HMS Thetis (1890)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Thetis.
Career (United Kingdom)
Name: HMS Thetis
Builder: J & G Thomson, Clydebank
Laid down: 29 October 1889
Launched: 13 December 1890
Commissioned: April 1892
Fate: Deliberately sunk in the Zeebrugge Raid on 23 April 1918
General characteristics
Class and type:Apollo-class 2nd class protected cruiser
Displacement:3,400 tons
Length:314 ft (95.7 m)
Beam:43 ft (13.1 m)
Draught:17.5 ft (5.3 m)
Propulsion:Twin triple-expansion coal-fired steam engines, 7,000 indicated hp (5 MW), twin screws
Speed:18.5 knots (34 km/h) maximum
Complement:273 to 300 (Officers and Men)
Armament:As built:
  • 2 × QF 6-inch (152.4 mm) guns
  • 6 (later 4) × QF 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns
  • 8 × 6 pounder (3 kg) Hotchkiss
  • 1 × 3 pounder Vickers
  • 4 × Maxim machine guns
  • 4 × 14 inch Torpedo Tubes
  • 100 mines
Converted pre-1914 to a lightly armed minelayer.
Armour:1.3 to 2 in (33 to 51 mm) deck, no belt

HMS Thetis was an Apollo-class 2nd class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 December 1890. Her first significant mission was service in the Bering Sea Patrol with American warships in a combined effort to suppress poaching in the Bering Sea.

Under the command of Captain W. Stokes-Rees, she later served on the Mediterranean Station until relieved in March 1901.[1] She paid of at Chatham in early June 1901, and was placed in the Fleet reserve.[2]

The latter half of her career was spent as a mine-layer. Laden with concrete, she was deliberately sunk as a blockship in attempt to block the canal in the Zeebrugge Raid during the First World War, on 23 April 1918.

References

  1. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence" The Times (London). Wednesday, 20 March 1901. (36407), p. 7.
  2. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence" The Times (London). Tuesday, 11 June 1901. (36478), p. 10.

Publications

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.

External links