Guadiana-class destroyer

The Guadiana class was a class of four destroyers employed by the Portuguese Navy (Marinha Portuguesa) between 1913 and 1942. This class is often alternatively referred as the Douro class.

NRP Guadiana
Class overview
Name: Guadiana-class destroyer
Builders: Lisbon Naval Arsenal
Operators:  Portuguese Navy
Preceded by: Tejo
Succeeded by: Douro class
Completed: 4
Lost: 1
Retired: 3
General characteristics
Type: Destroyer
Displacement: 700 tons[1]
Length: 240 ft (73 m)
Beam: 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m)
Draught: 7 ft 8 in (2.34 m)
Propulsion: 2 shaft Parsons turbines, 3 Yarrow boilers, 11,000 hp
Speed: 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range: 1,600 nmi (3,000 km; 1,800 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Crew: 80
Armament:
  • 1 × 4 in (100 mm) gun
  • 2 × 3 in (76 mm) guns
  • 4 × 17.72 in (450 mm) torpedo tubes (2 x 2)

Note, that, in Portugal, there is a later Douro class of destroyers used by the Portuguese Navy between 1933 and 1967, usually referred to as the Vouga class.

Construction and design

The design of the four ships of the class were derived from the British River Class and were built by Yarrow in the United Kingdom. They were assembled in the Arsenal of the Navy in Lisbon, between 1913 and 1924, with design assistance and engines and boilers from Yarrow. The armament came from Armstrongs (Elswick Ordnance Company) in the UK.[2]

Service history

The first two ships of the class, together with NRP Tejo constituted the Portuguese destroyer force during World War I.

NRP Vouga sank in 1931, during the amphibious operation to suppress a military rebellion on the island of Madeira.

From 1933, the ships were replaced by the five destroyers of the Douro class.

Ships
Ship name Hull code Builder Commissioned Fate
Douro D Lisbon Shipyard 6 June 1913 Discarded 23 June 1927
Tâmega T Lisbon Shipyard 19 August 1924 Discarded 2 September 1942
Guadiana G Lisbon Shipyard 10 May 1915 Discarded 4 January 1936
Vouga V Lisbon Shipyard 31 December 1920 Sunk 16 May 1931

Citations
  1. Brassey's (1923) "Ships of the Lesser Navies" p357
  2. Norman Friedman Naval Weapons of World War One p115

References
  • Navios Portugueses: Classe Douro at Navios de Guerra Portugueses (in Portuguese)
  • Brassey's Naval and Shipping Annual 1923.
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
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