RCN Torpedo Boat: HMCS Tuna

RCN HMCS Tuna, Torpedo Boat

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Tuna, ca 1916.

HMCS Tuna was a commissioned torpedo boat of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) that served during the First World War.  Built by Yarrow Shipbuilders in the United Kingdom as the high-speed civilian yacht Tarantula, designed for W.K. Vanderbilt, Jr. Among the first turbine-powered private yachts, she was used for commuting in and around New York City. In 1914, Jack Ross, a Canadian industrialist and millionaire, purchased the Tarantula, arranged for her conversion for military use, and donated her to the RCN. The ship was commissioned as HMCS Tuna, with Ross in command.

HMCS Tuna was one of several converted yachts the RCN used during the war.   She was designated as a torpedo boat after the installation of two 14-inch (360 mm) torpedo tubes and a 3-pounder gun.  The ship was commissioned on 5 Dec 1914 as HMCS Tuna, and assigned to patrol duties based out of Halifax.  In July 1916, HMCS Tuna underwent an overhaul at Sorel, Quebec.  On 10 May 1917 HMCS Tuna was paid off due to an irreparable engine mount fracture.  She was sold for salvage in June 1918, and stripped.  Her hull remained in Halifax's Northwest Arm until the 1930s.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Tuna, 1914.

(Bigbird Photo)

HMCS Tuna being fitted out as a armed yacht at Quebec in 1915.