HMS Zubian: The Conjoined Ship

It is not unusual for navies to cannibalize ships decommissioned or rendered unserviceable by accidents for parts, but rarely an entire new ship was created by welding together the ends of two ships.

In 1909, the Royal Navy launched two Tribal-class destroyers named HMS Zulu and HMS Nubian. The Tribal-class destroyers were powered by steam turbines and used oil-fuel rather than coal in their boilers. These ships had high fuel consumption, which shortened their ranges severely limiting their radius of action. Because they could not go out into the open ocean, Tribal-class destroyers were used primarily for home defense, hunting submarines, and protecting England from any seaborne threats.

HMS Zubian.