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
HMS Chamois
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Chamois
Ordered9 January 1896
BuilderPalmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
Cost£52,410[1]
Yard number713
Laid down28 May 1896
Launched9 November 1896
CommissionedNovember 1897
FateFoundered in the Gulf of Patras, 26 September 1904
General characteristics [2][3]
Class and typePalmer three-funnel, 30-knot destroyer
Displacement
  • 390 long tons (396 t) standard
  • 440 long tons (447 t) full load
Length219 ft 9 in (66.98 m) o/a
Beam20 ft 9 in (6.32 m)
Draught8 ft 11 in (2.72 m)
Installed power6,000 shp (4,500 kW)
Propulsion
Speed30 kn (56 km/h)
Range
  • 80 tons coal
  • 1,490 nmi (2,760 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement60 officers and men
Armament

Construction

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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

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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] and in early January 1903 there was a similar three-weeks cruise in the Greek islands around Corfu.[10]

Loss

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On 26 September 1904, she was the victim of a bizarre accident. While conducting a full-power trial[11] 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[12][13] in 30 fathoms (55 m) of water[11] about 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) from the coast north of the modern village of Araxos.[14] All hands were saved,[8] but two men were injured with one of them dying the following day.[15]

References

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  1. ^ David Lyon (1996). The First Destroyers. Chatham Publishing. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-86176-005-0. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  2. ^ Jane, Fred T. (1969) [1905]. Jane's Fighting Ships 1905. New York: first published by Sampson Low Marston, London 1905, reprinted ARCO Publishing Company. p. 77.
  3. ^ a b c Jane, Fred T. (1990) [1919, reprinted]. Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. Jane’s Publishing © 1919. p. 76. ISBN 1-85170-378-0.
  4. ^ a b Jane, Fred T. (1969) [1898]. Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships 1898. New York: first published by Sampson Low Marston, London 1898, reprinted ARCO Publishing Company. pp. 84 to 85.
  5. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36087. London. 12 March 1900. p. 7.
  6. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36091. London. 16 March 1900. p. 6.
  7. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36553. London. 6 September 1901. p. 8.
  8. ^ a b "Torpedo Destroyer Lost. H.M S. Chamois Founders During a Speed Trial. The Crew Saved". The Bendingo Advertiser (Victoria (Australia)). 29 September 1904. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  9. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36883. London. 26 September 1902. p. 8.
  10. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36983. London. 21 January 1903. p. 8.
  11. ^ a b "A Naval Disaster - The Chamois Sinks". The Advertiser (Adelaide, South Australia). 29 September 1904. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  12. ^ ""Arrowsmith" List – Part 1 Destroyer Prototypes through "River" Class". Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  13. ^ "HMS Chamois at the Naval Database website".
  14. ^ "HMS Chamois [+1904]". www.wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  15. ^ "The Loss of the Chamois" (PDF). The Engineer: 326. 30 September 1904. ISSN 0013-7758. Retrieved 21 June 2013.

Bibliography

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  • 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.
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38°14′N 21°24′E / 38.233°N 21.400°E / 38.233; 21.400