HMS Taurus (1917)

HMS Taurus was an R-class destroyer (1916) destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during World War I. Ordered from Thornycroft in 1915 and launched in 1917, the vessel operated as part of the Harwich Force until the end of hostilities. Shortly after entering service, Taurus formed part of the destroyer shield for the Royal Navy's bombardment of Ostend that successfully sank the German destroyer S20. After the War, the destroyer was reduced to the Reserve Fleet and sold to be broken up in 1930.

Design and development
Taurus was one of two R-class destroyer (1916) destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty from Thornycroft in December 1915 as part of the Seventh War Construction Programme alongside HMS Teazer (1917). The ships differed from the six preceding Thornycroft M-class destroyer built by the yard in having all geared turbines and the aft gun being raised on a bandstand.

Taurus had an overall length of 274 ft and was 265 ft between perpendiculars. Beam was 27 ft and draught 11 ft. 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 Teazer achieved a class-leading speed of 40.22 kn during trials. Three funnels were fitted, the centre one larger in diameter than the others. A total of 296 LT of fuel oil was 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. One was mounted on the forecastle, one aft and one between the second and third funnels. The ship also mounted a single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom anti-aircraft gun for air defence and four 21 in torpedoes in two twin rotating mounts. The vessel had a complement of 82 officers and ratings.

Construction and career
Laid down in March 1916, Taurus was launched on 10 March 1917. The vessel was named after the Taurus astrological sign and constellation. Taurus was commissioned in May 1917 and served in the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla as part of the Harwich Force.

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. On 16 October, the ship sailed as part of a force of thirty cruisers and fifty-four destroyers searching for a German fleet that had been misidentified as being of a substantial size, despite being in reality no more than no more than ten vessels. The search did not lead to any contact.

After the war, the destroyer remained with the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla. Taurus was reduced to the Reserve Fleet at Devonport on 16 October 1919 as a tender to the depot ship Woolwich and sold to Metal Industries of Charleston to be broken up on 18 February 1930.