H.M.S. Quail (1895)

H.M.S. Quail (1895)
Pendant Number:	D.85 (1914) D.89 (Sep 1915) D.70 (Jan 1918) H.32 (Sep 1918)
Builder:	Laird
Ordered:	1894-95 Programme
Laid down:	28 May, 1895
Launched:	24 Sep, 1895
Commissioned:	Jun, 1897
Broken up:	1919

H.M.S. Quail was one of twenty-four "B" class destroyers built for the Royal Navy — a "30 knotter".

Service

Brand new, Quail participated in the Diamond Jubilee and then was paid off at Devonport on 12 July, 1897.

Quail was commissioned along with the Sparrowhawk on 10 August 1897 for the West Indies Station. They were escorted to Bermuda by the first class protected cruiser Blenheim, which was temporarily detached from the Channel Squadron for the purpose. A harbour accident prevented Sparrowhawk from being ready as Quail completed a trial off Plymouth in which she achieved 28 knots. In the end, Rocket replaced Sparrowhawk, and Charybdis rather than Blenheim acted as escort. The new-fashioned convoy left on 25 August.

The ship paid off at Devonport on 21 August, 1903.

On 14 January 1907, she and seven other "River" and "30 knotter" T.B.D.s. of the Second Destroyer Flotilla arrived in Portsmouth from Sheerness.

In September, 1912 through at least mid-1913, she was active with the Seventh Destroyer Flotilla — a patrol flotilla.

On 8 May 1913, as she made her way back to the Royal Dock at Grimsby after operations with the Seventh Destroyer Flotilla off the north-east coast of England, she collided with a quay, receiving moderate damage forward.

By May 1919, Quail was among 33 obsolete ships awaiting sale.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Lieutenant & Commander Frederick A. Powlett, 15 June, 1897  (for Jubilee Naval Review and the Annual Manoeuvres of 1897)
• Lieutenant & Commander Thomas L. Thorpe-Doubble, 10 August, 1897 – 4 November, 1898
• Lieutenant & Commander Edward H. Rymer, 15 January, 1899 – c. 7 March, 1901^[Inference]
• Lieutenant in Command Edgar R. Morant, 7 March, 1901 – 28 February, 1903
• Lieutenant & Commander John A. Gregory, 28 February, 1903 – 1 August, 1903
• Lieutenant & Commander Charles M. Forbes, 14 July, 1904  (for Annual Manoeuvres of 1904)
• Lieutenant & Commander William F. Benwell, April, 1905 – late April, 1905  (exact date is suspect)
• Lieutenant in Command Cyril P. Ryan, July, 1905 – 9 January, 1906
• Lieutenant & Commander William F. Benwell, 10 January, 1906 – 28 May, 1906
• Lieutenant & Commander Archibald T. Stewart, 28 May, 1906 – 1 October, 1906
• Lieutenant & Commander Francis R. Wood, 5 February, 1907 – 17 March, 1908
• Lieutenant & Commander William S. F. Forbes, 17 March, 1908 – 12 January, 1910
• Lieutenant & Commander Edward O. Tudor, 12 January, 1910 – 2 September, 1910
• Lieutenant & Commander Kenneth F. Sworder, 2 September, 1910 – 19 June, 1911
• Lieutenant (in Command?) Frederic A. H. Russel, 24 January, 1912 – 22 February, 1912
• Lieutenant in Command Ralph Neville, 2 July, 1912 – c. August, 1912^[Inference]  (for manoeuvres)
• Lieutenant & Commander Vernon S. Butler, 16 September, 1912 – 30 January, 1914
• Commander Francis A. Clutterbuck, 30 January, 1914 – 6 December, 1915
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command Athol E. Gudgeon, 4 December, 1915 – 26 June, 1917
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command Thomas E. Coombs, 16 June, 1917 – 31 July, 1917
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command Charles J. White, early September, 1917 – 31 January, 1919

See Also

• Wikipedia