HMS Hussar (1894)
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HMS ''Hussar'' was a of the
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 ...
. She was launched in 1894 and served in the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
between 1896 and 1905 before being used for fishery protection. During the Dardanelles campaign of 1915 her commanding officer and two of her ship's company won the
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 ...
. She was broken up in 1921.


Design

Ordered under the Naval Defence Act of 1889, which established the "Two-Power Standard", the class was contemporary with the first
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. With a length overall of , a beam of and a displacement of 1,070 tons, these torpedo gunboats were not small ships by the standard of the time; they were larger than the majority of World War I destroyers. ''Hussar'' was engined by
Hawthorn Leslie and Company R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilder and locomotive manufacturer. The company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982. History The company was formed ...
with two sets of vertical triple-expansion steam engines, two locomotive-type boilers, and twin screws. This layout produced , giving her a speed of . She carried between 100 and 160 tons of coal and was crewed by 120 sailors and officers.


Armament

When built ''Hussar'' acquired a different armament from the rest of the class; she was fitted with one (instead of two) QF gun, one (instead of four) 6-pounder guns and two additional 12-pounder guns. Her primary weapon was five 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes,British "18 inch" torpedoes were 17.72 inches (45.0 cm) in diameter with two reloads. On conversion to a minesweeper in 1914 two of the five torpedo tubes were removed.


History

''Hussar'' served on the
Mediterranean Station The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a military formation, formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vita ...
between 1896 and 1905. During part of her time there, she operated in the International Squadron, a multinational force made up of ships of the
Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (german: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', hu, Császári és Királyi Haditengerészet) was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the A ...
,
French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
,
Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...
, Italian Royal Navy (''
Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...
''),
Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a ...
, and Royal Navy that intervened in the 1897-1898 Greek Christian uprising against the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
′s rule in
Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
. On 6 November 1898, the last Ottoman forces on Crete, supervised by members of the crews of the British
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 and , embarked on ''Hussar'' for transportation to
Salonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
, bringing 229 years of Ottoman occupation of Crete to an end.
Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...
Marcus Rowley Hill was appointed in command of ''Hussar'' on 11 April 1899. In early February 1900 she left
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
homeward bound, and later that month arrived at Devonport, where she paid off on 12 March. She was re-commissioned by Lieutenant Adolphus Huddlestone Williamson the same day, and returned to the Mediterranean. In June 1902 she visited
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
, in October that year she was at
Syracuse, Sicily Syracuse ( ; it, Siracusa ; scn, Sarausa ), ; grc-att, wikt:Συράκουσαι, Συράκουσαι, Syrákousai, ; grc-dor, wikt:Συράκοσαι, Συράκοσαι, Syrā́kosai, ; grc-x-medieval, Συρακοῦσαι, Syrakoûs ...
, and late that year she was at
Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...
and visited the
Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...
.


Yacht to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean

In 1907 ''Hussar'' had her armament removed and was converted to become the
yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
and
despatch vessel Dispatch boats were small boats, and sometimes large ships, tasked to carry military dispatches from ship to ship or from ship to shore or, in some cases from shore to shore. Dispatch boats were employed when other means of transmitting a message w ...
for the Royal Navy's Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean.


Fitted as a minesweeper

In 1914 ''Hussar'' was converted into a
minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...
, which was the fate of many such torpedo gunboats.


Dardanelles (1915)

In February 1915, Commander
Edward Unwin Captain Edward Unwin, (20 April 1864 – 19 April 1950) was a Royal Navy officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Ear ...
took command of ''Hussar''. For the
landing at Cape Helles The landing at Cape Helles ( tr, Seddülbahir Çıkarması) was part of the Gallipoli Campaign the amphibious landings on the Gallipoli peninsula by British and French forces on 25 April 1915 during the First World War. Helles, at the foot o ...
on 25 April 1915, Unwin took command of the steamer SS ''River Clyde''. Unwin received the
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 landing, as did two of his crew from ''Hussar'' who were also on ''River Clyde'',
Able Seaman An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination ...
William Williams and
Seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...
George Samson.


Disposal

''Hussar'' was initially sold in December 1920, but was resold on 13 July 1921 to L Gatt, of
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
for breaking up.


Notes


References


Bibliography

* *
McTiernan, Mick, ''A Very Bad Place Indeed For a Soldier. The British involvement in the early stages of the European Intervention in Crete. 1897 - 1898,'' King's College, London, September 2014.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hussar (1894) Dryad-class torpedo gunboats Ships built in Plymouth, Devon 1894 ships Victorian-era gunboats of the United Kingdom World War I minesweepers of the United Kingdom