HMS ''Electra'' was a

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

-built, three-funnelled, 30-knot

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895–1896 Naval Estimates. She was the fourth ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1806 for a 16-gun brig-sloop. In 1913 she was grouped along with similar vessels as a .

Construction

She was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

yard number __NOTOC__ M ...

289 on 18 October 1895, at J & G Thompson shipyard in

, and launched on 14 July 1896. During her builder's trials, she had problems attaining her contract speed. Her hull was lengthened by , then she made her contract speed of . She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in July 1900.

Service

After commissioning ''Electra'' was assigned to the Chatham Division of the Harwich Flotilla. She was deployed in home waters for her entire service life. On 1 January 1901 she was commissioned by Lieutenant Bertram Sutton Evans as part of the

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

instructional flotilla, taking the place and crew from , but he was succeeded in command only two weeks later by Lieutenant Cecil Dacre Staveley Raikes. In June 1902 she took the place of in the

instructional flotilla, under the command of Lieutenant

Rowland Henry Bather Rowland may refer to: Places ;in the United States *Rowland Heights, California, an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County *Rowland, Kentucky, an unincorporated community *Rowland Township, Michigan *Rowland, Missouri, an unincorporated com ...

, but he transferred to after two months. The destroyer took part in the fleet review held at

Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...

on 16 August 1902 for the

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...

of King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

. On 30 August 1912 the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

directed all destroyer classes were to be designated by letters. Since her design speed was and she had three

funnels A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construc ...

, she was assigned with vessels built to the same specification as the C class. After 30 September 1913, she was known as a C-class destroyer and had the letter ‘C’ painted on the hull below the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

area and on either the fore or aft funnel. In 1914 she was in active commission at the

Nore The Nore is a long bank of sand and silt running along the south-centre of the final narrowing of the Thames Estuary, England. Its south-west is the very narrow Nore Sand. Just short of the Nore's easternmost point where it fades into the cha ...

based at

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...

tendered to , a Royal Navy training establishment. With the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914 she was assigned to the Nore Local Flotilla. Her duties included anti-submarine and counter-mining patrols in the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

. In 1919 she was

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...

and laid-up in

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

awaiting disposal. She was sold on 29 April 1920 to Barking Ship Breaking Company for breaking.

Pennant numbers

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

* http://www.gwpda.org/naval/s0420000.htm * http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/H.M.S._Electra_(1896) {{DEFAULTSORT:Electra (1896) Ships built on the River Clyde 1896 ships C-class destroyers (1913) World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom