HMAS Tattoo (H26) was an was an Admiralty S class destroyer

S class destroyer (1916)

The S class were a class of 67 destroyers built from 1917 for the Royal Navy. The design was based on the Admiralty modified R class and all ships had names beginning with S or T....

 of the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 (RAN). Built for the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 during World War I, the ship was not completed until 1919, and spent less than eight months in British service before being transferred to the RAN at the start of 1920. After arriving in Australia, Tattoo spent her entire career in Australian waters, and was placed in reserve on several occasions. Tattoo was decommissioned in 1936, and was sold for ship breaking

Ship breaking

Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...

 in 1937.

Design and construction

Tattoo was built to the Admiralty design of the S class destroyer

S class destroyer (1916)

The S class were a class of 67 destroyers built from 1917 for the Royal Navy. The design was based on the Admiralty modified R class and all ships had names beginning with S or T....

, which was designed and built as part of the British emergency war programme. The destroyer had a displacement of 1,075 tons, a length overall of 276 foot, and a beam of 26 foot. The propulsion machiney consisted of three Yarrow boilers feeding Brown-Curtis turbines, which supplied 27000 shp to the ship's two propeller shafts. Although designed with a maximum speed of 36 knots (19.6 m/s), Tattoo was only able to achieve 33.75 knots (18.4 m/s) on power trails. The destroyer's economical speed of 13 knots (7.1 m/s) gave her a range of 2589 nautical miles (4,794.8 km). The ship's company was made up of 6 officers and 93 sailors.

The destroyer's primary armament consisted of three QF 4-inch Mark IV guns

QF 4 inch naval gun Mk IV, XII, XXII

The QF 4-inch gun Mk IV was introduced in 1911 as a faster-loading light gun successor to the BL 4 inch Mk VIII gun, and was the main gun on most Royal Navy and British Empire destroyers in World War I.-Mk IV gun:...

. These were supplemented by a 2-pounder pom-pom, two 9.5-inch howitzer bomb throwers, five .303 inch machine guns

.303 British

.303 British, or 7.7x56mmR, is a .311 inch calibre rifle and machine gun cartridge first developed in Britain as a blackpowder round put into service in December 1888 for the Lee-Metford rifle, later adapted to use smokeless powders...

 (a mix of Lewis

Lewis Gun

The Lewis Gun is a World War I–era light machine gun of American design that was perfected and widely used by the British Empire. It was first used in combat in World War I, and continued in service with a number of armed forces through to the end of the Korean War...

 and Maxim gun

Maxim gun

The Maxim gun was the first self-powered machine gun, invented by the American-born British inventor Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884. It has been called "the weapon most associated with [British] imperial conquest".-Functionality:...

s), two twin 21-inch torpedo tube sets, two depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...

 throwers, and two depth charge chutes.

Tattoo was laid down by William Beardmore and Company

William Beardmore and Company

William Beardmore and Company was a Scottish engineering and shipbuilding conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active between about 1890 and 1930 and at its peak employed about 40,000 people...

, Limited, at Dalmuir

Dalmuir

Dalmuir is an area on the western side of Clydebank, in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland.-Location:It is neighboured by the village of Old Kilpatrick, the Mountblow and Parkhall areas of Clydebank, as well as the town centre...

 in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 on 21 December 1917. The destroyer was launched on 28 December 1918, and completed on 7 April 1919. The ship was commissioned into the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 in April 1919, but was quickly marked for transfer to the RAN, along with four sister ship

Sister ship

A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...

s. Tattoo was commissioned into the RAN on 27 January 1920. There were plans to rename her HMAS Moresby, but these were cancelled in June 1930.

Operational history

Tattoo and three of her sister ships sailed for Australia on 20 February, visiting ports in the Mediterranean, India, Singapore, and the Netherlands East Indies before reaching Sydney on 29 April. The destroyer was placed in reserve in October 1921, then was reactivated on 12 March 1926 for a six-week period. She to be fully decommissioned on 26 March 1928, but this was cancelled in favour of decommissioning . Tattoo was recommissioned on 13 July 1931. She was returned to reserve on 30 June 1933, and was briefly reactivated in October of tahat year to assist in torpedo re-ranging trials. On 8 January 1935, the destroyer was assigned to Flinders Naval Depot, and was moved in and out of commission as required for training.

Decommissioning and fate

Tattoo paid off for the final time on 19 June 1936. She was sold to Penguins Limited for ship breaking

Ship breaking

Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...

on 4 June 1937.