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History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Skate
Builder	Vickers
Launched	13 March 1895
Out of service	Sold on 9 April 1907
Fate	Scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type	Sturgeon-class destroyer
Displacement	340 tons
Length	194 feet 6 inches (59.28 m)
Beam	19 feet (5.79 m)
Draught	7 feet 7 inches (2.31 m)
Propulsion	Blechynden boilers; 4,000 hp (2,983 kW);
Speed	27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range	1,370 nautical miles (2,540 km; 1,580 mi); at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph);
Complement	53
Armament	1 × 12 pounder gun; 2 × torpedo tubes;

HMS Skate was a Sturgeon-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. Built by Vickers, she was launched on 13 March 1895 and sold on 9 April 1907.

Construction and design

On 8 November 1893, the British Admiralty placed an order with the Naval Construction and Armament Company of Barrow-in-Furness (later to become part of Vickers) for three "Twenty-Seven Knotter" destroyers as part of the 1893–1894 construction programme for the Royal Navy,^[1] with in total, 36 destroyers being ordered from various shipbuilders for this programme.^[2]

The Admiralty only laid down a series of broad requirements for the destroyers, leaving detailed design to the ships' builders. The requirements included a trial speed of 27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h), a "turtleback" forecastle and a standard armament of a QF 12 pounder 12 cwt (3 in (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), with a secondary armament of five 6-pounder guns, and two 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.^[3]^[4]^[5]

The Naval Construction and Armament Company produced a design with a length of 194 feet 6 inches (59.28 m) overall and 190 feet (57.91 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 19 feet (5.79 m) and a draught of 7 feet 7 inches (2.31 m). Displacement was 300 long tons light and 340 long tons deep load.^[1] Three funnels were fitted, with the foremast between the ship's bridge and the first funnel.^[6]^[7] Four Blechyndnen water-tube boilers fed steam at 200 pounds per square inch (1,400 kPa) to two three-cylinder triple expansion steam engines rated at 4,000 indicated horsepower (3,000 kW).^[1]^[8] 60 tons of coal were carried,^[9] giving a range of 1,370 nautical miles (2,540 km; 1,580 mi) at a speed of 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph).^[10] The ship's crew was 53 officers and men.^[10]

Skate was laid down on 20 March 1894 as Yard number 235, was launched on 13 March 1895 and completed in January 1896.^[1]

Service history

In 1897 Skate was in reserve at Devonport.^[11] In 1900 she was commissioned to serve at the Mediterranean station, and was ordered to return home in early 1902.^[1]^[12] She left Gibraltar on 9 May,^[13] convoyed by the cruiser Astraea, and arrived in Plymouth on 14 May.^[14] She paid off at Devonport on 20 May, and was placed in the A Division of the Fleet Reserve.^[15] Lieutenant James Farie was appointed in command on 1 August 1902,^[16] as she took part in the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII.^[17] Lieutenant Robert Mairis Haynes succeeded him in command later the same month, on 28 August,^[18] when she was attached to the Devonport instructional flotilla.^[19] During a cruise with the flotilla the following November, a heavy sea swept the upper deck and partially carried away the fore-bridge and twisted other fittings, leading skate to abort the cruise and return to dock for repairs.^[20]

In 1906 Skate was used as a target in firing trials of the effectiveness of various guns against destroyers. 3-pounder (47 mm) guns proved ineffective, having difficulty penetrating the ship's plating in end-on engagements, and while 12-pounder (3-in (76 mm)) guns caused more damage, it was concluded that a single hit could not be guaranteed to disable a destroyer. 4-inch (102 mm) guns proved much more effective, particularly when Lyddite-filled shells were used, and this led to a change in destroyer armament to 4-inch guns.^[21]^[22] Sold in 1907 to Cox & Co. of Falmouth, Cornwall for £305,^[23] she was the first destroyer of this type to go to the breakers.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Lyon 2001, p. 69
^ Lyon 2001, p. 19
^ Lyon 2001, p. 20
^ Lyon 2001, pp. 98–99
^ Friedman 2009, p. 40
^ Friedman 2009, p. 50
^ Manning 1961, p. 38
^ The Engineer 11 October 1895, p. 365
^ Brassey 1902, p. 274
^ ^a ^b Friedman 2009, p. 291
^ "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective: Devonport Dockyard". The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect. 1 October 1897. p. 264.
^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36696. London. 20 February 1902. p. 10.
^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36764. London. 10 May 1902. p. 8.
^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36769. London. 16 May 1902. p. 11.
^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36771. London. 19 May 1902. p. 8.
^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36839. London. 6 August 1902. p. 8.
^ "The Coronation - Naval Review". The Times. No. 36845. London. 13 August 1902. p. 4.
^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36854. London. 23 August 1902. p. 8.
^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36883. London. 26 September 1902. p. 8.
^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36933. London. 24 November 1902. p. 7.
^ Brown 2003, pp. 178, 187.
^ Friedman 2009, p. 108.
^ Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers May 1907, p. 562.

Bibliography

Brassey, T.A. (1902). The Naval Annual 1902. Portsmouth, UK: J. Griffin and Co.
Brown, David K. (2003). Warrior to Dreadnought: Warship Development 1860–1905. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-5292.
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.
Layman, R. D. (1994). "Naval Kite Trials". In Roberts, John (ed.). Warship 1994. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 35–51. ISBN 0-85177-630-2.
Lyon, David (2001) [1996]. The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-3648.
Manning, Captain T. D. (1961). The British Destroyer. Putnam and 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.
"Speed Trials of the Torpedo Boat Destroyer Starfish" (PDF). The Engineer. 80: 365. 11 October 1895.
"Ships: England: Sale of Obsolete War Vessels". Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers. XIX (2): 562. May 1907.