HMS Taurus (1917)

H.M.S. Taurus was an destroyer which served with the Royal Navy.

Design
Taurus had a long overall of 274 ft and a length of 265 ft between perpendiculars. Displacement was 1035 LT normal and 1208 LT full load. Three Yarrow boilers fed steam to two sets of Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines rated at 29000 shp and driving two shafts, giving a design speed of 35 kn, although Taurus achieved 39.27 kn in trials. Three funnels were fitted. 296 tons of oil were carried, giving a design range of 3450 nmi at 20 kn.

Armament consisted of three QF 4in Mk IV guns on the ship's centreline and a single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom anti-aircraft gun. Four 21 in torpedoes in two twin rotating mounts were carried. Fire control included a single Dumaresq and a Vickers range clock. The vessel had a complement of 82 officers and men.

Service
Taurus was one of two destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty from Thornycroft in December 1915 as part of the Seventh War Construction Programme alongside HMS Teazer (1917). The vessel was launched on 10 March 1917 and served in the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla as part of the Harwich Force during the war.

On 4 June 1917, Taurus was deployed as part of a large group of seven cruisers and twenty five destroyers to protect the monitors HMS Erebus (I02) and HMS Terror (I03) in their bombardment of the German held Belgian port of Ostend. Along with sister ships HMS Satyr (1916), HMS Sharpshooter (1917) and HMS Torrent (1916), Taurus sank the German destroyer S20.

The ship was reduced to reserve at Devonport on 16 October 1919 as a tender to the depot ship Woolwich and sold to Metal Industries of Charleston for breaking on 18 February 1930.

Pennant numbers
Also seen with H30