HMAS Countess of Hopetoun in 1914 |
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| Career (Victoria and Australia) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMVS Countess of Hopetoun |
| Namesake: | The Countess of Hopetoun, wife of the then Governor of Victoria |
| Builder: | Yarrow & Co. |
| Laid down: | 1890 |
| Completed: | 1891 |
| Decommissioned: | 1924 |
| Fate: | Scrapped in 1925 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 75 tons |
| Length: | 130 ft (40 m) |
| Beam: | 13.5 ft (4.1 m) |
| Draught: | 7.333 ft (2.235 m) |
| Propulsion: | Expansion steam engines |
| Speed: | 24 knots (44 km/h) (later 20–21 knots (37–39 km/h; 23–24 mph)) |
| Armament: | 2 x 1 inch (later 3 x 3-pounder) guns 3 x 14 inch torpedo tubes (1 bow, 1 rotating twin mount amidships) 4 sets of dropping gear |
HMVS Countess of Hopetoun was a torpedo gunboat of the Victorian Naval Forces, Commonwealth Naval Forces and the Royal Australian Navy. She was named after Hersey, Countess of Hopetoun and later Marchioness of Linlithgow, the wife of the 7th Earl of Hopetoun, the then Governor of Victoria and later the first Governor-General of Australia.
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Built by Yarrow and Co. on the River Thames, Countess of Hopetoun was the last vessel constructed for the Victorian Naval Forces. She arrived at Williamstown, Victoria via the Cape of Good Hope after 154 days under way.
The vessel joined the Commonwealth Naval Forces with federation in 1901 and the Royal Australian Navy when it was formed in 1911. During World War I she served in Victorian waters and as a tender to HMAS Cerberus. She attended the arrival of His Royal Highness Edward, The Prince of Wales in Port Phillip on 28 May 1920. The Prince arrived abord the battlecruiser HMS Renown and was received by no less than 31 warships.
Countess of Hopetoun was sold to Edward Hill of North Melbourne in April 1924 and scrapped the following year. Her hull was later sunk near Swan Island in Port Phillip.[1]
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