HMS Chamois was a Palmer three-funnel, 30-knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895–1896 Naval Estimates. She was the first ship of the Royal Navy to carry this name.[3][4] She was commissioned in 1897 and served in both the Channel and the Mediterranean. She foundered in 1904 after her own propeller pierced her hull.

HMS Chamois
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Chamois
Ordered	9 January 1896
Builder	Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
Cost	£52,410[1]
Yard number	713
Laid down	28 May 1896
Launched	9 November 1896
Commissioned	November 1897
Fate	Foundered in the Gulf of Patras, 26 September 1904
General characteristics [2][3]
Class and type	Palmer three-funnel, 30-knot destroyer
Displacement	390 long tons (396 t) standard 440 long tons (447 t) full load
Length	219 ft 9 in (66.98 m) o/a
Beam	20 ft 9 in (6.32 m)
Draught	8 ft 11 in (2.72 m)
Installed power	6,000 shp (4,500 kW)
Propulsion	4 × Reed water tube boilers 2 × vertical triple-expansion steam engines 2 shafts
Speed	30 kn (56 km/h)
Range	80 tons coal 1,490 nmi (2,760 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement	60 officers and men
Armament	1 × QF 12-pounder 12 cwt Mark I L/40 naval gun on a P Mark I low angle mount 5 × QF 6-pdr 8 cwt L/40 naval gun on a Mark I* low angle mount 2 × single tubes for 18-inch (450mm) torpedoes

Construction

She was laid down on 28 May 1896 as yard number 713 at the Palmer shipyard at Jarrow-on-Tyne and launched on 9 November 1896. During her builder's trials she met her contracted speed requirement. Chamois was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in November 1897.[3][4]

Service

Chamois returned to Portsmouth with her shaft bent in early 1900. She was commissioned for service in the Channel Fleet on 15 March 1900,[5] but he and the crew transferred to HMS Sylvia only days later as the Chamois needed further repairs.[6] She was re-commissioned at Portsmouth on 5 September 1901, with the crew of Albatross, to replace that vessel on the Mediterranean Station.[7] She was later deployed as a tender to the destroyer depot ship HMS Leander at Malta.[8] In September 1902 she visited Nauplia and Souda Bay with other ships of the fleet.[9]

Loss

On 26 September 1904, she was the victim of a bizarre accident. While conducting a full-power trial[10] in the Gulf of Patras off the Greek coast she lost a propeller blade. The loss of the blade unbalanced the shaft, which was spinning at high speed. The resulting vibration broke the shaft bracket and tore a large hole in the hull. She sank by the stern[11][12] in 30 fathoms (55 m) of water[10] about 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) from the coast north of the modern village of Araxos.[13] All hands were saved,[8] but two men were injured with one of them dying the following day.[14]

References

Bibliography

• 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.
• Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
• 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.
• Lyon, David (2001) [1996]. The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-3648.
• Manning, T. D. (1961). The British Destroyer. London: Putnam & 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.

External links

• YouTube - diving the wreck of HMS Chamois