H.M.S. Spitfire (1895)

H.M.S. Spitfire (1895)
Builder:	Armstrong, Whitworth & Company
Ordered:	1893-94
Laid down:	4 Jun, 1894
Launched:	7 Jun, 1895
Commissioned:	Nov, 1896
Broken up:	1912

H.M.S. Spitfire was one of thirty-six 27 Knotters, a broad meta-class of early Torpedo Boat Destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s.

Like most of the 27 knotters, she was broken up before the war.

Construction & Service

On 1 July, 1905, Spitfire led seventeen destroyers of the Reserve Division from Sheerness to Spithead under the command of Commander Reginald Graham Gregory.

She and sixteen other destroyers of the Reserve Division arrived at Sheerness on 13 July 1905 and proceeded to Chatham.

In 1911, she was part of the Sixth Destroyer Flotilla.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Lieutenant & Commander Raymond A. Nugent, 11 March, 1897 – 1 April, 1897  (came in, temporarily, with crew from Janus while that ship undergoes refit)
• Lieutenant & Commander Horatio W. Colomb, 18 June, 1897 – c. August 1897^[Inference]  (lent for Annual Manoeuvres of 1897)
• Lieutenant & Commander Raymond A. Nugent, 18 September, 1897 – mid November, 1897  (came in, temporarily, with crew from Janus while that ship undergoes repair)
• Lieutenant & Commander Thomas F. T. Michell, 18 February, 1899 – 14 June, 1899  (indicated in one Navy List as Salmon)
• Lieutenant in Command John Luce, 13 June, 1899 – before 24 August, 1899
• Lieutenant in Command Charles P. Beaty-Pownall, 7 February, 1900 – 13 March, 1900
• Lieutenant & Commander Stanley R. Miller, 16 July, 1901  (for the Annual Manoeuvres of 1901)
• Lieutenant & Commander Brien M. Money, 21 July, 1903 – 18 August, 1903  (for Annual Manoeuvres of 1903)
• Lieutenant (in Command?) Colin K. MacLean, 14 August, 1903 – 15 September, 1903
• Lieutenant in Command Humphrey T. Walwyn, 14 July, 1904 – 3 January, 1905  (for Annual Manoeuvres of 1904)
• Lieutenant & Commander Cecil H. Pilcher, 3 January, 1905 – 14 March, 1905
• Commander Reginald G. Gregory, before 2 July, 1905 – c. 11 July, 1905^[Inference]  (taking 18 destroyers from Sheerness to Spithead)
• Commander James R. P. Hawksley, 11 July, 1905 – 3 September, 1905
• Lieutenant & Commander Robert J. Buchanan, 4 September, 1905 – 1 January, 1906
• Gunner in Command John Reep, 23 January, 1906 – 1 April, 1906
• Lieutenant in Command Osmond J. Prentis, 1 April, 1906 – 28 May, 1906
• Lieutenant & Commander William F. Benwell, 28 May, 1906 – 22 June, 1906  (left, sick with neuritis)
• Lieutenant & Commander Vaughan A. E. Hanning-Lee, 28 May, 1906 – 10 July, 1906  (assumed command after Benwell's illness)
• Lieutenant & Commander Leonard Robinson, 10 July, 1907 – 15 January, 1909
• Lieutenant in Command George W. Taylor, 30 March, 1909 – 26 November, 1909
• Lieutenant & Commander Henry C. Rawlings, 26 November, 1909 – May, 1910
• Lieutenant & Commander Frederic A. H. Russel, May, 1910 – 1 March, 1911
• Lieutenant & Commander Anthony W. Loveband, 1 March, 1911 – 16 May, 1911

Equipment

In 1896, Swordfish and Spitfire were fitted with Tower's Steady Platform search lights which proved "very satisfactory," having been improved since 1889 evaluations. In tests at Chatham on 13th October, 1896, Spitfire was moored in basin number 3 and rolled about 25 degrees while she shone her light on a hatch-painted test vessel. The light beam did not waver by more than a half degree during the test.

See Also

• Wikipedia