HMS Fox (1893)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | |
| Launched: | 15 June 1893 |
| Commissioned: | 1896 |
| Decommissioned: | March 1919 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap 1920 |
| Struck: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 4,360 tons loaded |
| Length: | 320 feet |
| Beam: | 49 ft 6 in |
| Draught: | 19 ft |
| Propulsion: | 2 shaft, 3 cycle TE, 8 cylinder boilers, 7500hp natural draught; 9500hp forced draught. Coal 1000 tons maximum load |
| Speed: | 18 knots natural draught, 19.5 knots forced draught |
| Range: | 7,000 nautical miles |
| Complement: | 44 |
| Armour: | Deck 2 inch. Conning tower 3 inch, Gunshields 4.5 inch, engine hatch 5 inch |
| Armament: | Two 6 inch Quick fire, Eight 4.7 inch Quick Fire, One 3 pounder Quick Fire, Four 18 inch torpedo tubes |
| Aircraft: | none |
| Motto: | |
HMS Fox was a second class cruiser of the Astraea class of the Royal Navy. The class represented an improvement on previous types, 1,000 tons displacement larger with better seaworthiness due to improved hull design. It also had somewhat increased firepower and superior arrangement of guns.
Ships of this category were designed for overseas duty where they were unlikely to encounter first class opposition. They were useful for showing the flag, suppressing piracy, escorting convoys during war time, supporting colonial governments, and generally intimidating minor powers. They had some use in countering armed merchant cruisers of a hostile navy.
Fox was sheathed in wood and copper, to fit her for tropical waters. The hull of an unsheathed steel vessel operating in warm waters would usually become so encrusted with barnacles that its speed would be seriously affected within six months[1].
By 1906, Fox was serving on the East Indies station, but was paid off in January 1907 and sent to the reserve fleet. In May 1908, she was recommissioned for the Home Fleet. In June 1908, she was sent once more to the East Indies were she served until 1914.
On the outbreak of World War I Fox was 18 years old and obsolete, but still performed sterling service. Off Colombo, Ceylon, she captured two German merchant ships, the Australia on 10 August 1914, and the Holtenfels on 11 August 1914.
Fox served in the East Indies and Egypt from 1915 to 1917, and then in the Red Sea in 1917 to 1918. Fox played a critical role while in the Red Sea in supporting the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire, flying the flag of William Boyle, 12th Earl of Cork.
See HMS Fox for other ships of this name.
| Astrea -class cruiser |
| HMS Astraea | HMS Bonaventure | HMS Cambrian |
HMS Charybdis | HMS Flora | HMS Forte | HMS Fox | HMS Hermione |
List of cruisers of the Royal Navy |
