HMS Mercury (1878)

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For other ships of the same name, see HMS Mercury.

HMS Mercury was an Iris Class second class cruiser of the Royal Navy. The two ships were the first all steel ships in the Royal Navy and Mercury, slightly more powerful than her stablemate HMS Iris, was the fastest ship in the Navy at the time of her completion, reaching 18.5 knots. She was distinguished from the Iris by her straight bow, which gave her a slightly shorter length of 315 feet. The ship carried a complement of 275 officers and men.

Mercury was laid down at Pembroke Dockyard on 16 March 1876, launched on 17 April 1878 and completed on 18 September 1879. She served with the Portsmouth Reserve from 1879 to 1890, in China from 1890 to 1895 and with the Portsmouth Reserve again from 1895 to 1903. She served as a Navigation School Ship for Navigating Officers from 1903 to 1905 and a Submarine Depot Ship from 1906 to 1913. Hulked at Chatham in 1914 for service at Rosyth and renamed Columbine, she was eventually sold for scrap in 1919.

[edit] References

  • Cruisers of the Royal and Commonwealth Navies by Douglas Morris. Maritime Books 1987. ISBN 0 907771 35 1.