HMS Fairy (1897)

HMS Fairy was a three-funnel, 30-knot destroyer of the First World War. One of three similar ships built by Fairfields for the Royal Navy, she was ordered under the 1896–1897 Naval Estimates and the sixth Royal Navy ship to carry this name.[2][3] She was classified, along with other similar ships, as a C-class destroyer in 1913. She sank in 1918 from damage inflicted by ramming and sinking the German submarine UC-75.

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

HMS Fairy
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameFairy
Ordered1896 – 1897 Naval Estimates
BuilderFairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, Glasgow
Laid down19 October 1896
Launched29 May 1897
CommissionedAugust 1898
FateFoundered after ramming SM UC-75, 31 May 1918
General characteristics
Class and typeFairfield three-funnel, 30-knot destroyer[1][2]
Displacement
  • 355 long tons (361 t) standard
  • 400 long tons (406 t) full load
Length215 ft 6 in (65.68 m) o/a
Beam21 ft (6.4 m)
Draught8 ft 2 in (2.49 m)
Installed power6,000 shp (4,500 kW)
Propulsion
Speed30 kn (56 km/h)
Range
  • 80 tons coal
  • 1,615 nmi (2,991 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement63 officers and men
Armament

Construction and career

She was laid down as Yard No 396 on 19 October 1896, at the Fairfield shipyard at Govan, Glasgow, and launched on 29 May 1897. During her builder's trials, she made her contracted speed requirement. She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in August 1898.[2][3] After commissioning she was assigned to the Channel Fleet. She spent her operational career mainly in Home Waters operating with the Channel Fleet as part of the East Coast Flotilla.

On 2 February 1900, she was commissioned as tender to HMS Vivid, shore establishment at Devonport, for service in the Devonport Instructional flotilla,[4] A mere week into her commission, Fairy dragged her moorings while in the Falmouth harbour, and had her bow on the starboard side and her stem badly damaged as she drifted into other ships of the flotilla.[5] Following repairs in Devonport, she was back in the flotilla later that Spring. She underwent repairs to re-tube her boilers in May 1902.[6] Fairy was refitted in 1908, having her boilers retubed.[7]

On 30 August 1912, the Admiralty directed that all destroyer classes were to be designated by letter. She was assigned to the C Class, along with other destroyers with a design speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) with three funnels, and after 30 September 1913, she was known as an "C-class destroyer" and had the letter ‘C’ painted on the hull below the bridge area and on either the fore or aft funnel.[8]

World War I

From August 1914, she was deployed in the 8th Destroyer Flotilla based at the Firth of Forth, but the next month detached from that formation. By October, she was attached to the Grand Fleet. In July 1917, she was transferred to the 7th Destroyer Flotilla, on the east coast of England, where she would be engaged in convoy work.[9]

On 31 May 1918, while Fairy was escorting an East Coast convoy, the German submarine UC-75 was sighted and rammed by the steamer SS Blaydonian. The U-boat surfaced within the convoy and was attacked and rammed by HMS Fairy. Two submariners leapt onto the destroyer's forecastle as their submarine sank. Fairy, however, had sustained heavy damage and sank a short time later about 10 miles (16 km) south of Flamborough Head.[Note 1][10][11]

She was awarded the battle honour "Belgian Coast 1914–17" for her service.

Pennant numbers
Pennant number[11]FromTo
P406 December 19141 September 1915
D531 September 19151 January 1918
D351 January 191831 May 1918

Notes
  1. Loss of HMS Fairy was recorded at position 53°57′N 000°09′W

References
  1. Jane, Fred T. (1969) [1905 Sampson Low Marston, London]. Jane's Fighting Ships 1905. New York: ARCO Publishing Company. p. 77.
  2. Jane, Fred T. (1990) [1919]. Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. Jane’s Publishing. pp. 76–77. ISBN 1-85170-378-0.
  3. 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.
  4. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36057. London. 5 February 1900. p. 11.
  5. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36069. London. 19 February 1900. p. 9.
  6. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36767. London. 14 May 1902. p. 12.
  7. "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective: Devonport Dockyard". The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 31. 1 August 1908. p. 14.
  8. Randal Gray (2006) [1985]. Robert Gardiner (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 17–19. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  9. Admiralty. Supplements to the Monthly Navy List, September 1914 p. 12, October 1914 p. 8, July 1917, p. 16.
  10. Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UC 75". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net.
  11. ""Arrowsmith" List – Part 1 Destroyer Prototypes through "River" Class". Retrieved 1 June 2013.

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.
  • Hepper, David; Conway, Michael S. (June 2021). "Question 18/57". Warship International. LVIII (2): 100–101. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • 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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