HMS Scourge at sea, 1914
Class overview
Name	Beagle class (or G class)
Builders	John Brown & Company J. Samuel White & Company Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company William Denny & Brothers Cammell Laird & Company Harland & Wolff R. W. Hawthorn Leslie & Company John I. Thornycroft & Company
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Tribal class
Succeeded by	Acorn class
Built	1909 – 1910
In commission	1910 – 1921
Completed	16
Lost	3
Scrapped	13
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	860–940 long tons (874–955 t)
Length	275 ft (83.8 m)
Beam	27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)
Draught	8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
Installed power	12,500 hp (9,300 kW)
Propulsion	Coal-fired boilers, 2 or 3 shaftsteam turbines
Speed	27knots (50.0 km/h; 31.1 mph)
Complement	96
Armament	1 ×BL 4-inch (102 mm) L/40 Mark VIII guns, mounting P Mark V 3 ×QF 12-pounder 12 cwt Mark I, mounting P Mark I 2 × single21 inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes

TheBeagle class (officially redesignated as theG class in 1913) was aclass of sixteendestroyers of theRoyal Navy, all ordered under the 1908-1909 programme and launched in 1909 and 1910. TheBeagles served duringWorld War I, particularly during theDardanelles Campaign of 1915.

For the 1908–1909 shipbuilding programme, theBritish Admiralty decided to revert to a smaller, more affordable destroyer to follow-on from the large and fastTribal class (required to reach 33knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)) and the experimental 36-knot (67 km/h; 41 mph)HMS Swift. The destroyers needed sufficient range to operate across theNorth Sea in the event of a confrontation with Germany, which rendered theCricket-class coastal destroyers which had been built as a low-cost supplement to the expensive Tribals outdated, requiring larger numbers of a cheaper standard destroyer.^[1][2] While the Tribals were oil fuelled, it was decided to return to the use ofcoal for the new destroyers, because of concerns over the availability ofoil stocks in the event of a war and to reduce costs. They were the last British destroyers to be so fueled.^[2][3][4]

TheBeagles were not built to a standard design, with detailed design being left to the builders of individual ships in accordance with a loose specification.^[5] They were between 263 feet11+1⁄4 inches (80.45 m) and 275 feet (83.82 m) longbetween perpendiculars, with abeam of between 26 feet 10 inches (8.18 m) and 28 feet 1 inch (8.56 m), with an averagedraught of 8 feet 6 inches (2.59 m).^[6] It was expected that the ships woulddisplace 850 long tons (860 t) but the builder's designs came out heavier,^[3] at about 945 long tons (960 t) normal and 1,100 long tons (1,120 t) full load.^[6] FiveYarrow or White-Forster boilers fed direct-drivesteam turbines driving three propeller shafts. The machinery was rated at 14,300shaft horsepower (10,700 kW) to give a speed of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph).^[6][7] Three funnels were fitted.^[8]

TheBeagle class was designed to carry a gun armament of five 12-pounder (76 mm) guns, with two mounted side by side on a raised platform on the ship'sforecastle, two on the ship's beams, with the port gun mounted ahead of the starboard gun and one aft. While the ships were building, however, it was decided to replace the two forecastle guns by a single 4-inch (102 mm) gun,^[a] giving a gun armament of oneBL 4 inch naval gun Mk VIII and threeQF 12-pounder 12 cwt guns)^[b] Torpedo armament consisted of two 21-inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes, with one between the ship'sfunnels and the aft gun, and one right aft at the stern of the ship. These torpedoes had a range of 1,000 yards (910 m) at 50 knots (93 km/h; 58 mph) or 12,000 yards (11,000 m) at 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph). Two spare torpedoes were carried.^[10][11]

Wartime modifications included replacement of the aft torpedo tube by a3-pounder (47 mm) anti-aircraft gun in some ships,^[6] whiledepth charges were also fitted.^[8]

TheBeagles were followed, in the 1909-10 Programme, by theAcorn class (later known as the H class).

As theBeagles completed in 1910, they joined the 1st Destroyer Flotilla of the Royal Navy'sHome Fleet.^[2] but in 1913 they were sent to theMediterranean,^[12] where they formed the 5th Flotilla, remaining there on the outbreak of theFirst World War.^[2] They were officially redesignated the G class in October 1913 as part of a general re-designation of the Royal Navy's destroyers.^[13] TheBeagle class spent most of the war in the Mediterranean, with several taking part in theDardanelles Campaign. Late in 1917, the ships of the class were recalled to British waters, where three ships were lost to accidents, two by running aground and one to collision.^[2]

Being coal-fired, they were obsolete by the end of the First World War and the surviving ships were all scrapped by the end of 1921.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBeagle class destroyer.

• Brown, David K. (2010).The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906–1922. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-84832-085-7.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969].Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing.ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Dittmar, F. J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972).British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan.ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
• Friedman, Norman (2009).British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
• Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985).Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press.ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Manning, T.D. (1961).The British Destroyer. London: Putnam.OCLC 6470051.
• Moore, John (1990).Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. London: Studio.ISBN 1-85170-378-0.

• Beagle-class destroyers
• Destroyer classes
• Ship classes of the Royal Navy

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• Use British English from March 2017
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