H.M.S. Bat (1896)

H.M.S. Bat (1896)
Pendant Number:	P.97 (1914) D.46 (Sep 1915) D.09 (Jan 1918) H.87 (Sep 1918)
Builder:	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company
Ordered:	1895-96 Programme
Laid down:	28 May, 1896
Launched:	7 Oct, 1896
Commissioned:	Aug, 1897
Sold:

H.M.S. Bat was one of forty "C" class destroyers built for the Royal Navy — a "30 knotter".

Service

Bat was leader of the Devonport Flotilla in mid-1899 under command of Alexander Ludovic Duff.

In early March, 1901, Bat returned to Plymouth, escorting H.M.S. Fairy, whose Lieutenant and Commander Barkley, who had been injured by a fall down a hatch.

In July 1913, she was part of the Sixth Destroyer Flotilla, a patrol flotilla.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Commander Arthur H. Shirley, 2 December, 1897 – 14 January, 1898
• Commander Alexander L. Duff, 14 January, 1898 – 14 January, 1900  (and Captain (D) of the Devonport Flotilla during exercises)
• Commander Pennant A. I. Lloyd, 14 January, 1900 – 8 March, 1900
• Commander Arthur P. James, 1901 – 16 May, 1901
• Commander Roger J. B. Keyes, 1 May, 1901 – 5 January, 1902
• Lieutenant & Commander James U. Farie, 2 September, 1902 – late 1902  (for passage to Mediterranean)
• Commander Douglas E. R. Brownrigg, 15 January, 1903 – 20 October, 1903
• Commander John Luce, 21 December, 1903 – 1 June, 1904  (and in command of a division of T.B.Ds.)
• Lieutenant & Commander Samuel Collins, 1 June, 1904
• Lieutenant & Commander Philip D. R. West, 2 January, 1905 – 23 March, 1907
• Lieutenant & Commander Richard A. A. Plowden, 23 March, 1907 – 13 May, 1908
• Commander James U. Farie, 13 May, 1908 – 6 August, 1908
• Lieutenant & Commander Richard A. A. Plowden, 6 October, 1908 – 13 March, 1909
• Lieutenant & Commander John E. P. Bickford, 20 March, 1909 – 18 October, 1909
• Lieutenant & Commander Eric Q. Carter, 19 October, 1909 – 10 January, 1910
• Lieutenant & Commander The Hon. William S. Leveson-Gower, 10 January, 1910 – 13 May, 1910
• Lieutenant & Commander Arthur Henniker-Heaton, 1910 – February, 1911
• Lieutenant in Command William J. Whitworth, 22 February, 1911 – 3 February, 1912
• Lieutenant & Commander Roy Bacchus, 20 February, 1912 – 16 December, 1913
• Lieutenant in Command Desmond Maxwell, 3 February, 1914 – 9 December, 1915
• Lieutenant in Command George A. Scott, 8 December, 1915 – 2 April, 1916
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command Arthur H. Hignett, 6 April, 1916
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command Geoffrey H. Barnish, 1 July, 1918 – 31 July, 1918
• Acting Lieutenant-Commander R.N.R. Francis G. Spriddell, 25 July, 1918

Torpedoes

In October 1898, the ship became the first destroyer in the Royal Navy to receive a torpedo fitted for a gyroscope, drawn from the Portsmouth Depot, a single 18-in R.G.F. Mark IV Torpedo, S.L. type, manufactured by Whitehead.

Her gyro hardware is still seemingly unique in that it is noted in her results of a flotilla exercise of July 1899, where she scored one hit in three shots. She is the only destroyer whose results are so noted.

See Also

• Wikipedia