List of torpedo boat classes of the Royal Navy

This is a list of torpedo boat classes of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, organised chronologically by entry into service.

The Royal Navy purchased 1st and 2nd class torpedo boats for offensive and defensive combat roles, respectively.

They were small, but large enough to patrol coastal waters and enjoy some limited endurance beyond their supporting port or tender.

These two boats were ordered for Russia, but were purchased by the British Admiralty during the Russo-Turkish war scare.

on 21 December 1883 Thornycroft replied forwarding their design HO 1992 and the specification in accordance with the Admiralty's letter.

All these vessels were quickly deployed to the Mediterranean and stayed there throughout the rest of their service lives, based primarily on Gibraltar.

The remaining four boats, similar in scale to the TB.109 models, were constructed by J. Samuel White at Cowes, and were all commissioned on 3 January 1905.

No further 1st Class torpedo boats were ordered until 1905, when twelve new vessels were projected to meet the needs for coastal defence.

Thornycroft, Yarrow and White were invited to tender, and each produced plans for a three-shaft propulsion with an astern turbine on the centre shaft; each project was larger than first required, being between 175ft and 180ft in length.

These twelve coastal destroyers, given names rather than simply numbers, were ordered under the 1905-06 Programme to the three builders' own designs.