HMS Viper ( 1899 ) HMS " Viper " was a " Viper " - class torpedo boat destroyer ( or " TBD " ) built for the British Royal Navy in 1899 by Hawthorn Leslie and Company at Hebburn on the River Tyne . She was notable for being one of the first warships to use steam turbine propulsion , manufactured by Parsons Marine . There were four shafts , with two propellers on each , one inboard and one outboard of the shaft A - bracket . " Viper " and another turbine - powered ship , the Armstrong Whitworth special - type were both lost to accidents in 1901 : " Viper " foundered on rocks in fog during naval manoeuvres near Alderney on 3 August 1901 , while " Cobra " broke her back in a storm in the North Sea on 18 September 1901 . Since then the Royal Navy has not used snake names for destroyers . Construction and design . Following the success of the turbine - powered yacht " Turbinia " , the British Admiralty , whose previous attempts at acquiring destroyers faster then the standard " thirty - Knotters " , the reciprocating - engined " Albatross " , " Express " and " Arab " had been unsuccessful , placed an order on 4 March 1898 with Parsons Marine for a turbine - powered destroyer , HMS " Viper " . Parsons subcontracted the ship ' s hull to Hawthorn Leslie and Company of Tyneside , with " Viper " being laid down later that year . The turbines , supplied by Parsons , drove four shafts , with two propellers per shaft . The outer shafts were driven by high pressure turbines and the inner shafts by low pressure turbines , while the inner pair also was fitted with separate turbines for running astern . No cruising engines were fitted . Four Yarrow boilers fed the turbines , the uptakes from which were routed to three funnels . The ship had a contract speed of , although Parsons expected the ship to reach speeds of at least . " Viper " carried a gun armament of a single QF 12 pounder 12 cwt ( calibre ) gun on a platform on the ship ' s conning tower ( in practice the platform was also used as the ship ' s bridge ) and five 6 - pounder ( 57 mm ) guns , together with two 18 - inch ( 450 mm ) torpedo tubes , the standard armament for contemporary Royal Navy destroyers . " Viper " was launched on 6 September 1899 . On trials , she comfortably met the contract speed , reaching during her fuel consumption trial on 16 August 1900 , and over a measured mile during full speed trials on 31 August 1900 , making her the fastest destroyer in the world . Reports indicate that " Viper " may have reached even higher speeds during trials , variously reported as or even . While the ship ' s turbines allowed the ship to reach very high speeds in trials , with low levels of vibration , fuel consumption was very high , and the ship ' s turbines , which had been optimised for high speed , was inefficient at slower speeds . This made " Viper " of limited use to the Fleet , only being capable of patrolling off Alderney from her base at Portland for 24 hours before being forced to return to base due to lack of fuel . Loss of " Viper " . On 3 August 1901 " Viper " sailed from Portland to take part in a search as part of the annual fleet exercises . Arriving off Alderney ' s Casquet Rocks in mid - afternoon , she spent some time searching the area . Visibility was generally good , although there were patches of mist , and she was able to sight a vessel playing the ' enemy ' in the exercise . By early evening the mist had become fog and she slowed to 10 knots . At 17 : 23 hrs breakers were spotted on the starboard bow and she turned to port , but found rocks all around and soon grounded . The destroyer fought clear , but soon grounded again and lost her propellors , finally drifting broadside onto the rocks . By 18 : 45 , with the engine room flooded and " Viper " heeling over , she was abandoned . A local pilot ' s launch arrived to offer assistance and towed the boats ashore with the crew . Daylight on the following day showed her on Renonquet Rocks and beyond recovery . The damage increased until her back was broken and the bow section sheered around perpendicular to the keel . The subsequent enquiry found that the commanding officer , Lieutenant William Speke , had failed to exercise proper precautions while steaming in fog . In particular , he had not ensured that an accurate record of the courses steered was maintained . He was reprimanded . The navigating officer , Sub - Lieutenant Kenneth Mackenzie Grieve , was informed that he had " incurred their Lordships ' displeasure " , having inserted the missing data into the log following the wreck .