HMS ''Vindictive'' was a British built at

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century ...

. She was launched on 9 December 1897 and completed in 1899. The vessel participated in the

Zeebrugge Raid The Zeebrugge Raid ( nl, Aanval op de haven van Zeebrugge; ) on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The British intended to sink obsolete ships in the canal entrance, to prevent Germ ...

Service history

''Vindictive'' served with the Mediterranean Squadron from 1900,. Attached to the cruised division, she visited Larnaka in June 1902, and took part in combined manoeuvres between the Mediterranean and Channel fleets in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

and off

Argostoli Argostoli ( el, Αργοστόλι, Katharevousa: Ἀργοστόλιον) is a town and a municipality on the island of Kefalonia, Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is one of the three municipalities on the islan ...

in September and October that year. She was refitted in 1909–10 for service in the 3rd Division of the Home Fleet. In March 1912 she became a tender to the training establishment HMS ''Vernon''. Obsolescent by the outbreak of

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in August 1914 she was assigned to the 9th Cruiser Squadron and captured the German merchantmen ''Schlesien'' and ''Slawentzitz'' on 7 August and 8 September respectively. In 1915 she was stationed on the southeast coast of South America. From 1916 to late 1917 she served in the

White Sea The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is s ...

. Early in 1918 she was fitted out for the

. Most of her guns were replaced by howitzers,

flame-thrower A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in Worl ...

s and mortars. On 23 April 1918 she was in fierce action at Zeebrugge when she went alongside the

mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America * Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...

, and her upperworks were badly damaged by gunfire, her Captain, Alfred Carpenter was awarded a

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

for his actions during the raid. This event was famously painted by Charles de Lacy, the painting hangs in the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), commonly known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

. In addition to her usual complement, she embarked

Royal Marine The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

gunners to man the supplementary armament, and a larger raiding party. This comprised two of the three infantry companies of the 4th Battalion, Royal Marine Light Infantry, (their third company was embarked on the

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

), along with two "companies" of seamen raiders commanded by Lieutenant Commander Bryan Fullerton Adams and Lieutenant Arthur Chamberlain ("A" & "B" seamen Companies) respectively. She was sunk as a

blockship A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used. It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of at Portland Harbour in 1914 ...

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

during the

Second Ostend Raid The Second Ostend Raid (officially known as Operation VS) was the later of two failed attempts made during the spring of 1918 by the United Kingdom's Royal Navy to block the channels leading to the Belgian port of Ostend as a part of its confl ...

on 10 May 1918. HM Motor Launch 254 picked up 38 survivors of Vindictive's 55 crewmen. The ship's Commander

Alfred Godsal Alfred Edmund Godsal DSO, Croix de Guerre (1884 – 10 May 1918) was a British officer of the Royal Navy who commanded in the First Ostend Raid on 23 April 1918. In the early hours of 10 May 1918 he was killed in action commanding during the S ...

perished on board. The wreck was raised on 16 August 1920 and subsequently broken up. The bow section has been preserved in Ostend harbour serving as a memorial. One of ''Vindictive''s 7.5-inch howitzers was acquired and preserved by the Imperial War Museum. The Zeebrugge and Ostend Raids, with their associated crop of VCs, had given the ship late celebrity and her name was perpetuated by renaming the aircraft carrier HMS ''Cavendish'', which was under construction, as . Image:HMS Vindictive Zeebrugge Raid.jpg, HMS ''Vindictive'' sunk after the Second Ostend Raid. Image:HMS Vindictive damaged superstructure following the Zeebrugge Raid (27443396633).jpg, ''Vindictives damaged superstructure Image:HMS_Vindictive_War_Memorial_10001.jpg, HMS ''Vindictive'' memorial in Ostend at its original location. Image:Vindictive.jpg, HMS ''Vindictive'' memorial in Ostend at its new location. Image:Charles John De Lacy - HMS 'Vindictive' at Zeebrugge, 23 April 1918.jpg, Charles John De Lacy - ''HMS 'Vindictive' at Zeebrugge, 23 April 1918'' Image:Imperial War Museum Galleries at the Crystal Palace, 1920-1924 Q20555.jpg, 7.5-inch howitzer, fitted to HMS ''Vindictive'' for the Zeebrugge Raid.

References

Publications

External links

Arrogant Class Second Class Protected Cruiser

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vindictive (1897) Arrogant-class cruisers Ships built in Chatham 1897 ships World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea Maritime incidents in 1918