but while the initial Type 1934 displaced over 3,000 tons, their armament was equal to smaller vessels. This changed from the Type 1936 onwards, which mounted heavy 150 millimetres (5.9 in) guns. German destroyers also used innovative high-pressure steam machinery; while this should have helped their efficiency, it more often resulted in mechanical problems. Once German and Japanese rearmament became clear,
2976-515: The 34th Squadron's black op missions remain classified by the CIA—though a CIA internal draft history, Low-Level Technical Reconnaissance over Mainland China (1955–66) , reference CSHP-2.348, written in 1972 that covers CIA/ROCAF 34th Squadron's black op missions is known to exist. The CIA does not plan to declassify it until after 2022. During the Vietnam War , the Neptune was used by the US Navy as
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3072-531: The British and American navies consciously focused on building destroyers that were smaller, but more numerous than those used by other nations. The British built a series of destroyers (the A class to I class ), which were about 1,400 tons standard displacement, and had four 4.7-inch (119 mm) guns and eight torpedo tubes; the American Benson class of 1938 was similar in size, but carried five 5-inch (127 mm) guns and ten torpedo tubes. Realizing
3168-573: The CIA's own private fleet of covert ELINT/ferret aircraft. Later, to make up for P2V-7U/RB-69A operational losses, the CIA obtained and converted two existing US Navy P2V-7s, one in September 1962, and one in December 1964 to P2V-7U/RB-69A Phase VI standard, and also acquired an older P2V-5 from the US Navy as a training aircraft in 1963. Test flights were made by lead aircraft at Edwards AFB from 1955 to 1956, all
3264-829: The Canadian Forces in 1968, the Neptune was re-designated the CP122 and was officially retired two years later. Australia also acquired Neptunes to supplement and then replace the aging Avro Lincoln in the reconnaissance and anti-submarine role. The RAAF flew Neptunes from 1951 until 1978, at first with 11 Squadron (Pearce, WA) and then, from late 1953, with 10 Squadron (Richmond, NSW). RAAF Neptunes were fitted for ASW, surface ship detection and general reconnaissance. Twelve P2V4/5 (later designated P-2E) aircraft entered service with 11 Squadron in 1951. At first powered only by two R3350 radials, all were later retrofitted with Westinghouse J-34 auxiliary jets. Long-running severe spare parts shortages in
3360-773: The Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Exploración ( Naval Exploration Squadron ). They were intensively used in 1978 during the Operation Soberania against Chile including over the Pacific Ocean. During the Falklands War in 1982, the last two airframes in service (2-P-111 and 2-P-112) carried out reconnaissance missions over the South Atlantic and on 4 May, after detecting a group of British warships, helped to direct an attack by two Dassault Super Étendards that resulted in
3456-552: The Neptune was license-built from 1966 by Kawasaki as the P-2J , with the piston engines replaced by IHI -built T64 turboprops. Kawasaki continued their manufacture much later than Lockheed did; the P-2J remained in service until 1984. P-2/P2Vs have been employed in aerial firefighting roles by operators such as Minden Air Corp and Neptune Aviation Services. The fire fighters can carry 2,080 US gal (7,900 L) of retardant and have
3552-606: The Neptunes added bombing and strafing operations to their patrol duties. On 17 May 1962, a Netherlands Navy Neptune shot down an Indonesian C-47 transport. A truce ended the conflict in September 1962, with Dutch New Guinea passing to UN control before becoming part of Indonesia, and the P2V-7s returned to Europe. The aircraft were upgraded to SP-2H standard soon after returning to the Netherlands, and remained in service until March 1982, when they were replaced by Lockheed Orions. In Japan,
3648-499: The P-2 exited active U.S. naval service. VP-23 was the last active duty patrol squadron to operate the SP-2H, retiring its last Neptune on 20 February 1970, while the last Naval Reserve patrol squadron to operate the Neptune, VP-94 , retired its last SP-2H in 1978. At the end of World War II, the US Navy felt the need to acquire a nuclear strike capability to maintain its political influence. In
3744-681: The P-2 from 1967 until 1972, flying 42,500 hours with no accidents. Observation Squadron 67 (VO-67) , call sign "Lindy", was the only P-2 Neptune aircraft squadron to ever receive the Presidential Unit Citation , flying Igloo White missions sowing seismic and acoustic sensors over the Ho Chi Minh trail . VO-67 lost three OP-2E aircraft and 20 aircrew to ground fire during its secret missions into Laos and Vietnam in 1967–68. The Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) secret 34th Black Bat Squadron's RB-69A/P2V-7U ELINT/SIGINT aircraft flew
3840-665: The P-2 in its hunter role: As the P-2 was replaced in the US Navy by the P-3A Orion in active Fleet squadrons in the early and mid-1960s, the P-2 continued to remain operational in the Naval Air Reserve through the mid-1970s, primarily in its SP-2H version. As active Fleet squadrons transitioned to the P-3B and P-3C in the mid- and late-1960s and early 1970s, the Naval Air Reserve P-2s were eventually replaced by P-3As and P-3Bs and
3936-669: The RB-69A would be manned by ROCAF crew while conducting operational missions, but would be manned by CIA crew when ferrying RB-69A out of Taiwan or other operational area to US. The P2V-7U/RB-69A flew with ROCAF Black Bat Squadron over China from 1957 to November 1966. All five original aircraft (two crashed in South Korea, three shot down over China) were lost with all hands on board. In January 1967, two remaining RB-69As flew back to NAS Alameda , California, and were converted back to regular US Navy P2V-7/SP-2H ASW aircraft configurations. Most of
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4032-472: The Royal Navy's first Havock class of TBDs, up to the First World War with 300-foot (91 m) long destroyers displacing 1,000 tons was not unusual. Construction remained focused on putting the biggest possible engines into a small hull, though, resulting in a somewhat flimsy construction. Often, hulls were built of high-tensile steel only 1 ⁄ 8 in (3.2 mm) thick. By 1910,
4128-683: The Russian fleet in port, firing a total of 18 torpedoes, but only two Russian battleships, Tsesarevich and Retvizan , and a protected cruiser , Pallada , were seriously damaged due to the proper deployment of torpedo nets . Tsesarevich , the Russian flagship, had her nets deployed, with at least four enemy torpedoes "hung up" in them, and other warships were similarly saved from further damage by their nets. While capital-ship engagements were scarce in World War I, destroyer units engaged almost continually in raiding and patrol actions. The first shot of
4224-461: The Second World War, Polish ( kontrtorpedowiec , now obsolete). Once destroyers became more than just catchers guarding an anchorage, they were recognized to be also ideal to take over the offensive role of torpedo boats themselves, so they were also fitted with torpedo tubes in addition to their antitorpedo-boat guns. At that time, and even into World War I, the only function of destroyers
4320-510: The U.S. Navy signed a letter of intent for two prototype XP2Vs, which was confirmed by a formal contract on 4 April 1944 with a further 15 aircraft being ordered 10 days later. It was not until 1944 that the program went into full swing. A major factor in the design was ease of manufacture and maintenance, and this may have been a major factor in the type's long life and worldwide success. The first aircraft flew in May 1945. Production began in 1946, and
4416-945: The US Naval Reserve and the Dutch Navy. The 320 Squadron of the Royal Dutch Navy retired its last seven Neptunes in March 1982 as they were being replaced by the Lockheed Orion. The US Naval Reserve retired its last Neptunes in 1978, those aircraft also having been replaced by the P-3 Orion. By the 1980s, the Neptune had fallen out of military use in most purchasing nations, replaced by newer aircraft. The Netherlands received its first Neptunes in 1953–54, when it acquired 12 P2V-5s. These remained in service until 1960, when they were transferred to Portugal. The P2V-5s were initially not replaced, with
4512-511: The USN with the Paulding class of 1909. In spite of all this variety, destroyers adopted a largely similar pattern. The hull was long and narrow, with a relatively shallow draft. The bow was either raised in a forecastle or covered under a turtleback; underneath this were the crew spaces, extending 1 ⁄ 4 to 1 ⁄ 3 the way along the hull. Aft of the crew spaces was as much engine space as
4608-580: The aircraft painted with dark sea blue color but with USAF markings. In 1957 one P2V-7U was sent to Eglin AFB for testing aircraft performance at low level and under adverse conditions. The initial two aircraft were sent to Europe, based at Wiesbaden , West Germany , but were later withdrawn in 1959 when the CIA reduced its covert aircraft assets in Europe. The CIA sent the other two P2V-7U/RB-69As to Hsinchu Air Base , Taiwan, where by December 1957, they were given to
4704-536: The aircraft was accepted into service in 1947. Potential use as a bomber led to successful launches from aircraft carriers. Beginning with the P2V-5F model, the Neptune became one of the first operational aircraft fitted with both piston and jet engines. The Convair B-36 , several Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter , Fairchild C-123 Provider , North American AJ Savage , and Avro Shackleton aircraft were also so equipped. To save weight and complexity of two separate fuel systems,
4800-637: The aircraft, "The Turtle" set out from Perth , Australia to the United States. With a crew of four (and a nine-month-old gray kangaroo , a gift from Australia for the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. ) the aircraft set off on 9 September 1946, with a RATO (rocket-assisted takeoff). 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 days (55h, 18m) later, "The Turtle" touched down in Columbus, Ohio after 11,236.6 mi (18,083.6 km). It
4896-400: The anti-submarine aircraft requirement being met by carrier-borne Grumman S-2 Trackers . A new, urgent, requirement for maritime patrol aircraft soon developed, for service over Dutch New Guinea , and 15 new P2V-7s were purchased, entering service from September 1961. While initially employed on reconnaissance and patrol duties, as Indonesian infiltration attempts against New Guinea increased,
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#17328526684544992-557: The anti-submarine, anti-shipping, and maritime reconnaissance roles, as a stopgap pending deliveries of the Canadair CP-107 Argus , which began in 1960. Canadian Neptunes were delivered without the underwing Westinghouse J34 jet engine pods, which were retrofitted in 1959. Armament included two torpedoes, mines, depth charges, bombs carried internally plus unguided rockets mounted under the wings. Twenty five Neptunes served with 404, 405 and 407 squadrons until 1960. Upon unification of
5088-576: The battle fleet, and as they inherently became larger, they became officially designated "torpedo-boat destroyers", and by the First World War were largely known as "destroyers" in English. The antitorpedo boat origin of this type of ship is retained in its name in other languages, including French ( contre-torpilleur ), Italian ( cacciatorpediniere ), Portuguese ( contratorpedeiro ), Czech ( torpédoborec ), Greek ( antitorpiliko , αντιτορπιλικό ), Dutch ( torpedobootjager ) and, up until
5184-482: The capabilities of the US Navy's latest patrol bomber, and to surpass the standing record set by a Japanese Tachikawa Ki-77 . Its nickname was The Turtle , which was painted on the aircraft's nose (along with a cartoon of a turtle smoking a pipe pedaling a device attached to a propeller). However, in press releases immediately before the flight, the US Navy referred to it as "The Truculent Turtle". Loaded with fuel in extra tanks fitted in practically every spare space in
5280-449: The class gave the guns high-angle turrets for antiaircraft warfare, and the 24-inch (61 cm), oxygen-fueled Long Lance Type 93 torpedo . The later Hatsuharu class of 1931 further improved the torpedo armament by storing its reload torpedoes close at hand in the superstructure, allowing reloading within 15 minutes. Most other nations replied with similar larger ships. The US Porter class adopted twin 5-inch (127 mm) guns, and
5376-465: The design submitted by the shipyard of James and George Thomson of Clydebank . Destructor ( Destroyer in Spanish) was laid down at the end of the year, launched in 1886, and commissioned in 1887. Some authors considered her as the first destroyer ever built. She displaced 348 tons, and was the first warship equipped with twin triple-expansion engines generating 3,784 ihp (2,822 kW), for
5472-442: The destroyer". The German aviso Greif , launched in 1886, was designed as a " Torpedojäger " (torpedo hunter), intended to screen the fleet against attacks by torpedo boats. The ship was significantly larger than torpedo boats of the period, displacing some 2,266 t (2,230 long tons), with an armament of 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and 3.7 cm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon . The first vessel designed for
5568-574: The early 1950s made it necessary to put 6 of the 12 aircraft in long-term storage from 1953. In August 1953, the rear and front turrets were removed and replaced with a MAD boom and a clear Perspex nose for observation. In the late 1960s, RAAF Neptune operations were wound down and it was replaced with the P-3B Orion. With the founding of NATO in 1949 and the resulting additional maritime commitments it entailed for Britain, The Royal Air Force Coastal Command operated 52 P2V-5s, designated Neptune MR.1, as
5664-458: The explicit purpose of hunting and destroying torpedo boats was the torpedo gunboat . Essentially very small cruisers, torpedo gunboats were equipped with torpedo tubes and an adequate gun armament, intended for hunting down smaller enemy boats. By the end of the 1890s, torpedo gunboats were made obsolete by their more successful contemporaries, the TBDs, which were much faster. The first example of this
5760-652: The first American units to be dispatched upon the American entry to the war, and a squadron of Japanese destroyers even joined Allied patrols in the Mediterranean. Patrol duty was far from safe; of the 67 British destroyers lost in the war, collisions accounted for 18, while 12 were wrecked. At the end of the war, the state-of-the-art was represented by the British W class . The trend during World War I had been towards larger destroyers with heavier armaments. A number of opportunities to fire at capital ships had been missed during
5856-713: The fleet they were supposed to protect. In 1892, the Third Sea Lord , Rear Admiral John "Jacky" Fisher ordered the development of a new type of ships equipped with the then-novel water-tube boilers and quick-firing small-calibre guns. Six ships to the specifications circulated by the admiralty were ordered initially, comprising three different designs each produced by a different shipbuilder: HMS Daring and HMS Decoy from John I. Thornycroft & Company , HMS Havock and HMS Hornet from Yarrows , and HMS Ferret and HMS Lynx from Laird, Son & Company . These ships all featured
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#17328526684545952-538: The greatest firepower of all destroyers in the world throughout the first half of the 1920s. This was largely because, between their commissioning in 1920 and 1926, they retained the armament that they had while serving in the Italian Navy as scout cruisers ( esploratori ). When initially ordered by Romania in 1913, the Romanian specifications envisioned three 120 mm guns, a caliber which would eventually be adopted as
6048-411: The introduction of smaller and cheaper specialized antisubmarine warships called corvettes and frigates by the Royal Navy and destroyer escorts by the USN. A similar programme was belatedly started by the Japanese (see Matsu -class destroyer). These ships had the size and displacement of the original TBDs from which the contemporary destroyer had evolved. Some conventional destroyers completed in
6144-541: The late 1940s and 1950s were built on wartime experience. These vessels were significantly larger than wartime ships and had fully automatic main guns, unit machinery, radar, sonar, and antisubmarine weapons, such as the squid mortar . Examples include the British Daring -class , US Forrest Sherman -class , and the Soviet Kotlin -class destroyers. Some World War II–vintage ships were modernized for antisubmarine warfare, and to extend their service lives, to avoid having to build (expensive) brand-new ships. Examples include
6240-496: The need for heavier gun armament, the British built the Tribal class of 1936 (sometimes called Afridi after one of two lead ships). These ships displaced 1,850 tons and were armed with eight 4.7-inch (119 mm) guns in four twin turrets and four torpedo tubes. These were followed by the J-class and L-class destroyers, with six 4.7-inch (119 mm) guns in twin turrets and eight torpedo tubes. Antisubmarine sensors included sonar (or ASDIC), although training in their use
6336-505: The night of 16 March 1964. The RB-69A took off from Da Nang, flew up the Gulf of Tonkin before coasting in near Haiphong , then flew down North Vietnam and the Laos border. The mission was requested by SOG for helping plan the insert or resupply of agents. Seven AAA sites, 14 early warning radar sites and two GCI radar signals were detected. The Argentine Naval Aviation had received at least 16 Neptunes of different variants since 1958 including eight former RAF examples for use in
6432-403: The observer nose, or up through another hatch to the main deck. There was also a hatch in the floor of the aft fuselage, near the sonobuoy chutes. Before the P-3 Orion arrived in the mid-1960s, the Neptune was the primary U.S. land-based anti-submarine patrol aircraft, intended to be operated as the hunter of a '"Hunter-Killer" group, with destroyers employed as killers. Several features aided
6528-565: The potential to hide from gunfire and close underwater to fire torpedoes. Early-war destroyers had the speed and armament to intercept submarines before they submerged, either by gunfire or by ramming. Destroyers also had a shallow enough draft that they were difficult to hit with torpedoes. The desire to attack submarines under water led to rapid destroyer evolution during the war. They were quickly equipped with strengthened bows for ramming, and depth charges and hydrophones for identifying submarine targets. The first submarine casualty credited to
6624-500: The powers of the strongest men in the long run. A destroyer is always more uncomfortable than the others, and rain, snow, and sea-water combine to make them damp; in fact, in bad weather, there is not a dry spot where one can rest for a moment." The Japanese destroyer-commander finished with, "Yesterday, I looked at myself in a mirror for a long time; I was disagreeably surprised to see my face thin, full of wrinkles, and as old as though I were 50. My clothes (uniform) cover nothing but
6720-476: The remaining two-sevenths, fore and aft, are the crew's quarters; officers forward and the men placed aft. And even in those spaces are placed anchor engines, steering engines, steam pipes, etc. rendering them unbearably hot in tropical regions." The TBD's first major use in combat came during the Japanese surprise attack on the Russian fleet anchored in Port Arthur at the opening of the Russo-Japanese War on 8 February 1904. Three destroyer divisions attacked
6816-407: The ship at least had the armament to deal with them. Another forerunner of the torpedo-boat destroyer (TBD) was the Japanese torpedo boat Kotaka ( Falcon ), built in 1885. Designed to Japanese specifications and ordered from the Isle of Dogs, London Yarrow shipyard in 1885, she was transported in parts to Japan, where she was assembled and launched in 1887. The 165-foot (50 m) long vessel
6912-527: The short term, carrier-based aircraft were the best solution. The large Fat Man nuclear munitions at that time were bulky and required a very large aircraft to carry them. The US Navy Bureau of Ordnance built 25 outdated but more compact Little Boy nuclear bomb designs to be used in the smaller bomb bay of the P2V Neptune. There was enough fissionable material available by 1948 to build ten complete uranium projectiles and targets, although there were only enough initiators to complete six. The U.S. Navy improvised
7008-576: The sinking of the British destroyer HMS Sheffield . The lack of spare parts, caused by the US having enacted an arms embargo in 1977 due to the Dirty War , led to the type being retired before the end of the war; Argentine Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules took over the task of searching for targets for strike aircraft. The Royal Canadian Air Force's Air Command replaced their aging Avro Lancaster maritime aircraft beginning in 1955 with P2V-7 Neptunes in
7104-487: The standard for future Italian destroyers. Armed with three 152 mm and four 76 mm guns after being completed as scout cruisers, the two warships were officially re-rated as destroyers by the Romanian Navy . The two Romanian warships were thus the destroyers with the greatest firepower in the world throughout much of the interwar period. As of 1939, when the Second World War started, their artillery, although changed,
7200-538: The start of the 21st century, destroyers are the global standard for surface-combatant ships, with only two nations (the United States and Russia ) officially operating the heavier cruisers , with no battleships or true battlecruisers remaining. Modern guided-missile destroyers are equivalent in tonnage but vastly superior in firepower to cruisers of the World War II era, and are capable of carrying nuclear-tipped cruise missiles . At 510 feet (160 m) long,
7296-411: The steam-driven displacement (that is, not hydroplaning ) torpedo boat had become redundant as a separate type. Germany, nevertheless, continued to build such boats until the end of World War I, although these were effectively small coastal destroyers. In fact, Germany never distinguished between the two types, giving them pennant numbers in the same series and never giving names to destroyers. Ultimately,
7392-563: The subsequent Mahan class and Gridley classes (the latter of 1934) increased the number of torpedo tubes to 12 and 16, respectively. In the Mediterranean, the Italian Navy's building of very fast light cruisers of the Condottieri class prompted the French to produce exceptional destroyer designs. The French had long been keen on large destroyers, with their Chacal class of 1922 displacing over 2,000 tons and carrying 130 mm guns;
7488-429: The technology of the time would allow - several boilers and engines or turbines. Above deck, one or more quick-firing guns were mounted in the bows, in front of the bridge; several more were mounted amidships and astern. Two tube mountings (later on, multiple mountings) were generally found amidships. Between 1892 and 1914, destroyers became markedly larger; initially 275 tons with a length of 165 feet (50 m) for
7584-505: The term "destroyer" had been used interchangeably with "TBD" and "torpedo boat destroyer" by navies since 1892, the term "torpedo boat destroyer" had been generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by the First World War . Before World War II , destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unattended ocean operations; typically, a number of destroyers and a single destroyer tender operated together. After
7680-561: The term "torpedo boat" came to be attached to a quite different vessel – the very fast-hydroplaning, motor-driven motor torpedo boat . Navies originally built TBDrs to protect against torpedo boats, but admirals soon appreciated the flexibility of the fast, multipurpose vessels that resulted. Vice-Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker laid down destroyer duties for the Royal Navy: Early destroyers were extremely cramped places to live, being "without
7776-545: The threat had evolved once again. Submarines were more effective, and aircraft had become important weapons of naval warfare; once again the early-war fleet destroyers were ill-equipped for combating these new targets. They were fitted with new light antiaircraft guns, radar , and forward-launched ASW weapons, in addition to their existing dual-purpose guns , depth charges , and torpedoes. Increasing size allowed improved internal arrangement of propulsion machinery with compartmentation , so ships were less likely to be sunk by
7872-427: The threat of a torpedo-boat attack to a battle fleet was considered to exist only when at anchor, but as faster and longer-range torpedo boats and torpedoes were developed, the threat extended to cruising at sea. In response to this new threat, more heavily gunned picket boats called "catchers" were built, which were used to escort the battle fleet at sea. They needed significant seaworthiness and endurance to operate with
7968-449: The turbine-powered Turbinia at the 1897 Spithead Navy Review, which, significantly, was of torpedo-boat size, prompted the Royal Navy to order a prototype turbine-powered destroyer, HMS Viper of 1899. This was the first turbine warship of any kind, and achieved a remarkable 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) on sea trials. By 1910, the turbine had been widely adopted by all navies for their faster ships. The second development
8064-467: The two funnels. Later, the bow torpedo tube was removed and two more 6-pounder guns added, instead. They produced 4,200 hp from a pair of Thornycroft water-tube boilers, giving them a top speed of 27 knots, giving the range and speed to travel effectively with a battle fleet. In common with subsequent early Thornycroft boats, they had sloping sterns and double rudders. The French navy, an extensive user of torpedo boats, built its first TBD in 1899, with
8160-587: The war at sea was fired on 5 August 1914 by HMS Lance , one of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla , in an engagement with the German auxiliary minelayer Königin Luise . Destroyers were involved in the skirmishes that prompted the Battle of Heligoland Bight , and filled a range of roles in the Battle of Gallipoli , acting as troop transports and as fire-support vessels, as well as their fleet-screening role. Over 80 British destroyers and 60 German torpedo boats took part in
8256-401: The war, because destroyers had expended all their torpedoes in an initial salvo. The British V and W classes of the late war had sought to address this by mounting six torpedo tubes in two triple mounts, instead of the four or two on earlier models. The V and W classes set the standard of destroyer building well into the 1920s. Two Romanian destroyers Mărăști and Mărășești , though, had
8352-533: The war, destroyers grew in size. The American Allen M. Sumner -class destroyers had a displacement of 2,200 tons, while the Arleigh Burke class has a displacement of up to 9,600 tons, a difference of nearly 340%. Moreover, the advent of guided missiles allowed destroyers to take on the surface-combatant roles previously filled by battleships and cruisers. This resulted in larger and more powerful guided missile destroyers more capable of independent operation. At
8448-486: Was HMS Rattlesnake , designed by Nathaniel Barnaby in 1885, and commissioned in response to the Russian War scare . The gunboat was armed with torpedoes and designed for hunting and destroying smaller torpedo boats . Exactly 200 feet (61 m) long and 23 feet (7.0 m) in beam, she displaced 550 tons. Built of steel, Rattlesnake was unarmoured with the exception of a 3 ⁄ 4 -inch protective deck. She
8544-554: Was armed with a single 4-inch/25-pounder breech-loading gun , six 3-pounder QF guns and four 14-inch (360 mm) torpedo tubes, arranged with two fixed tubes at the bow and a set of torpedo-dropping carriages on either side. Four torpedo reloads were carried. A number of torpedo gunboat classes followed, including the Grasshopper class, the Sharpshooter class , the Alarm class , and
8640-452: Was armed with four 1-pounder (37 mm) quick-firing guns and six torpedo tubes, reached 19 knots (35 km/h), and at 203 tons, was the largest torpedo boat built to date. In her trials in 1889, Kotaka demonstrated that she could exceed the role of coastal defense, and was capable of accompanying larger warships on the high seas. The Yarrow shipyards, builder of the parts for Kotaka , "considered Japan to have effectively invented
8736-462: Was indifferent. Antisubmarine weapons changed little, and ahead-throwing weapons, a need recognized in World War I, had made no progress. During the 1920s and 1930s, destroyers were often deployed to areas of diplomatic tension or humanitarian disaster. British and American destroyers were common on the Chinese coast and rivers, even supplying landing parties to protect colonial interests. By World War II,
8832-580: Was still close to cruiser standards, amounting to nine heavy naval guns (five of 120 mm and four of 76 mm). In addition, they retained their two twin 457 mm torpedo tubes and two machine guns, plus the capacity to carry up to 50 mines. The next major innovation came with the Japanese Fubuki class or "special type", designed in 1923 and delivered in 1928. The design was initially noted for its powerful armament of six 5-inch (127 mm) guns and three triple torpedo mounts. The second batch of
8928-504: Was successful in export, and saw service with several armed forces. Development of a new land-based patrol bomber began early in World War II, with design work starting at Lockheed's Vega subsidiary as a private venture on 6 December 1941. At first, the new design was considered a low priority compared to other aircraft in development at the time, with Vega also developing and producing the PV-2 Harpoon patrol bomber. On 19 February 1943,
9024-536: Was the longest un-refueled flight yet beating the unofficial 10,212 mi (16,435 km) record set by the Japanese Tachikawa Ki-77. This would stand as the absolute unrefueled distance record until 1962 when it was beaten by a USAF Boeing B-52 Stratofortress , and would remain as a piston-engined record until 1986 when the Rutan Voyager broke it circumnavigating the globe. "The Turtle" is preserved at
9120-475: Was the replacement of the torpedo boat-style turtleback foredeck by a raised forecastle for the new River-class destroyers built in 1903, which provided better sea-keeping and more space below deck. The first warship to use only fuel oil propulsion was the Royal Navy's TBD HMS Spiteful , after experiments in 1904, although the obsolescence of coal as a fuel in British warships was delayed by oil's availability. Other navies also adopted oil, for instance
9216-519: Was to protect their own battle fleet from enemy torpedo attacks and to make such attacks on the battleships of the enemy. The task of escorting merchant convoys was still in the future. An important development came with the construction of HMS Swift in 1884, later redesignated TB 81. This was a large (137 ton) torpedo boat with four 47 mm quick-firing guns and three torpedo tubes. At 23.75 knots (43.99 km/h; 27.33 mph), while still not fast enough to engage enemy torpedo boats reliably,
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