HMS Dryad (1893)

Last updated

HMS Dryad (1893).jpg
HMS Dryad underway in wartime grey paint
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Dryad
Builder Chatham Dockyard
Laid down15 April 1893 [1]
Launched22 November 1893
Commissioned21 July 1894 [1]
RenamedHMS Hamadryad in 1918
FateBroken up in 1920
General characteristics [1]
Class and type Dryad-classtorpedo gunboat
Displacement1070 tons
Length262 ft 6 in (80.0 m)
Beam30 ft 6 in (9.3 m)
Draught13 ft (4.0 m)
Installed power3,500  ihp (2,600 kW)
Propulsion
  • 2 × 3-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines
  • Locomotive boilers
  • Twin screws
Speed18.2 kn (33.7 km/h)
Complement120
Armament

HMS Dryad was the name ship of the Dryad-classtorpedo gunboats. She was launched at Chatham Dockyard on 22 November 1893, [2] the first of the class to be completed. She served as a minesweeper during World War I and was broken up in 1920.

Contents

Design

Ordered under the Naval Defence Act of 1889, which established the "Two-Power Standard", the class was contemporary with the first torpedo boat destroyers. With a length overall of 262 ft 6 in (80.01 m), [1] a beam of 30 ft 6 in (9.30 m) [1] and a displacement of 1,070 tons, [1] these torpedo gunboats were not small ships by the standard of the time; they were larger than the majority of World War I destroyers. Dryad was engined by Maudslay, Sons & Field with two sets of vertical triple-expansion steam engines, two locomotive-type boilers, and twin screws. This layout produced 3,500 indicated horsepower (2,600 kW), [1] giving her a speed of 18.2 knots (33.7 km/h). [1] She carried between 100 and 160 tons of coal and was manned by 120 sailors and officers. [1]

Armament

The armament when built comprised two QF 4.7-inch (12 cm) guns, four 6-pounder guns and a single 5-barrelled Nordenfelt machine gun. Her primary weapon was five 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo tubes, [Note 1] with two reloads. [1] On conversion to a minesweeper in 1914 two of the five torpedoes were removed. [1]

Service history

Mediterranean service

Dryad deployed to Crete in February 1897 to operate as part of the International Squadron, a multinational force made up of ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, French Navy, Imperial German Navy, Italian Royal Navy ( Regia Marina ), Imperial Russian Navy, and Royal Navy that intervened in the 1897-1898 Greek uprising on Crete against rule by the Ottoman Empire. On 21 February 1897, she joined the British battleship HMS Revenge and torpedo gunboat HMS Harrier, the Russian battleship Imperator Aleksandr II , the Austro-Hungarian armored cruiser SMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia, and the German protected cruiser SMS Kaiserin Augusta in the International Squadron′s first direct offensive action, a brief bombardment of Cretan insurgent positions on the heights east of Canea (now Chania) after the insurgents refused the squadron′s order to take down a Greek flag they had raised. [3] [4]

In December 1899, Dryad was commissioned for more service on the Mediterranean Station. On 14 January 1900 Dryad left Chatham for the Mediterranean in order to relieve Hussar, which returned to Devonport to pay off. [5] She was stationed at Souda Bay until March 1900, when she returned to the station garrison at Malta. [6] Later the same month she was posted to Alexandria as a port ship. [7] On June 1902 she was lent to the East Indies Squadron for special service in the Gulf of Aden, [8] returning to Malta in late September. [9]

Tender to the Navigation School

In 1906 she was chosen as the tender to the Navigation School, conducting navigation training of officers at sea. In due course her name came to be used for the Navigation School itself, and then for HMS Dryad, the shore establishment at Southwick House in Hampshire.

On 20 June 1907, Dryad rescued the crew of HM Torpedo Boat 99 after the torpedo boat sank without loss of life during afternoon steam trials in the English Channel off Torquay, England, when her propeller shaft broke and punctured her hull. [10]

Wartime service as a minesweeper

By 1914 Dryad had been converted to a minesweeper and was operating in the North Sea from the port of Lowestoft.

HMS Dryad Floated at Chatham, 25 November 1893, by Miss Cecil Heneage, Daughter of Sir Algernon C F Heneage, KCB HMS Dryad Floated at Chatham 25th November 1893. By Miss Cecil Heneage Daughter of Sir Algernon C F Heneage, KCB, Commander in Chief, Rear Admiral G Digby Morant, Admiral Superintendent, J A Yates Esqre, Chief RMG PU0302 (cropped).jpg
HMS Dryad Floated at Chatham, 25 November 1893, by Miss Cecil Heneage, Daughter of Sir Algernon C F Heneage, KCB

Four gunners from Dryad were assigned to the Q-ship Inverlyon. [11] which on 15 August 1915 sank the German submarine UB-4 with gunfire. [11]

Disposal

She was renamed Hamadryad in 1918 and was sold to H Auten & Co on 24 September 1920 for breaking. [1]

Notes

  1. ↑ British "18 inch" torpedoes were 17.72 inches (45.0 cm) in diameter

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Illustrious</i> (1896) Pre-dreadnought battleship of the British Royal Navy

The third HMS Illustrious of the British Royal Navy was a Majestic-class pre-dreadnought battleship. The ship was built at the Chatham Dockyard; her keel was laid down in March 1895, her completed hull was launched in September 1896, and she was commissioned into the fleet in April 1898. She was armed with a main battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and a secondary battery of twelve 6-inch (152 mm) guns. The ship had a top speed of 16 knots.

HMS <i>Hood</i> (1891) Royal Sovereign-class battleship of the Royal Navy scuttled in Portland Harbour

HMS Hood was a modified Royal Sovereign-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Royal Navy in the early 1890s. She differed from the other ships of the class in that she had cylindrical gun turrets instead of barbettes and a lower freeboard. She served most of her active career in the Mediterranean Sea, where her low freeboard was less of a disadvantage. The ship was placed in reserve in 1907 and later became the receiving ship at Queenstown, Ireland. Hood was used in the development of anti-torpedo bulges in 1913 and was scuttled in late 1914 to act as a blockship across the southern entrance of Portland Harbour after the start of World War I.

HMS <i>Hussar</i> (1894) Gunboat of the Royal Navy

HMS Hussar was a Dryad-class torpedo gunboat of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1894 and served in the Mediterranean between 1896 and 1905 before being used for fishery protection. During the Dardanelles campaign of 1915 her commanding officer and two of her ship's company won the Victoria Cross. She was broken up in 1921.

HMS <i>Camperdown</i> (1885) Admiral-class battleship of the Royal Navy

HMS Camperdown was an Admiral-class battleship of the Royal Navy, named after Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan of Camperdown.

HMS <i>Hawke</i> (1891) Edgar-class protected cruiser of the British Royal Navy, in service from 1891 to 1914

HMS Hawke, launched in 1891, was the seventh British warship to be named Hawke. She was an Edgar-class protected cruiser.

HMS <i>Halcyon</i> (1894) Gunboat of the Royal Navy

The third HMS Halcyon was a Dryad-class torpedo gunboat of the Royal Navy. Once described as "perhaps the smallest and least formidable vessel that ever crept into the 'Navy List,' ", she was launched in 1894 and was put up for sale before World War I. She was recommissioned in 1913, was converted to a minesweeper and served under the orders of the Admiral Commanding Coast Guard and Reserves. She was sold for breaking in 1919.

HMS <i>Rodney</i> (1884) Admiral class battleship

HMS Rodney was a battleship of the Victorian Royal Navy, a member of the Admiral class of warships designed by Nathaniel Barnaby. The ship was the last British battleship to carry a figurehead although smaller ships continued to carry them.

HMS <i>Revenge</i> (1892) Royal Sovereign-class battleship

HMS Revenge was one of seven Royal Sovereign-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1890s. She spent much of her early career as a flagship for the Flying Squadron and in the Mediterranean, Home and Channel Fleets. Revenge was assigned to the International Squadron blockading Crete during the 1897–1898 revolt there against the Ottoman Empire. She was placed in reserve upon her return home in 1900, and was then briefly assigned as a coast guard ship before she joined the Home Fleet in 1902. The ship became a gunnery training ship in 1906 until she was paid off in 1913.

HMS <i>Empress of India</i> 1893 Royal Sovereign-class battleship

HMS Empress of India was one of seven Royal Sovereign-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1890s. The ship was commissioned in 1893 and served as the flagship of the second-in-command of the Channel Fleet for two years. She was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1897, during which time Empress of India was assigned to the International Squadron blockading Crete during the uprising there. She returned home in 1901 and was briefly assigned as a coast guard ship in Ireland before she became the second flagship of the Home Fleet. The ship was reduced to reserve in 1905 and accidentally collided with the submarine HMS A10 the following year. Empress of India was taken out of service in early 1912 and accidentally struck a German sailing ship while under tow. She was sunk as a target ship in 1913.

HMS <i>Barfleur</i> (1892) British pre-dreadnought battleship

HMS Barfleur was the second and last of the Centurion-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. Intended for service abroad, they exchanged heavy armour and a powerful armament for high speed and long range to counter the foreign armoured cruisers then being built as commerce raiders and were rated as second-class battleships.

SMS <i>Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia</i> Armored cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy

SMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia was an armored cruiser used by the imperial Austro-Hungarian Navy from 1895 to 1917; she was the first ship of that type built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The ship was a unique design, built by the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste; she was laid down in July 1891, launched in April 1893, and completed in November 1894. Armed with a main battery of two 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns and eight 15 cm (5.9 in) guns, the ship provided the basis for two subsequent armored cruiser designs for the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

HMS <i>Harrier</i> (1894) Gunboat of the Royal Navy

The sixth HMS Harrier was a Dryad-class torpedo gunboat. She was launched at Devonport Dockyard on 20 February 1894, and saw service in the Mediterranean and in fishery protection. She served as a minesweeper during World War I and was sold for commercial use in 1920.

HMS <i>Hazard</i> (1894) Gunboat of the Royal Navy

The sixth HMS Hazard was a Dryad-class torpedo gunboat. She was launched in 1894 and was converted into the world's first submarine depot ship in 1901. She collided with the submarine A3 on 2 February 1912, killing 14 men, and was herself sunk in collision with SS Western Australia on 28 January 1918.

Russian cruiser <i>Gerzog Edinburgski</i>

Gerzog Edinburgski was an armoured cruiser of the General-Admiral class built for the Imperial Russian Navy. She was the sister ship of General-Admiral and was named after Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Edinburgh who married Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia.

HMS <i>Rattlesnake</i> (1886)

HMS Rattlesnake was a unique design of torpedo gunboat of the Royal Navy. A result of the Russian war scare of 1885, she was designed by Nathaniel Barnaby that year and built by Laird Brothers, of Birkenhead. Quickly made obsolete by the new torpedo boat destroyers, she became an experimental submarine target ship in 1906, and was sold in 1910.

Russian battleship <i>Imperator Aleksandr II</i> Russian battleship in the 1880s

Imperator Aleksandr II was a battleship built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the 1880s. She was an artillery training ship assigned to the Baltic Fleet by the time of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 and was not sent to the Pacific as was most of the rest of the Baltic Fleet. She was inactive at Kronstadt during World War I, but her crew was active in the revolutionary movement. She was turned over to the Kronstadt port authority on 21 April 1921 before she was sold for scrap on 22 August 1922. She was towed to Germany during the autumn of 1922, but was not stricken from the Navy List until 21 November 1925.

Italian ironclad <i>Francesco Morosini</i> Ironclad warship of the Italian Royal Navy

Francesco Morosini was an ironclad battleship built in the 1880s and 1890s for the Italian Regia Marina. The ship, named for Francesco Morosini, the 17th-century Doge of Venice, was the second of three ships in the Ruggiero di Lauria class, along with Ruggiero di Lauria and Andrea Doria. She was armed with a main battery of four 17-inch (432 mm) guns, was protected with 17.75-inch (451 mm) thick belt armor, and was capable of a top speed of 17 knots.

International Squadron (Cretan intervention, 1897–1898) Military unit

The International Squadron was a naval squadron formed by a number of Great Powers in early 1897, just before the outbreak of the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, to intervene in a native Greek rebellion on Crete against rule by the Ottoman Empire. Warships from Austria-Hungary, France, the German Empire, Italy, the Russian Empire, and the United Kingdom made up the squadron, which operated in Cretan waters from February 1897 to December 1898.

HMS <i>Isis</i> (1896) Eclipse-class cruiser

HMS Isis was an Eclipse-class protected cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1890s.

HMS <i>Speedy</i> (1893) Gunboat of the Royal Navy

HMS Speedy was a Alarm-class torpedo gunboat of the British Royal Navy. She was built by Thornycroft from 1892–1894. She was converted to a minesweeper in 1908–1909 and continued these duties during the First World War. Speedy was sunk by a German mine on 3 September 1914.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Winfield (2004), p.307.
  2. ↑ "Battleships-cruisers.co.uk" . Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  3. ↑ McTiernan, p. 17.
  4. ↑ "McTiernan, Mick, "Spyros Kayales – A different sort of flagpole," mickmctiernan.com, 20 November 2012". Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  5. ↑ "Index of 19th Century Naval Vessels" . Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  6. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36078. London. 1 March 1900. p. 6.
  7. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36095. London. 21 March 1900. p. 11.
  8. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36785. London. 4 June 1902. p. 9.
  9. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36885. London. 29 September 1902. p. 8.
  10. ↑ Anonymous, "Torpedo Boat Sunk," Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11045, 10 August 1907.
  11. 1 2 Perkins, Hugh (September 2008). "The gunner and the U-boat". Sea Classics. Canoga Park, California: Challenge Publications. OCLC   60621086 . Retrieved 5 March 2009.[ permanent dead link ]

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.