HMS ''Lightning'' was a 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 ...

, later designated an destroyer, built by Palmers and launched in 1895.

Design and construction

Three

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 1 ...

s were ordered on 7 November 1893 from the

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is situated on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. It is home to the southern portal of the Tyne ...

shipbuilders,

Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as "Palmers", was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British shipbuilder, shipbuilding company. The Company was based in Jarrow, County Durham, in north-eastern ...

for the Royal Navy as part of the 1893–1894 Naval Estimates. These three ships, , ''Lightning'' and were part of a larger group of 36 destroyers ordered as part of this shipbuilding programme, as a follow-on to the six prototype "26-knotters" ordered in the previous 1892–1893 Estimates.Lyon 2001, p. 77.Lyon 2001, pp. 19–20. 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, Traf ...

laid down broad requirements for the destroyers, including a speed of on sea trials, with the detailed design left to the builders, resulting in each of the builders producing different designs.Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 87.Manning 1961, p. 39. Palmers' design was

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the stern ...

, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draught of .

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 ...

was light and full load. Four

Reed water tube boiler The Reed water tube boiler was a type of water tube boiler developed by J. W. Reed, manager of the engine works at Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company of Jarrow, England, where it was manufactured from 1893 to 1905. At this time, Palmer ...

s fed steam at to two triple expansion steam engines rated at and driving two propeller shafts. Three funnels were fitted.Friedman 2009, p. 54. Armament consisted of a single QF 12 pounder 12 cwt gun and three 6-pounder guns, with two 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.Friedman 2009, p. 291. One of the torpedo tubes could be removed to accommodate a further two six-pounders,Lyon 2001, pp. 98–99. although the Palmer 27-knotters later carried both the two torpedo tubes and all 5 six-pounder guns.Lyon 2003, p. 100. ''Lightning'', together with the other two Palmer-built destroyers, was laid down on 28 March 1894, and was launched on 10 April 1895.Friedman 2009, p. 302. ''Lightning'' exceeded the required 27 knots, reaching an average of during

sea trials A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and i ...

on 5 November 1895.Brassey 1897, p. 321. She collided with the collier ''Belvedere'' on 8 November when returning to port from these trials, damaging her bows, and then ran aground on the

Maplin Sands The Maplin Sands are mudflats on the northern bank of the Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in ...

. Staff Commander Bullmore, in command of the ship during the trials, was found guilty of hazarding the ship by negligence and being drunk when on board ''Lightning'' in the resultant

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

. He was severely reprimanded and lost five years seniority. Despite these mishaps ''Lightning'' completed in January 1896.

Service

The Palmer-built ships were considered the best of the 27-knotters, and at one stage, both ''Lightning'' and ''Janus'' were selected for service in distant overseas stations,Lyon 2001, p. 116. although in the end, only ''Janus'' was sent to 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 ...

, with ''Lightning'' serving her whole career in home waters. ''Lightning'' took part in the 1896 British Naval Manoeuvres, attached to the

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history the ...

operation from

Berehaven Castletownbere () is a town in County Cork in Ireland. It is located on the Beara Peninsula by Berehaven Harbour. It is also known as Castletown Berehaven. A regionally important fishing port, the town also serves as a commercial and retail hub ...

in southern Ireland.Brassey 1897, pp. 141–143, 149. She was based at

HMNB Portsmouth His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is lo ...

as a tender to ''Excellent'' in 1900. She underwent repairs to re-tube her boilers in 1902, and was commissioned by Lieutenant Rowland Henry Bather on 1 August 1902. She again had her boilers retubed 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 ...

in 1907, after which she returned to Portsmouth. On 17 February 1908 ''Lightning'' rammed a mooring

buoy A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. Types Navigational buoys * Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of yac ...

in Portsmouth harbour, holing her bow. In 1910, ''Lightning'' was part of the Sixth Destroyer Flotilla, based 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 ...

, still being based at the Nore in 1912. On 25 April 1912 ''Lightning'' collided with the torpedo boat in Stangate Creek. Both ships were damaged, and required docking for repair, with ''Lightning''s bow damaged and ''TB 17'' holed below the waterline. On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyers were to be grouped into classes designated by letters based on contract speed and appearance. After 30 September 1913, as a 27-knotter, ''Lightning'' was assigned to the A class.Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 18.Manning 1961, pp. 17–18.Dittmar and Colledge 1972, p. 56. ''Lightning'', assigned the

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

N.23, was allocated to the Nore Local Defence Flotilla by January 1915. On 30 June 1915, following the sighting of floating mines near the Kentish Knock

Lightvessel A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, t ...

, ''Lightning'' and the destroyer were sent out to deal with the mines. The two ships had destroyed three mines before ''Lightning'' struck another mine, lain by the German submarine , killing 15 of her crew. ''Lightning'' broke in half, the bow section sinking, while the stern was towed back to

and later scrapped. The ship's captain was absolved of any blame but was advised that he "might have considered he was in a mine field having already sighted three mines".

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lightning (1895) Janus-class destroyers 1895 ships Maritime incidents in 1915 Ships sunk by mines World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea