HMS ''Havock'' was a

torpedo boat 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 ...

of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

built by the Yarrow shipyard. She was one of the first destroyers ordered by the Royal Navy, and the first to be delivered.

Design and construction

''Havock'' had a full load

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics * Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of 275 tons and a speed of . She differed from her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

in having 2 locomotive boilers placed end-to-end, while ''Hornet'' had 8 water tube boilers. This resulted in an obvious external difference, since ''Hornet'' had 4 funnels (with the centre pair close together) while ''Havock'' had 2 closely spaced funnels. She was launched on 12 August 1893.

Armament

''Havock'' was armed with a single 12-pounder gun mounted on a pedestal at the conning position, an exposed location that was extremely wet in even moderately rough weather. Three 6 pounder QF guns were mounted, with two either side of, and slightly abaft of, the conning position, and the third placed near the stern just aft of the torpedo tubes. Three 18-inch (450mm) torpedo tubes were fitted, with two in a turntable towards the stern, and able to fire on either side. The third torpedo tube was fitted at the bow, with the torpedo ejected from the tube by a gunpowder charge.Lyon (1996), p.54. This fitting was later removed, as it was found that the fitting was extremely exposed, and the boat had a tendency to outpace its own torpedo when running at high speed.Lyon (1996), p.98.

Career

''Havock'' "behaved well" on trials in late 1893, with her top speed indicating that she was capable of keeping up with

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

s. It was noted that her trial demonstrated better fuel efficiency than her sister, ''Hornet''.Lyon (1996), p.55. In 1896 ''Havock'' was in reserve at

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 ...

. In 1899–1900 she was re-boilered with conventional ship water tube boilers, changing her silhouette to have three funnels, with the centre one somewhat thicker than the others. By this period such a layout was considered standard for torpedo boat destroyers. ''Havock''s career was spent entirely around the British Isles. Lieutenant H. C. J. R. West was appointed in command on 1 March 1902, and shortly thereafter commissioned her for service with the

Medway Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to for ...

Instructional Flotilla. Her officers and crew were transferred to the destroyer in early May 1902, and she was commissioned on 8 May as tender to , the shore establishment 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 ...

. She took part in the

Coronation Review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...

for 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 16 August 1902, with Lieutenant L. T. Jones temporarily in command from 8 August.

Fate

''Havock'' was sold on 14 May 1912Lyon (1996), p.56. and was broken up.

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Havock (1893) Havock-class destroyers Ships built in Cubitt Town 1893 ships