| HMS Amphitrite (1898) | |
|---|---|
 HMS Amphitrite in dazzle camouflage, in 1918 after conversion to minelayer. | |
| Career |  |
| Name: | HMS Amphitrite |
| Builder: | Vickers Limited, Barrow in Furness |
| Launched: | 5 January 1898 |
| Reclassified: | Minelayer in 1917 |
| Fate: | Sold 12 April 1920 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 11,000 tons |
| Length: | 435 ft (133 m) (462 ft 6 in (140.97 m) o/a) |
| Beam: | 69 ft (21 m) |
| Draught: | 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) |
| Propulsion: |
2 shaft triple expansion engines 16.500 - 18,000 hp |
| Speed: | 20 - 20.5 knots |
| Complement: | 760 |
| Armament: |
16 x single QF 6-inch (152.4 mm) guns |
| Armour: |
6 inch casemates 4.5-2 inch decks |
HMS Amphitrite was a ship of the Diadem-class of protected cruisers in the Royal Navy, which served in the First World War.
Construction[]
She was built at Vickers Limited, Barrow in Furness and launched on 5 July 1898.
Pre-war service history[]
Amphitrite was commissioned at Chatham 17 September 1901 by Captain W. Stoke-Rees to take out reliefs to the Mediterranean Station.[1] She left Sheerness 28 September 1901 for Malta with a new crew for the battleship Illustrious, which had undergone a refit.[2] Bringing back invalids from the garrisons at Malta and Gibraltar, she arrived in Plymouth to land them 20 October 1901, then proceeded to Portsmouth.[3]
First World War[]
She served in the First World War with her sisters. In 1914 she was part of the Ninth Cruiser Squadron, serving in the Atlantic. In June 1915 she was placed in reserve, but reactivated as a minelayer in 1917. She collided with the destroyer HMS Nessus in the North Sea on 8 September 1918, which sunk the Nessus. She was later assigned to the Nore Command, and survived the War to be sold to Ward of Milford Haven for breaking up on 12 April 1920.
Amphitrite had the nickname 'am and tripe'[4] amongst her crew based on a humorous malapropism, and a reference to common foodstuffs such as might be served on board.
References[]
- 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. OCLC 67375475.
- Diadem class at worldwar1.co.uk
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The original article can be found at HMS Amphitrite (1898) and the edit history here.