HMS Sturgeon (1894)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Sturgeon.
A watercolour of Sturgeon c. 1901
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Sturgeon
Builder: Vickers
Launched: 1894
Fate: Sold, 1910
General characteristics
Class and type: Sturgeon-class destroyer
Propulsion: Blechynden boilers, 4,000 hp (2,983 kW)
Speed: 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Complement: 53
Armament:

HMS Sturgeon was the lead ship of the Sturgeon-class destroyers which served with the Royal Navy. Built by Vickers, she was launched in 1894 and sold in 1910.

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 (300 t) light and 340 long tons (350 t) 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

Sturgeon served in home waters. In 1899-1900 she served in the Medway Instructional Flotilla,[11] but left this for other service in late 1900. The following year she again took up with the Medway instructional flotilla, replacing Mallard.[12] She had a refit in early 1902.[13] In May 1902 she received the officers and men from the destroyer Stag, and was again commissioned at Chatham on 8 May by Lieutenant John Maxwell D. E. Warren for service with the Flotilla.[14][15]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Lyon 2001, p. 69.
  2. ↑ Lyon 2001, p. 19.
  3. ↑ Lyon 2001, p. 20.
  4. ↑ Lyon 2001, pp. 98–99.
  5. ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 40.
  6. ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 50.
  7. ↑ Manning 1961, p. 38.
  8. ↑ The Engineer 11 October 1895, p. 365.
  9. ↑ Brassey 1902, p. 274.
  10. 1 2 Friedman 2009, p. 291.
  11. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36052). London. 30 January 1900. p. 11.
  12. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36581). London. 9 October 1901. p. 8.
  13. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36773). London. 21 May 1902. p. 10.
  14. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36761). London. 7 May 1902. p. 10.
  15. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36768). London. 15 May 1902. p. 7.

References


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