The torpedo-boat Ardent (length 200 feet, beam 19 feet; draught 14 feet) was fitted with two 2,500 indicated horsepower 19-inch by 27-inch by 27-inch (2) inverted-vertical triple-expansion marine engines operating at 407 revolutions per minute with steam supplied at 210 pounds per square inch by Thornycroft water-tube boilers. Built by J I Thornycroft and Company, Chiswick for the British Government. During her preliminary trials the Ardent achieved a mean speed of 29.182 knots over two runs, one with the tide and the other against the tide.