HMS Pyramus (1897)

HMS Pyramus ca. 1900.
History
Name:	HMS Pyramus
Builder:	Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Jarrow, England
Laid down:	May 1896
Launched:	15 May 1897
Completed:	1900
Fate:	Sold for scrapping 21 April 1920
General characteristics
Class and type:	Pelorus-class third-class cruiser
Displacement:	2,135 tons
Length:	300 ft (91 m) between perpendiculars 313 ft 6 in (95.55 m) length overall
Beam:	36 ft 6 in (11.1 m)
Draught:	16 ft (4.9 m)
Installed power:	Natural draught: 5,000 indicated horsepower (6.7 megawatts) Forced draught: 7,000 indicated horsepower (9.4 megawatts)
Propulsion:	Two shafts, three-cylinder triple expansion steam engines, 16 Reed water tube boilers, 500 tons coal
Speed:	Natural draught: 18.5 knots (34.25 km/h) maximum Forced draught: 20 knots (37 km/h) maximum After several years of service, average maximum speeds of class dropped to 16 to 17 knots (29.6 to 31.5 km/h)
Complement:	224
Armament:	8 × QF 4-inch (102 mm) guns 8 × 3-pounder (47-mm) guns 3 × machine guns 2 × 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo tubes athwartships
Armour:	Deck: 1.5 to 2 inches (38.1 to 50.8 mm) Gunshields: 0.25 inch (6.35 mm) Conning tower: 3 inches (76.2 mm)

HMS Pyramus was a Pelorus-class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy. There were eleven ""Third class"" protected cruisers in the class, which was designed by Sir William White. While well armed for their size, they were primarily workhorses for the overseas fleet on "police" duties and did not serve with the main battlefleet.

They displaced 2,135 tons, had a crew complement of 224 men and were armed with eight QF 4 inch (102 mm) (25 pounder) guns, eight 3-pounder guns, three machine guns, and two 18 inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes. With reciprocating triple expansion engines and a variety of boilers, the top speed was 20 knots (37 km/h).

HMS Pyramus was laid down at Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Jarrow in May 1896, and launched on 15 May 1897.

She served in various colonial posts, including in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1901.

In 1914 she formed part of the escort for the New Zealand Force which occupied German Samoa (now Samoa). In July 1915 she was present at the Rufiji river delta action when the monitors HMS Severn and HMS Mersey destroyed the German cruiser SMS Königsberg.

She was sold for scrap on 21 April 1920.

Commanding officers

• Commander John Michael de Robeck - in March 1901^[1]
• Commander A. E. A. Grant - in December 1901^[2]

Notes

HMS Pyramus in 1914

References

• World War I Naval Combat webpage
• Miramar Ship Index listing
• Imperial War Museum Book of the War at Sea 1914-1918.
• Gardiner, Robert, ed. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905. New York: Mayflower Books Inc., 1979. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.

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