H.M.S. Lynx (1894)

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H.M.S. Lynx (1894)
Builder: Laird[1]
Ordered: 1893[2]
Laid down: Jul, 1893[3]
Launched: 24 Jan, 1894[4]
Commissioned: Aug, 1895[5]
Broken up: 1912[6]

H.M.S. Lynx was one of six 26 Knotters, early Torpedo Boat Destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s.

Like the other 26 knotters, her useful life ran its course before the Great War.

Construction & Service

During trials conducted on 23 August, 1894, Lynx made a surprisingly good 28.3 knots before a pipe fitting burst, necessitating the postponement of the trial to the next day.[7]

On a passage from Birkenhead to Plymouth on 24 December 1894 under the temporary command of Lieutenant D. E. R. Brownrigg, Lynx ran aground along the Cornish coast and suffered a wedge-shaped hole near the keelson under the wardroom which varied from one to three inches in shape as well as a bent starboard propeller shaft. A day-long Court Martial was convened on 27 December, 1894 with Brownrigg, the boatswain, the look-out man, the quarter-master and the chief engine-room artificer giving evidence. A telegram to dockyard officials directed them to accept the boat immediately to relieve Laird Brothers of any further responsibility.[8]

The boat burst another steam pipe which caused her to miss the Annual Manoeuvres of 1895, as it was not repaired at Devonport before early August. Commander Bennett then took her on an economic trial run in the Channel during which she averaged 22.2 knots on 152 psi pressure, 309.3 rpm and 1,853 hp starboard and 303.4 rpm and 1,685 hp port.[9] Despite the seemingly low stress of this trial, an inspection upon her return showed significant leaking her water-tube boilers. Nonetheless, she had already been ordered placed into commission to replace the disabled H.M.S. Surly at Milford Haven.[10]

On 12 December 1895, she began a series of tests at Plymouth with the aim being to develop an indicated horsepower of 4,500.[11]

By January 1896, she had been fitted with a permanent installation of electric lights in her boiler and engine room – a luxury which was provided only temporarily for other destroyers recently commissioned at Devonport.[12]

On 26 February, the Devonport Torpedo Flotilla left harbour, consisting of Banshee, Lynx, and Ferret for a ten day cruise in the English and Irish Channels.[13] She would participate in the Annual Manoeuvres of 1896.

On 10.40am 29 September 1897, Thrasher and Lynx ran aground in fog off the Cornish coast at Dodman's Point. Lynx and her more heavily damaged consort were floated free and sent to Devonport. A Court Martial convened on 13 October aboard the torpedo training school H.M.S. Defiance under president Captain W. M. Lang of gunnery training school H.M.S. Cambridge.[14] Lynx's captain, Lieutenant John Garnet Armstrong, was charged with having negligently or by default stranded his ship.[15] The Court Martial lasted three days, and it emerged that Lynx had been astern Thrasher by a cable length, and this much relieved Armstrong of any possible fault. His sounding machine, though worked by an experienced man, had fouled and his patent log, which lost him his dead reckoning. That he had relied on the leadership of the ship ahead seemed right.[16]

In 1909, Lynx twice suffered misfortune at the hands of her then-master, Lieutenant Henry Taprell Dorling. She first ran aground, a misfortune for which Dorling received a caution directly from the C-in-C. A later collision with a schooner Mary was more ambiguous; both ships were judged to be at fault.[17]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 91.
  2. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 91.
  3. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 91.
  4. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 91.
  5. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 91.
  6. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 91.
  7. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Friday, Aug 24, 1894; pg. 8; Issue 34351.
  8. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Friday, Dec 28, 1894; pg. 8; Issue 34459.
  9. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Thursday, Aug 08, 1895; pg. 10; Issue 34650.
  10. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Friday, Aug 09, 1895; pg. 3; Issue 34651.
  11. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Thursday, Dec 12, 1895; pg. 7; Issue 34758.
  12. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Saturday, Jan 25, 1896; pg. 9; Issue 34796.
  13. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Thursday, Feb 27, 1896; pg. 11; Issue 34824.
  14. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Monday, Oct 11, 1897; pg. 7; Issue 35331.
  15. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Thursday, Oct 14, 1897; pg. 4; Issue 35334.
  16. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Saturday, Oct 16, 1897; pg. 10; Issue 35336.
  17. Dorling Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48. f. 5?.
  18. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Friday, Dec 28, 1894; pg. 8; Issue 34459.
  19. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Friday, Nov 01, 1895; pg. 7; Issue 34723.
  20. "Naval & Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Tuesday, 10 November, 1896. Issue 35044, col E, p. 9.
  21. "Naval & Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Thursday, 5 August, 1897. Issue 35274, col D, p. 11.
  22. Armstrong Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 160.
  23. "Naval & Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Tuesday, 2 January, 1900. Issue 36028, col E, p. 7.
  24. Radcliffe Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 342.
  25. Carr Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/444. f. 451.
  26. "APPOINTMENTS FOR THE NAVAL MANOEUVRES." The Times (London, England), Thursday, Jul 16, 1903; pg. 8; Issue 37134.
  27. Carr Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/444. f. 451.
  28. "Appointments for the Naval Manoeuvres." The Times (London, England), Saturday, Jul 09, 1904; pg. 12; Issue 37442.
  29. The Navy List. (November, 1905). p. 342.
  30. The Navy List. (March, 1907). p. 342.
  31. Boothby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/141/487. f. 485.
  32. The Navy List. (October, 1908). p. 342.
  33. Dorling Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48. f. 452.
  34. The Navy List. (July, 1909). p. 342.
  35. The Navy List. (April, 1911). p. 342.
  36. Wilkinson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/89. f. 47.
  37. The Navy List. (March, 1907). p. 400.
  38. Wilkinson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/89. f. 47.

Bibliography


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