HMS Intrepid (1891)

Last updated

HMS Intrepid 1896 IWM Q 21388.jpg
HMS Intrepid in her original configuration, 1896 (IWM Q21388)
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Intrepid
Builder London and Glasgow Shipbuilding Company
Laid down6 September 1889
Launched20 June 1891
CommissionedNovember 1892
Honours and
awards
ZEEBRUGGE 1918
FateExpended as a block ship, 1918
Badge
Ship's badge of HMS Intrepid (IWM Q20181) Collections of the Imperial War Museum Q20181.jpg
Ship's badge of HMS Intrepid (IWM Q20181)
General characteristics
Class and type Apollo-class cruiser
Displacement3,600 tons
Length314 ft (95.7 m)
Beam43.5 ft (13.3 m)
Draught17.5 ft (5.3 m)
Propulsion
Speed19.75 knots (36.58 km/h)
Complement273 to 300 (Officers and Men)
Armament

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.

Contents

History

Ordered under the Naval Defence Act 1889, Intrepid was laid down in 1889 at the yard of the London and Glasgow Shipbuilding Company. Following completion in November 1892 Intrepid was held at Portsmouth. During 1896-99 she served on the North America & West Indian Station, then in 1899 returned to Portsmouth. After a refit, she returned to service in March 1900, when she was placed in the Fleet Reserve at Portsmouth. [1]

In 1902 she was commissioned at Portsmouth for service on the Mediterranean station. [2] She left that city on 14 October, [3] visiting Plymouth and Gibraltar en route before arriving at the station headquarters at Malta later the same month. [4] Between October 1902 and 1904 she served in the Mediterranean, visiting various ports and taking part in manoeuvres. In late 1902 she was at Port Said, where members of her crew provided the naval guard for the Duke and Duchess of Connaught as they visited the city in December, en route for India. [5]

From 1904 she saw harbour service at Portsmouth until 1909.

Aerial photograph showing the blockships sunk after the Zeebrugge Raid. HMS Intrepid is on the far left Aerial photograph after Zeebrugge Raid IWM Q 20648B.jpg
Aerial photograph showing the blockships sunk after the Zeebrugge Raid. HMS Intrepid is on the far left

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, carrying 100 mines and with armament reduced to four 4.7-inch guns. In 1910 she recommissioned at Chatham. On the outbreak of the First World War Intrepid was based at Dover, undertaking minelaying duties as part of the Dover Patrol.

In 1915-16 she became a Depot ship, North Russia. In 1917 she was in use as a depot ship in the White Sea as part of the British North Russia Squadron. [6]

Along with HMS Iphigenia and HMS Thetis she was selected to be used as a blockship during the Zeebrugge Raid. She was prepared for the raid by being filled with cement. She was sunk at the entrance to the Bruges Canal to try and prevent it being used by German U-Boats. [7] She was subsequently broken up when the canal was cleared.

Wrecks of HMS Iphigenia and Intrepid blocking the mouth of the Bruges Ship Canal at Zeebrugge, 24 October 1918. The Capture of Zeebrugge, October 1918 Q7148.jpg
Wrecks of HMS Iphigenia and Intrepid blocking the mouth of the Bruges Ship Canal at Zeebrugge, 24 October 1918.

Related Research Articles

Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Intrepid:

HMS <i>Thetis</i> (1890) Apollo-class cruiser

HMS Thetis was an Apollo-class 2nd 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blockship</span>

A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used. 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.

HMS <i>Juno</i> (1895) Eclipse-class cruiser

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zeebrugge Raid</span> 1918 Royal Navy blockade of the Belgian port of Zeebrugge during WWI

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.

HMS <i>Andromache</i> (1890) Apollo-class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Andromache was an Apollo-class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy. William Henry White designed her, and she was built at Chatham Dockyard and launched on 14 August 1890. The total cost of construction was £186,234.

HMS <i>Amphitrite</i> (1898) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Amphitrite was a ship of the Diadem-class of protected cruisers in the Royal Navy, which served in the First World War.

HMS <i>Ariadne</i> (1898) Ship, 1898

HMS Ariadne was a Diadem-class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy, which was launched in 1898, In March 1913, she was converted to a stokers' training ship and in 1917 was converted to a minelayer and assigned to the Nore Command. She was torpedoed and sunk off Beachy Head by the German submarine UC-65 on 26 July 1917.

HMS <i>Vindictive</i> (1897) Arrogant-class cruiser

HMS Vindictive was a British Arrogant-class cruiser built at Chatham Dockyard. She was launched on 9 December 1897 and completed in 1899. The vessel participated in the Zeebrugge Raid.

HMS <i>Brilliant</i> (1891) Apollo-class cruiser of the British Royal Navy

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 <i>Sirius</i> (1890) Apollo-class cruiser

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 <i>Sappho</i> (1891) Apollo-class cruiser

HMS Sappho was an Apollo-class cruiser of the British Royal Navy which served from 1892 to 1918 in various colonial posts.

HMS Myrmidon was one of two Myrmidon-class destroyers which served with the Royal Navy.

Four ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Iphigenia, after Iphigenia, a figure in Greek mythology:

<i>Arrogant</i>-class cruiser Ship class

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 <i>Latona</i> (1890) Apollo-class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Latona was an Apollo-class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy which served from 1890 to 1920.

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 <i>Iphigenia</i> (1891) Apollo-class cruiser

HMS Iphigenia 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 <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.

HMS <i>Landrail</i> (1914) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Landrail was a Laforey-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. The Laforey class was the class of destroyers ordered under the Royal Navy's 1912–1913 construction programme, which were armed with three 4-inch (102 mm) guns and four torpedo tubes and were capable of 29 knots. The ship, which was originally to be named Hotspur but was renamed before launch, was built by the Scottish shipbuilder Yarrow between 1912 and 1914,

References

  1. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36093. London. 19 March 1900. p. 9.
  2. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36889. London. 3 October 1902. p. 8.
  3. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36898. London. 14 October 1902. p. 7.
  4. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36908. London. 25 October 1902. p. 12.
  5. "Latest intelligence - The Duke of Connaught in Egypt". The Times. No. 36945. London. 8 December 1902. p. 5.
  6. Ship's Log, The National Archives (TNA), 7 August 1916, ADM 53/44866
  7. Monograph No. 18: The Dover Command: Vol I (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. VI. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1922.

Publications