HMSFlying Fish
History
United Kingdom
Name	Flying Fish
Ordered	1895 – 1896 Naval Estimates
Builder	Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron CompanyJarrow-on-Tyne
Laid down	9 August 1896
Launched	4 March 1897
Commissioned	June 1898
Out of service	Laid up in reserve, 1919
Fate	Sold for breaking, 30 August 1919
General characteristics
Class and type	Palmer three funnel, 30 knotdestroyer[1][2]
Displacement	390 long tons (396 t) standard 420 long tons (427 t) full load
Length	219 ft 9 in (66.98 m)o/a
Beam	20 ft 9 in (6.32 m)
Draught	8 ft 11 in (2.72 m)
Installed power	6,000 shp (4,500 kW)
Propulsion	4 ×Reed water tube boilers 2 × vertical triple-expansionsteam engines 2 shafts
Speed	30 kn (56 km/h)
Range	80 tons coal 1,490 nmi (2,760 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h)
Complement	60 officers and men
Armament	1 ×QF 12-pounder 12 cwt Mark I L/40 naval gun on a P Mark I low angle mount 5 ×QF 6-pdr 8 cwt L/40 naval gun on a Mark I* low angle mount 2 × singletubes for18-inch (450mm) torpedoes

HMSFlying Fish was aPalmer three funnel, 30 knotdestroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1896 – 1897 Naval Estimates. She was the tenth ship to carry this name.^[3][4]

Flying Fish was laid down on 9 August 1896 at thePalmer shipyard atJarrow-on-Tyne and launched on 4 March 1897. During her builder’s trials she made her contracted speed requirement. She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in June 1898.^[3][4]

After commissioning she was assigned to the East Coast Flotilla of the 1st Fleet based at Harwich.

She served in the Portsmouth instructional flotilla under the command of CommanderMorgan Singer until early January 1901.^[5] On 16 December 1901Flying Fish was re-commissioned by Lieutenant Hugh Percival Buckle for service on theMediterranean Station, astender to thebattleshipRoyal Oak.^[6] After leavingDevonport for her commission in February 1902, she encountered hard weather in theBay of Biscay and was knocked about so that she started leaking, and had to port atBrest. She was sufficiently repaired to be able to return to Devonport for more extensive repairs in late February,^[7] and eventually arrived atMalta two months late on 16 April 1902.^[8] In September 1902 she visited theAegean Sea with other ships of the station for combined manoeuvres nearNauplia.^[9]

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 30-knots and she had three funnels she was assigned to the C class. 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.^[10]

For the test mobilization in July 1914Flying Fish was assigned to the8th Destroyer Flotilla based at Chatham. In August she deployed with the 8th Flotilla to the Tyne River. The destroyer performed patrol duties with the Tyne Patrol including anti-submarine and counter-mining patrols.

In May 1916 when she was deployed to the7th Destroyer Flotilla based at the Humber River. She performed patrol duties on the Humber Patrol including anti-submarine and counter-mining patrols. She would remain there for the remainder of the war.

In 1919Flying Fish was paid off and laid-up in reserve awaiting disposal. She was sold on 30 August 1919 to TR Sales for breaking.^[11]

Note: All tabular data under General Characteristics only from the listed Jane's Fighting Ships volume unless otherwise specified

• Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979).Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press.ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969].Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing.ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J. (1972).British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan.ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
• Friedman, Norman (2009).British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
• Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985).Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press.ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Lyon, David (2001) [1996].The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions.ISBN 1-84067-3648.
• Manning, T. D. (1961).The British Destroyer. London: Putnam & Co.OCLC 6470051.
• March, Edgar J. (1966).British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service.OCLC 164893555.

• Ships built on the River Tyne
• 1897 ships
• C-class destroyers (1913)
• World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from February 2017
• Use British English from February 2017