HMS Decoy (1894) | |
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![]() HMS Decoy | |
Career (UK) | ![]() |
Name: | HMS Decoy |
Builder: |
John I. Thornycroft & Company, Chiswick |
Cost: | c.£36,000 |
Yard number: | 288 |
Laid down: | July 1892 |
Launched: | 7 February 1894 |
Completed: | June 1895 |
Fate: | Sunk in collision, 13 August 1904 |
General characteristics [1] | |
Class & type: | Daring-class torpedo boat destroyer |
Displacement: |
260 long tons (264 t) light 287.8 long tons (292 t) full load |
Length: | 185 ft (56 m) oa |
Beam: | 19 ft (5.8 m) |
Draught: | 7 ft (2.1 m) |
Installed power: | 4,200 hp (3,100 kW) |
Propulsion: |
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Speed: | 27 kn (31 mph; 50 km/h) |
Crew: | 46-53 |
Armament: |
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HMS Decoy was a Daring-class torpedo boat destroyer which served with the Royal Navy in home waters. She was launched in 1895 and sunk in a collision with HMS Arun in 1903.
Construction[]
She was built by John I. Thornycroft & Company at Chiswick and was launched on 7 February 1894.[2]
Although fitted with multiple torpedo tubes, her bow tube proved useless in practice as — while running at high attack speeds — the ship was prone to overtake its own torpedo. The clumsy tube also reduced living quarters and made the bridge very prone to flooding.
Service[]
She served as instructional tender to the Cambridge, gunnery school ship, until August 1901.[3]
Fate[]
Decoy was lost in a collision with HMS Arun off the Scilly Islands on 13 August 1904[4] while taking part in night exercises.[5] One man was killed while the remaining 40 members of the crew were rescued by Arun and Sturgeon.[5]
Courts martial regarding the sinking were subsequently assembled aboard the battleship Conqueror. The first, on 22 August,[6] attributed blame on the commander of Arun. The second, an appeal, was held on 30 August,[7] and dismissed the charge of neglect but confirmed the charge of hazarding both vessels.
Notes[]
- ↑ British "18-inch torpedoes" were 450mm (17.72 inches) in diameter.
References[]
- ↑ Lyon (1996), pp.40-41.
- ↑ The Times (London), Thursday, 8 February 1894, p.4
- ↑ "Error: no
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specified when using {{Cite web}}". 16 August 1901. - ↑ The Times (London), Wednesday, 15 August 1904, p.5
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Kemp, Paul (1999). The Admiralty Regrets British Warship Losses of the 20th Century. Sutton Publishing Ltd. pp. p1. ISBN 0-7509-1567-6.
- ↑ The Times (London), Thursday, 23 August 1904, p.9
- ↑ The Times (London), Friday, 31 August 1904, p.4
- Lyon, David (1996). The First Destroyers. ISBN 1-84067-364-8.
- Captain T.D. Manning (1961). The British Destroyer. Putnam and Co.
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The original article can be found at HMS Decoy (1894) and the edit history here.