HMS Skate (1895)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name: | HMS Skate |
| Builder: | Vickers |
| Launched: | 13 March 1895 |
| Out of service: | Sold on 9 April 1907 |
| Fate: | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Sturgeon-class destroyer |
| Displacement: | 340 tons |
| Length: | 194 feet 6 inches (59.28 m) |
| Beam: | 19 feet (5.79 m) |
| Draught: | 7 feet 7 inches (2.31 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) |
| Range: |
|
| Complement: | 53 |
| Armament: |
|
HMS Skate was a Sturgeon-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. Built by Vickers, she was launched on 13 March 1895 and sold on 9 April 1907.
Construction and design
On 8 November 1893, the British Admiralty placed an order with the Naval Construction and Armament Company of Barrow-in-Furness (later to become part of Vickers) for three "Twenty-Seven Knotter" destroyers as part of the 1893–1894 construction programme for the Royal Navy,[1] with in total, 36 destroyers being ordered from various shipbuilders for this programme.[2]
The Admiralty only laid down a series of broad requirements for the destroyers, leaving detailed design to the ships' builders. The requirements included a trial speed of 27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h), a "turtleback" forecastle and a standard armament of a QF 12 pounder 12 cwt (3 in (76 mm) calibre) gun on a platform on the ship's conning tower (in practice the platform was also used as the ship's bridge), with a secondary armament of five 6-pounder guns, and two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.[3][4][5]
The Naval Construction and Armament Company produced a design with a length of 194 feet 6 inches (59.28 m) overall and 190 feet (57.91 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 19 feet (5.79 m) and a draught of 7 feet 7 inches (2.31 m). Displacement was 300 long tons light and 340 long tons deep load.[1] Three funnels were fitted, with the foremast between the ship's bridge and the first funnel.[6][7] Four Blechyndnen water-tube boilers fed steam at 200 pounds per square inch (1,400 kPa) to two three-cylinder triple expansion steam engines rated at 4,000 indicated horsepower (3,000 kW).[1][8] 60 tons of coal were carried,[9] giving a range of 1,370 nautical miles (2,540 km; 1,580 mi) at a speed of 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph).[10] The ship's crew was 53 officers and men.[10]
Service history
After her commission she served at the Mediterranean station, and was ordered to return home in early 1902.[11] She left Gibraltar on 9 May,[12] convoyed by the cruiser Astraea, and arrived in Plymouth on 14 May.[13] She paid off at Devonport on 20 May, and was placed in the A Division of the Fleet Reserve.[14]
In 1906 Skate was used as a target in firing trials of the effectiveness of various guns against destroyers. 3-pounder (47 mm) guns proved ineffective, having difficulty penetrating the ship's plating in end-on engagements, and while 12-pounder (3-in (76 mm)) guns caused more damage, it was concluded that a single hit could not be guaranteed to disable a destroyer. 4-inch (102 mm guns proved much more effective, particularly when Lyddite-filled shells were used, and this led to a change in destroyer armament to 4-inch guns.[15][16] Sold in 1907 to Cox & Co. of Falmouth for £305,[17] she was the first destroyer of this type to go to the breakers.
References
- Notes
- 1 2 3 Lyon 2001, p. 69
- ↑ Lyon 2001, p. 19
- ↑ Lyon 2001, p. 20
- ↑ Lyon 2001, pp. 98–99
- ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 40
- ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 50
- ↑ Manning 1961, p. 38
- ↑ The Engineer 11 October 1895, p. 365
- ↑ Brassey 1902, p. 274
- 1 2 Friedman 2009, p. 291
- ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36696). London. 20 February 1902. p. 10.
- ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36764). London. 10 May 1902. p. 8.
- ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36769). London. 16 May 1902. p. 11.
- ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36771). London. 19 May 1902. p. 8.
- ↑ Brown 2003, pp. 178, 187.
- ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 108.
- ↑ Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers May 1907, p. 562.
- References
- Brassey, T.A. (1902). The Naval Annual 1902. Portsmouth, UK: J. Griffin and Co.
- Brown, D. K. (2003). Warrior to Dreadnought: Warship Development 1860–1905. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-5292.
- Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
- Layman, R. D. (1994). "Naval Kite Trials". In Roberts, John. Warship 1994. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 35–51. ISBN 0-85177-630-2.
- Lyon, David (2001). The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-3648.
- Manning, Captain T.D. (1961). The British Destroyer. Putnam and Co.
- Manning, Captain T.D. The British Destroyer. Godfrey Cave Associates. ISBN 0-906223-13-X.
- "Speed Trials of the Torpedo Boat Destroyer Starfish" (PDF). The Engineer. 80: 365. 11 October 1895.
- "Ships: England: Sale of Obsolete War Vessels". Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers. XIX (2): 562. May 1907.