HMS Ferret (1893)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Ferret.

HMS Ferret
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Ferret
Builder	Laird, Son & Co., Birkenhead
Laid down	July 1893
Launched	9 December 1893
Completed	March 1895
Fate	Sunk as target, 1911
General characteristics
Class and type	Ferret-class destroyer
Displacement	280 long tons (284 t)
Length	199 ft (60.7 m)
Beam	19.25 ft (5.9 m)
Draught	9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion	Vertical triple-expansion steam engines Coal-fired Normand boilers 4,475 hp (3,337 kW)
Speed	27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Complement	42 (later 53)
Armament	1 × QF 12-pounder gun 2 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes

HMS Ferret was a Ferret-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy from 1893 and was sunk in 1911.

Construction

Ferret was armed with one 12-pounder and three 6-pounder guns, and three torpedo tubes (two on deck mounts and one fixed bow tube). The bow tube was soon removed, and provision was made for removing the deck tubes and substituting two extra 6-pounder guns. She carried a complement of 42 (later raised to 53). Later in her career she was fitted out for boom breaking as an experiment. Her forebridge, gun and bow tube were removed and the turtle backed forecastle was strengthened for this purpose.

Service history

Ferret was launched on 9 December 1893 and completed in 1895.

She served in the Devonport instructional flotilla, when in early February 1900 she was transferred to become tender to HMS Cambridge, gunnery ship off Plymouth. ^[1]

She underwent repairs to re-tube her boilers during Spring 1902, ^[2] following which she was in July that year transferred to succeed HMS Lynx as tender to HMS Defiance, torpedo school ship at Devonport. ^[3]

She took part in the Coronation Review for King Edward VII on 16 August 1902, with Lieutenant Arthur William Tomlinson temporarily in command from 8 August. ^[4]

She was sunk as a target in 1911.

References

1. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36054. London. 1 February 1900. p. 6.
2. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36767. London. 14 May 1902. p. 12.
3. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36822. London. 17 July 1902. p. 9.
4. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36831. London. 28 July 1902. p. 7.

Bibliography

• Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN   0-85177-133-5.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN   978-1-86176-281-8.
• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN   978-1-84832-049-9.
• Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN   0-85177-245-5.
• Lyon, David (2001) [1996]. The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN   1-84067-364-8.
• Manning, T. D. (1961). The British Destroyer. Putnam & Co. OCLC   6470051.
• March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC   164893555.