HMS Cheerful (1897)

HMS Cheerful was a 30-knot, three-funnel torpedo boat destroyer built by Hawthorn Leslie. She was ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1896–1897 Naval Estimates, launched in 1898 and saw action during World War I. She was mined off the Shetland Islands in 1917 and sank with the loss of 44 officers and men.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Cheerful.

The visually identical Greyhound underway in 1906
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Cheerful
Ordered1896 – 1897 Naval Estimates
BuilderR.W. Hawthorn Leslie & Co., Hebburn-on-Tyne
Cost£54,509[1]
Yard number343[1]
Laid down7 September 1896
Launched14 July 1897[Note 1]
CommissionedJune 1899
FateMined on 30 June 1917
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeHawthorn Leslie three-funnel, 30-knot destroyer
Displacement
  • 355 long tons (361 t) light
  • 400 long tons (406 t) full load
Length215 ft (66 m) o/a
Beam21 ft 1 in (6.43 m)
Draught8 ft 2 in (2.49 m)
Installed power6,100 ihp (4,500 kW)
Propulsion
Speed30 kn (56 km/h)
Range
  • 95 tons coal
  • 1,615 nmi (2,991 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement63 officers and men
Armament
Service record
Operations: World War I 1914 - 1918

Construction

She was laid down on 7 September 1896, at the R.W. Hawthorn Leslie and Company shipyard at Hebburn-on-Tyne, and launched on 14 July 1897. During her builder's trials, she made her contract speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph). She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in February 1900,[2][3] and passed into the Medway Fleet Reserve at Chatham.[4]

Service

After commissioning she was assigned to the Chatham Division of the Harwich Flotilla. She was deployed in home waters for her entire service life. On 6 March 1900 she was commissioned at Chatham to take the place of HMS Mermaid in the Medway instructional flotilla,[5] with Commander Mark Kerr transferring from Mermaid to take command of Cheerful.[6] In April 1900 she was present at an accident at Brighton's West Pier, when seven sailors from HMS Desperate were drowned in bad weather as they approached the pier.[7][8]

On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyer classes were to be designated by letters. She was assigned to the C class along with the other 3-funnel, 30-knot destroyers. After 30 September 1913 she was known as a C-class destroyer and had the letter ‘C’ painted on the hull below the bridge area and on either the fore or aft funnel.[9] Between 1912 and 1914 she had a wireless radio set installed.

In July 1914 she was in active commission in the 8th Destroyer Flotilla based at Sheerness and tendered to HMS Tyne, the flotilla depot ship. Her duties included anti-submarine and counter-mining patrols.

On 26 September two torpedoes were fired at her, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Fidra in the Firth of Forth. At the end of September 1914, she was redeployed to the Shetland patrol based out of Scapa Flow. Here she was deployed in anti-submarine operations and defending the main fleet anchorage. In December 1914 she was given the pennant number P13; at the start of September 1915, this was changed to D49.[10]

On 30 June 1917 while on patrol off the Shetland Islands, she struck a contact mine that had been laid by German submarine UC-33. She sank with the loss of 44 officers and men in position 60°02′N 01°07′W.[10][11]

Notes
  1. Lyon has a launch date of 22 February 1898 (and shows Mermaid as launched 14 July 1897) but notes that it is "not clear from the records consulted why Mermaid should be launched before, but completed after, her sister."[1]

References
  1. Lyon, The First Destroyers, p. 93
  2. Jane, Fred T. (1969) [1898, Sampson Low Marston, London]. Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships 1898. New York: ARCO Publishing Company. pp. 84–85.
  3. Jane, Fred T. (1990) [1919, reprinted]. Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. Jane’s Publishing. p. 76. ISBN 1-85170-378-0.
  4. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36063. London. 12 February 1900. p. 11.
  5. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36083. London. 7 March 1900. p. 10.
  6. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36094. London. 20 March 1900. p. 7.
  7. "Disaster to Bluejackets - Boat Swamped at Brighton - Seven Seamen Drowned". News of the World. 15 April 1900.
  8. "HMS Bittern". Index of 19th Century Naval Vessels and a few of their movements. Archived from the original on 21 September 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  9. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Conway Maritime Press. 2006 [1985]. pp. 17–19. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  10. ""Arrowsmith" List – Part 1 Destroyer Prototypes through "River" Class". Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  11. "Loss data from U-Boat.net".

Bibliography
  • Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
  • 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.
  • Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
  • Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  • Lyon, David (2001) [1996]. The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-3648.
  • Manning, T. D. (1961). The British Destroyer. London: Putnam & Co. OCLC 6470051.
  • March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.
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