This list of steam-driven torpedo boats of the United States Navy includes all ships with the hull classification symbol TB, running from TB-1 of 1890 to TB-35 of 1901. It does not include the Patrol Torpedo (PT) boats of World War II.
The first torpedo-boat to serve with the United States Navy was the experimental Stiletto of 31 tons, built in 1885-86 as a yacht by the Herreschoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol, Rhode Island. Designated WTB-1 (for "Wooden Torpedo Boat"), she was purchased under the Act of 3 March 1887 for use as a torpedo boat for experimental purposes and commissioned in July 1887. She measured 94 ft overall (88 ft 6in waterline) x 11 ft 6in x 3 ft, and had a 1-shaft vertical compound engine of 359 ihp, achieving 18.2 knots. She was stricken on 27 January 1911 and sold on 18 July 1911.
The authorisation for the following steel torpedo-boats was as follows:
- Act of 3 August 1886: TB-1
- Act of 30 June 1890: TB-2
- Act of 26 July 1894: TB-3 to TB-5
- Act of 2 March 1895: TB-6 to TB-8
- Act of 10 June 1896: TB-9 to TB-18
- Act of 3 March 1897: TB-19 to TB-23
- Act of 4 May 1898: TB-24 to TB-35 (also the first sixteen TBDs - see Bainbridge-class destroyer)
Re-classification in 1918
On 1 August 1918 all 17 surviving torpedo boats were redesignated as Coast Torpedo Boats and given numbers in place of their original names and were subsequently sold for breaking up in 1919 and 1920.
Cushing class torpedo boat
- USS Cushing (TB-1)
Ericsson class torpedo boat
- USS Ericsson (TB-2)
Foote class torpedo boats
- USS Foote (TB-3)
- USS Rodgers (TB-4)
- USS Winslow (TB-5)
Porter class torpedo boats
- USS Porter (TB-6)
- USS Du Pont (TB-7)
Rowan class torpedo boat
- USS Rowan (TB-8)
Dahlgren class torpedo boats
- USS Dahlgren (TB-9)
- USS Craven (TB-10)
Farragut class torpedo boat
- USS Farragut (TB-11)
Davis class torpedo boats
- USS Davis (TB-12)
- USS Fox (TB-13)
Morris class torpedo boat
- USS Morris (TB-14)
Talbot class torpedo boats
- USS Talbot (TB-15)
- USS Gwin (TB-16)
MacKenzie class torpedo boats
- USS MacKenzie (TB-17)
- USS McKee (TB-18)
Stringham class torpedo boat
- USS Stringham (TB-19)
Goldsborough class torpedo boat
- USS Goldsborough (TB-20)
Bailey class torpedo boat
- USS Bailey (TB-21)
Somers class torpedo boat
- USS Somers (TB-22)
Manley class torpedo boat
- USS Manley (TB-23)
Bagley class torpedo boats
- USS Bagley (TB-24)
- USS Barney (TB-25)
- USS Biddle (TB-26)
Blakely class torpedo boats
- USS Blakely (TB-27)
- USS DeLong (TB-28)
- USS Nicholson (TB-29)
- USS O'Brien (TB-30)
- USS Shubrick (TB-31)
- USS Stockton (TB-32)
- USS Thornton (TB-33)
- USS Tingey (TB-34)
- USS Wilkes (TB-35)
List of torpedo boats
See also
- PT boat
- United States Navy torpedo retrievers
- List of United States Navy ships
- Cape Flattery-class torpedo trials craft
References
- Blackford, Charles Minor. Torpedoboat Sailor. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, 1968.
- Chesneau, Roger, Eugène M. Koleśnik, and N. J. M. Campbell. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. New York: Mayflower Books, 1979.
- Fock, Harald. Fast Fighting Boats, 1870–1945 Their Design, Construction, and Use. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 1978.
- Gardiner, Robert, Randal Gray, and Przemysław Budzbon. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press, 1985.
- Mooney, James L. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Washington: Naval Historical Center, Dept. of the Navy, 1991.
- Moore, John Evelyn. Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. New York: Military Press, 1990.
