Iphigenia, 1910s | |
History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Iphigenia |
Builder | London and Glasgow Shipbuilding Company |
Laid down | 17 March 1890 |
Launched | 19 November 1891 |
Commissioned | May 1893 |
Fate | Expended as a block ship, 1918 |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Apollo-class cruiser |
Displacement | 3,600 tons |
Length | 314 ft (95.7 m) |
Beam | 43.5 ft (13.3 m) |
Draught | 17.5 ft (5.3 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 19.75 knots (36.58 km/h) |
Complement | 273 to 300 (Officers and Men) |
Armament |
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HMS Iphigenia was an Apollo-class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy built on the River Clyde and launched in 1891, spending her early years on the China Station. When she became obsolete as a cruiser, she was converted as a minelayer in 1907. Her service ended when she was sunk as a blockship during the Zeebrugge Raid on 23 April 1918.
Ordered under the Naval Defence Act 1889, Iphigenia was laid down in 1891 at the yard of the London and Glasgow Shipbuilding Company. She returned from duty on the China Station in 1906.
Along with a number of other ships of her class, as she became obsolete as a cruiser she was converted at Chatham Dockyard into a minelayer. This work was completed by August 1907. She was then based at Dover and Sheerness. In 1917 she was in use as a depot ship in the White Sea as part of the British North Russia Squadron. [1]
Along with HMS Intrepid and HMS Thetis she was selected to be used as a blockship during the Zeebrugge Raid. She was sunk at the entrance to the Bruges Canal to try to prevent its use by German U-boats. [2] She was subsequently broken up when the canal was cleared.
Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Intrepid:
HMS Thetis was an Apollo-class second-class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 December 1890. Her first significant mission was service in the Bering Sea Patrol with American warships in a combined effort to suppress poaching in the Bering Sea.
A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used as a waterway. It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of HMS Hood at Portland Harbour in 1914; or it may be brought by enemy raiders and used to prevent the waterway from being used by the defending forces, as in the case of the three old cruisers HMS Thetis, Iphigenia and Intrepid scuttled during the Zeebrugge raid in 1918 to prevent the port from being used by the German navy.
The Zeebrugge Raid on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The British intended to sink obsolete ships in the canal entrance, to prevent German vessels from leaving port. The port was used by the Imperial German Navy as a base for U-boats and light shipping, which were a threat to Allied control of the English Channel and southern North Sea. Several attempts to close the Flanders ports by bombardment failed and Operation Hush, a 1917 plan to advance up the coast, proved abortive. As ship losses to U-boats increased, finding a way to close the ports became urgent and the Admiralty became more willing to consider a raid.
The Apollo class were second-class protected cruisers designed by Sir William White and built for the Royal Navy in the late 19th century. Twenty-one ships of this class were built, making it the largest single class of steel cruisers ever built for the Royal Navy to the same design.
HMS Afridi was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched in 1907 and sold for scrap in 1919. During the First World War she served in the North Sea and the English Channel with the 6th Destroyer Flotilla and as part of the Dover Patrol.
The First Ostend Raid was the first of two attacks by the Royal Navy on the German-held port of Ostend during the late spring of 1918 during the First World War. Ostend was attacked in conjunction with the neighbouring harbour of Zeebrugge on 23 April in order to block the vital strategic port of Bruges, situated 6 mi inland and ideally sited to conduct raiding operations on the British coastline and shipping lanes. Bruges and its satellite ports were a vital part of the German plans in their war on Allied commerce (Handelskrieg) because Bruges was close to the troopship lanes across the English Channel and allowed much quicker access to the Western Approaches for the U-boat fleet than their bases in Germany.
HMS Faulknor was a British destroyer of the First World War. She was purchased by the Royal Navy whilst still under construction in Britain for the Chilean Navy who had ordered her in 1912 as part of the Almirante Lynch class. She was renamed after the Faulknor family of British nineteenth century naval officers.
HMS Brilliant was an Apollo-class cruiser of the British Royal Navy which served from 1893 to 1918 in various colonial posts and off the British Isles as a hastily converted minelayer during the First World War.
HMS Sirius was an Apollo-class cruiser of the British Royal Navy which served from 1892 to 1918 in various colonial posts such as the South and West African coastlines and off the British Isles as a hastily converted minelayer during the First World War.
HMS Sappho was an Apollo-class cruiser of the British Royal Navy which served from 1892 to 1918 in various colonial posts as well as around Britain.
Four ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Iphigenia, after Iphigenia, a figure in Greek mythology:
The Arrogant-class cruiser was a class of four protected cruisers built for the British Royal Navy at the end of the 1890s. One ship, HMS Gladiator, was lost following a collision with a merchant ship in 1908, while HMS Vindictive saw active service in the First World War, taking part in the Zeebrugge Raid in April 1918 before being sunk as a blockship during the Second Ostend Raid in May 1918.
HMS Murray was a Royal Navy Admiralty M-class destroyer. Ordered before the outbreak of war, she was therefore the first of her class to enter operation during the early months of the First World War. She was also the first vessel of the Royal Navy to carry the name HMS Murray.
HMS Nimrod was a Marksman-class flotilla leader of the British Royal Navy. She was built by the Scottish shipbuilder Denny, with construction starting in 1914 and completed in August 1915. She served through the remainder of the First World War. She was sold for scrap in 1921.
HMS Intrepid was an Apollo-class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy built on the River Clyde and launched in 1891. She was subsequently converted as a minelayer in the latter half of her career and ultimately sunk as a blockship during the Zeebrugge Raid on 23 April 1918.
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.
HMS Manly was a Yarrow M-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. Built by the Scottish shipbuilder Yarrow between 1913 and 1914, Manly served during the First World War. She formed part of the Harwich Force in the early years of the war, and then later in the English Channel as part of the Dover Patrol taking part in the Zeebrugge Raid in 1918. She survived the war, and was sold for scrap in 1920.
HMS Matchless was a Royal Navy Admiralty M-class destroyer. Matchless was built by Swan Hunter from 1913 to 1914 and was completed in December that year. She served through the remainder of the First World War, operating in the North Sea as part of the Harwich Force in the early part of the war and later in the English Channel as part of the Dover Patrol, where she took part in both the First and Second Ostend Raids. Despite being badly damaged by a German mine in 1915 and being involved in several collisions, she survived the war, and was sold for scrap in 1921.
HMS Moorsom was an Admiralty M-class destroyer which served in the Royal Navy during the First World War. The M class was an improvement on the preceding L class, capable of higher speed. Moorsom, the first ship to enter navy service to be named after Admiral Sir Robert Moorsom, was launched in December 1914, initially serving as part of the Grand Fleet before being transferred to the Harwich Force the following year. Briefly rejoining the Grand Fleet, the destroyer saw service in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 supporting the British battlecruisers and received hits from a battleship of the German High Seas Fleet. Moorsom also undertook other duties, including escorting the troop ship Mauretania in June 1915 and the minelayer Princess Margaret in August 1915 and November 1916. Placed within the Dover Patrol, the destroyer formed part of the cover for monitors including Erebus and Terror on attacks on Ostend and Zeebrugge in May and June 1917, and April and May 1918. After the Armistice, the destroyer was placed in reserve and subsequently sold to be broken up in November 1921.