HMS Harrier (1894)
.jpg) Harrier sailing from Malta c.1900 | |
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Harrier |
| Builder: | Devonport Dockyard |
| Laid down: | 21 January 1893[1] |
| Launched: | 20 February 1894 |
| Commissioned: | 8 July 1896[1] |
| Fate: | Sold for commercial use in 1920 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type: | Dryad-class torpedo gunboat |
| Displacement: | 1070 tons |
| Length: | 262 ft 6 in (80.0 m) |
| Beam: | 30 ft 6 in (9.3 m) |
| Draught: | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
| Installed power: | 3,500 ihp (2,600 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 18.2 kn (33.7 km/h) |
| Complement: | 120 |
| Armament: |
|
The sixth HMS Harrier was a Dryad-class torpedo gunboat. She was launched at Devonport Dockyard on 20 February 1894,[2] and saw service in the Mediterranean and in fishery protection. She served as a minesweeper during World War I and was sold for commercial use in 1920.
Design
Ordered under the Naval Defence Act of 1889, which established the "Two-Power Standard", the class was contemporary with the first torpedo boat destroyers. With a length overall of 262 ft 6 in (80.01 m),[1] a beam of 30 ft 6 in (9.30 m)[1] and a displacement of 1,070 tons,[1] these torpedo gunboats were not small ships by the standard of the time; they were larger than the majority of World War I destroyers. Harrier was engined by Hawthorn Leslie and Company with two sets of vertical triple-expansion steam engines, two locomotive-type boilers, and twin screws. This layout produced 3,500 indicated horsepower (2,600 kW),[1] giving her a speed of 18.2 knots (33.7 km/h).[1] She carried between 100 and 160 tons of coal and was manned by 120 sailors and officers.[1]
Armament
The armament when built comprised two QF 4.7-inch (12 cm) guns, four 6-pdr guns and a single 5-barrelled Nordenfelt machine gun. Her primary weapon was five 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo tubes,[Note 1] with two reloads.[1] On conversion to a minesweeper in 1914 two of the five torpedoes were removed.[1]
History
Mediterranean service
On 24 March 1900 Harrier paid off at Devonport after her first commission, which was spent on the Mediterranean Station.[3] In March 1901 she again returned to the Mediterranean Station,[4] and in late November 1901 replaced the Mariner-class gunvessel Melita as the special service vessel at Constantinople.[5]
Fishery protection and tender to the Navigation School
She spent some time before World War I engaged in fishery protection duties and was for a time a tender to the Navigation School.[3]
Conversion to a minesweeper
At the outbreak of war she was converted at Portsmouth, in common with most of the rest of her class, to the minesweeping role.[3]
_during_WWI.jpg)
Disposal
She was sold to T R Sales at Haulbowline, Cork on 23 February 1920[1] for commercial use.[6]
List of Captains
Notes
- ↑ British "18 inch" torpedoes were 17.72 inches (45.0 cm) in diameter
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 Winfield (2004), p.306
- ↑ "RN Gunboats at Battleships-cruisers.co.uk". Retrieved 2008-05-13.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "HMS Harrier at the Index of 19th Century Naval Vessels". Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Naval and Military intelligence" The Times (London). Thursday, 21 February 1901. (36384), p. 10.
- ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence" The Times (London). Wednesday, 20 November 1901. (36617), p. 10.
- ↑ "HMS Harrier at BritishEmpire.co.uk". Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence" The Times (London). Tuesday, 23 January 1900. (36046), p. 12.
- Winfield, Rif & Lyon, David (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.
- 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.
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