HMS Kestrel (1898)

HMS Kestrel was a Clydebank-built three funnelled 30-knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895 – 1896 Naval Estimates. She was the fourth ship to carry this name since it was first used in 1846 for a brigantine.[1]

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

HMS Kestrel
Kestrel after 1 January 1918
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Kestrel
Ordered1896 – 1897 Naval Estimates
BuilderJ & G Thomson, Clydebank
Laid down2 September 1896
Launched25 March 1898
CommissionedApril 1900
Out of serviceLaid up in reserve 1919
Fate17 March 1921 sold to Thos. W. Ward of Sheffield for breaking at Rainham, Kent
General characteristics
Class and typeClydebank three funnel - 30 knot destroyer
Displacement
  • 350 long tons (356 t) standard
  • 395 long tons (401 t) full load
Length222 ft (67.7 m) o/a
Beam20 ft 8 in (6.30 m)
Draught8 ft 11 in (2.72 m)
Propulsion
Speed30 kn (56 km/h)
Range80 tons coal
Complement63 officers and men
Armament

In 1913 she was grouped with similar vessels as a C-class destroyer.

Construction

Kestrel was ordered from J & G Thomson under the 1896–1897 construction programme for the Royal Navy, one of seventeen thirty-knot destroyers ordered from eight shipbuilders under the programme.[2][3]

The four destroyers ordered from Thomsons under the 1895–1896 programme had problems reaching the contract speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), and Kestrel was built to a revised design with a longer hull.[4] Kestrel was 222 feet 6 inches (67.82 m) long overall and 218 feet (66.4 m) between perpendiculars,[5] a beam of 20 feet 8 inches (6.30 m) and a draught of 8 feet 11 inches (2.72 m). Displacement was 350 long tons (360 t) light and 395 long tons (401 t) full load. Four Normand boilers fed steam at 230 pounds per square inch (1,600 kPa) to triple expansion steam engines rated at 5,800 indicated horsepower (4,300 kW) and driving two propeller shafts.[6]

Armament was specified as a single QF 12 pounder 12 cwt (3 inches (76 mm) calibre) gun on a platform on the ship's conning tower (in practice the platform was also used as the ship's bridge), backed up by five 6-pounder guns, and two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.[7][8]

The ship was laid down as Yard Number 298 on 2 September 1896 at Thomson's shipyard in Clydebank and launched on 25 March 1898. The revised design was successful and Kestrel met the required speed during sea trials.[6] In 1899 during the construction of these ships, steelmaker John Brown and Company of Sheffield bought J & G Thomson's Clydebank yard. She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in April 1900, before the four ships ordered under the 1895–1896 programme.[6]

Pre-War

After commissioning she was assigned to the Chatham Division of the Harwich Flotilla. She was deployed in Home waters for her entire service life.

In July 1900, Kestrel took part in the annual Naval Manoeuvres.[9] Kestrel was based at Portsmouth in 1901,[10] and took part in the annual Naval Manoeuvres in July–August that year.[11]

On 7 August 1907 Kestrel and the River-class destroyer Teviot collided off Swanage, with Kestrel's bow being cut off in the collision. Kestrel was brought into Portsmouth Dockyard for repair, where, such was the number of Royal Navy ships requiring repair after recent incidents,[lower-alpha 1] only one dock was available to receive Kestrel, and which was only able to accommodate the damaged destroyer because she had lost her bow, as Kestrel was otherwise too long to fit in the dock.[12] Kestrel was part of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla based at Devonport in 1910.[10] In November 1910 she was ordered to Gibraltar for a refit, leaving Devonport at the end of the month in the company of the battleship Swiftsure. On reaching Gibraltar, her crew transferred to the destroyer Mermaid, which had just completed a refit, for the voyage back to home waters.[13]

On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyer classes were to be designated by letters. As a three-funneled destroyer with a contract speed of 30 knots, Kestrel was assigned to the C class.[14][15] The class letters were painted on the hull below the bridge area and on a funnel.[16]

In February 1913 Kestrel was based at Sheerness as a tender to the "Stone frigate" (or shore establishment) HMS Actaeon, which acted as a torpedo training school. Kestrel was listed as in commission with a nucleus crew.[17]

World War I

Kestrel remained based at Sheerness as a tender to Actaeon in July 1914.[18] With the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914 she was assigned to the Nore Local Flotilla. Her duties included anti-submarine and counter mining patrols in the Thames Estuary.

In 1919 she was paid off and laid-up in reserve awaiting disposal. She was sold on 17 March 1921 to Thos. W. Ward of Sheffield for breaking at Rainham, Kent on the Thames Estuary.[19]

Pennant Numbers
Pennant Number[19]FromTo
N476 Dec 19141 Sep 1915
D601 Sep 19151 Jan 1918
D491 Jan 191817 Mar 1921

Notes
  1. Ships involved in this spate of mishaps included Waveney and Garry, which collided on 26 July, Rother, also damaged by collision on 26 July, Spiteful, which had suffered a fuel fire on 5 August, and Quail, badly damaged in a collision with the cruiser Attentive on 6 August.[12]

Citations
  1. Jane, Fred T. Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships 1898. New York: ARCO Publishing Company. pp. 84–85.
  2. Lyon 2001, p. 23.
  3. Friedman 2009, p. 53
  4. Lyon 2001, pp. 23, 67
  5. Chesneau & Kolesnik 1979, p. 95
  6. Lyon 2001, p. 67
  7. Lyon 2001, pp. 98–99
  8. Friedman 2009, p. 40
  9. "The Naval Manoeuvres". The Times. No. 36207. 30 July 1900. p. 8.
  10. "NMM, vessel ID 369524" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol ii. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 November 2014.
  11. Brassey 1902, pp. 90, 95–112
  12. "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective: Portsmouth Dockyard". The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 30. 1 September 1907. p. 55.
  13. "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective: Devonport Dockyard". The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 33. January 1911. p. 206.
  14. Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 18
  15. Manning 1961, pp. 17–18
  16. Manning 1961, p. 34
  17. "Torpedo Craft and Submarine Flotillas at Home Ports". The Naval List. March 1913. p. 270b – via National Library of Scotland.
  18. "Torpedo Craft and Submarine Flotillas at Home Ports". The Naval List. August 1914. p. 270c – via National Library of Scotland.
  19. ""Arrowsmith" List – Part 1 Destroyer Prototypes through "River" Class". Retrieved 1 June 2013.

Bibliography
  • Brassey, T.A. (1902). The Naval Annual 1902. Portsmouth, UK: J. Griffin and Co.
  • 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.
  • Moore, John E. (1990). Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. Studio Editions. ISBN 1-85170-378-0.
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