HMS ''Otter'' was a
Vickers three-funnel, 30-knot destroyer 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 1782 for a fire ship, sold in 1801.
Construction and career
She was laid down on 9 June 1896, at the Barrow Shipbuilding Company shipyard at
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of B ...
, and launched on 23 November 1896. During her builder's trials she made her contracted speed requirement. In 1897 during the construction of these ships, the Barrow Shipbuilding Company was purchases by
Vickers, Sons and Maxim and renamed as the Naval Construction and Armaments Shipyard. She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in March 1900.
''Otter'' was commissioned at
Devonport on 27 March 1900 for the
China Station
The Commander-in-Chief, China was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941.
From 1831 to 18 ...
, serving as
tender to on her way out.> Her temporary officer in command for the voyage was Lieutenant Henry Douglas Wilkin. She arrived at the station after the
Boxer Rebellion operations were completed, and was based at
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
.
Her boilers were re-tubed and her hull and machinery refitted in 1902.
On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyer classes were to be designated by alpha characters starting with the letter 'A'. Since her design speed was and she had three funnels, she was assigned to the . After 30 September 1913, she was known as a C-class destroyer and had the letter 'C' painted on the hull below the bridge area and on either the fore or aft funnel.
World War I
In August 1914 she was slated for disposal but the outbreak of the First World War granted her a reprieve.
On 5 January 1915, General Officer Commanding (GOC) Hong Kong came on board HMS ''Triumph'' to witness two night attacks made by HMS ''Whiting'' and HMS ''Otter''; these were primarily designed for training of the searchlight crews of .
In 1916 she was paid off and laid-up in awaiting disposal. She was finally sold on 25 October 1916 for breaking in Hong Kong.
Pennant numbers
It is unknown if she was assigned a pennant number as no record has been found.
References
NOTE: All tabular data under General Characteristics only from the listed Jane's Fighting Ships volume unless otherwise specified
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Otter (1896)
Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
1896 ships
C-class destroyers (1913)
World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom