HMS Skate (1895)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Skate.
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Skate
Builder: Vickers
Launched: 13 March 1895
Out of service: Sold on 9 April 1907
Fate: Scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type: Sturgeon-class destroyer
Displacement: 340 tons
Length: 194 feet 6 inches (59.28 m)
Beam: 19 feet (5.79 m)
Draught: 7 feet 7 inches (2.31 m)
Propulsion:
  • Blechynden boilers
  • 4,000 hp (2,983 kW)
Speed: 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range:
  • 1,370 nautical miles (2,540 km; 1,580 mi)
  • at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement: 53
Armament:

HMS Skate was a Sturgeon-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. Built by Vickers, she was launched on 13 March 1895 and sold on 9 April 1907.

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 light and 340 long tons 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 history

After her commission she served at the Mediterranean station, and was ordered to return home in early 1902.[11] She left Gibraltar on 9 May,[12] convoyed by the cruiser Astraea, and arrived in Plymouth on 14 May.[13] She paid off at Devonport on 20 May, and was placed in the A Division of the Fleet Reserve.[14]

In 1906 Skate was used as a target in firing trials of the effectiveness of various guns against destroyers. 3-pounder (47 mm) guns proved ineffective, having difficulty penetrating the ship's plating in end-on engagements, and while 12-pounder (3-in (76 mm)) guns caused more damage, it was concluded that a single hit could not be guaranteed to disable a destroyer. 4-inch (102 mm guns proved much more effective, particularly when Lyddite-filled shells were used, and this led to a change in destroyer armament to 4-inch guns.[15][16] Sold in 1907 to Cox & Co. of Falmouth for £305,[17] she was the first destroyer of this type to go to the breakers.

References

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 (36696). London. 20 February 1902. p. 10.
  12. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36764). London. 10 May 1902. p. 8.
  13. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36769). London. 16 May 1902. p. 11.
  14. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36771). London. 19 May 1902. p. 8.
  15. ↑ Brown 2003, pp. 178, 187.
  16. ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 108.
  17. ↑ Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers May 1907, p. 562.
References
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