HMS Rocket (1894)

Ordered as part of the 1893–1894 Naval Programme, the Rocket-class torpedo boat destroyers were J & G Thompson's first such ships.[1] They displaced 280 long tons (280 t) at normal load and 325 long tons (330 t) at deep load. The ships had an overall length of 203 feet 9 inches (62.1 m), a beam of 19 feet 6 inches (5.9 m) and a draught of 6 feet 9 inches (2.1 m). They were powered by a pair of triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a single propeller shaft using steam provided by four Normand boilers. The engines developed 4,100 indicated horsepower (3,100 kW) and were intended to give a maximum speed of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph).[2] During her sea trials Rocket reached 27.6 knots (51.1 km/h; 31.8 mph) from 4,123 ihp (3,075 kW).[3] The Rocket-class ships carried a maximum of 75 long tons (76 t) of coal that gave them a range of 1,445 nautical miles (2,676 km; 1,663 mi) at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph). Their crew numbered 53 officers and ratings.[2]

The ships were armed with a single quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder (3 in (76 mm) Mk I gun and five QF 6-pounder (2.2 in (57 mm)) Mk I Hotchkiss guns in single mounts. Their torpedo armament consisted of two rotating torpedo tubes for 18-inch (450 mm) torpedoes, one mount amidships and the other on the stern.[4]

Rocket was ordered on 3 November 1893 for delivery within 12 months. The ship was laid down as Yard number 269 by J & G Thompson at its Clydebank shipyard on 14 February 1894, launched on 14 August and completed in July 1895.[5][6] While delivered later than contracted, Rocket was still one of the quickest to build of the 27-knotter destroyers ordered as part of the 1893–94 shipbuilding programme, and the design was considered satisfactory by the Admiralty,[5] although in March 1896, a report in the newspaper The Times noted that her boilers were prone to priming at speeds over 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h), that her machinery had broken down five times, and that she was likely to be relieved from her duties with the particular Service Squadron as soon as a replacement ship became available.[7]

After her commission she served at the North America and West Indies Station under the command of Lieutenant Adolphus Huddlestone Williamson. She was ordered to return home in early 1902,[8] but the order was cancelled and she was still in North American waters when she was at Halifax, Nova Scotia in September,[9] and then visited Trinidad in December 1902.[10]

In 1910, Rocket was disarmed, and used for radio experiments.[11] The ship was sold for scrap on 10 April 1912 to Ward of Preston.[6][11]

• 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.
• 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.
• Johnston, Ian (2015). Ships for All Nations: John Brown & Company Clydebank 1847–1971 (2nd ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-584-4.
• Lyon, David (2001) [1996]. The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-3648.
• 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.