 Halcyon | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Halcyon |
| Builder | Devonport Dockyard |
| Laid down | 2 January 1893[1] |
| Launched | 6 April 1894 |
| Commissioned | 16 May 1895[1] |
| Fate | Sold for breaking on 6 November 1919 |
| General characteristics[1] | |
| Class & type | Dryad-classtorpedo gunboat |
| Displacement | 1,070 tons |
| Length | 262 ft 6 in (80.0 m) |
| Beam | 30 ft 6 in (9.3 m) |
| Draught | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
| Installed power | 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 19 kn (35 km/h) |
| Complement | 120 |
| Armament |
|
The thirdHMSHalcyon was aDryad-classtorpedo gunboat[1] of theRoyal Navy. Once described as "perhaps the smallest and least formidable vessel that ever crept into the 'Navy List'",[2] she waslaunched in 1894 and was put up for sale before World War I. She was recommissioned in 1913, was converted to aminesweeper and served under the orders of the Admiral Commanding Coast Guard and Reserves. She was sold forbreaking in 1919.
Ordered under theNaval Defence Act of 1889, which establishedthe "Two-Power Standard", the class was contemporary with the firsttorpedo boat destroyers. With a length overall of 262 ft 6 in (80.01 m),[1] a beam of 30 ft 6 in (9.30 m)[1] and adisplacement of 1,070 tons,[1] these torpedo gunboats were not small ships by the standard of the time; they were larger than the majority of World War I destroyers.Halcyon was engined byHawthorn Leslie and Company[1] with two sets of verticaltriple-expansion steam engines, two locomotive-type boilers, and twin screws.Halcyon produced 6,000indicated horsepower (4,500 kW),[1] nearly twice the power of the rest of her class. She was capable of 19[3] or 20 knots (37 km/h).[1] She carried between 100 and 160 tons of coal and was manned by 120 sailors and officers.[1]
The armament when built comprised twoQF 4.7-inch (12 cm) guns, four 6-pounder guns and a single 5-barrelled Nordenfelt machine gun. Her primary weapon was five18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes,[Note 1] with two reloads.[1] On conversion to a minesweeper in 1914 two of the five torpedoes were removed.[1]
Halcyon was laid down atDevonport Dockyard on 2 January 1893[1] and launched on 6 April 1894.[4]
On 26 June 1897Halcyon was present at theFleet Review at Spithead in celebration ofQueen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.[3]
HMSHalcyon was commissioned to serve at theMediterranean Station by Commander Scott W. A. Hamilton Gray in March 1898. She was stationed atSouda Bay in early March 1900,[5] but later the same month left forPort Said to temporary relieveHMS Rupert as coast defence ship.[6] In May 1901 she left the Mediterranean and paid off atDevonport, to be placed in the Fleet Reserve for refitting.[7]
Although being offered for sale,[3] she was recommissioned with a new crew from the Chatham Depot by Commander A.A. Ellison, R.N., at Sheerness on 5 July 1913, to do duty as Senior Naval Officer’s Ship, North Sea Fisheries, under the orders of the Admiral Commanding Coast Guard and Reserves.[8][3]
She was involved in theRaid on Yarmouth on 3 November 1914, when she was surprised by enemy cruisers, whom she challenged, and who responded shortly after 7:00 a.m. with gunfire.[9]
Halcyon, perhaps the smallest and least formidable vessel that ever crept into the ‘Navy List’ [sic], engaged the enemy imperturbably when they fled, losing one man from a fragment of shell, though practically unhurt herself. Private letters speak of salvoes falling short and over in the most disconcerting manner, and of the ship being so drenched with water as to be in danger of foundering.”[10]
On 29 July 1917,Halcyon spotted a periscope near the Smiths Knoll buoy east of Yarmouth, and carried out a ramming attack, followed by dropping twodepth charges.Halcyon was credited with sinking the submarine,UB-27.[11]
She was sold to J H Lee of Dover for breaking on 6 November 1919.[1]