HMS Minerva (1895)
.jpg) Minerva at anchor shortly after her completion
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Minerva |
| Namesake | Minerva |
| Builder | Chatham Dockyard |
| Laid down | 4 December 1893 |
| Launched | 23 September 1895 |
| Completed | 4 February 1897 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 5 October 1920 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Eclipse-class protected cruiser |
| Displacement | 5,600 long tons (5,690 t) |
| Length | 350 ft (106.7 m) |
| Beam | 53 ft 6 in (16.3 m) |
| Draught | 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts, 2 Inverted triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph) |
| Complement | 450 |
| Armament |
|
| Armour |
|
HMS Minerva was an Eclipse-class protected cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1890s.
Construction and operational history
The ship was laid down at Chatham Dockyard, Kent, on 4 December 1893, and was floated out on 23 September 1895.[1]
Pre-1914
HMS Minerva served in the
Belleville boilers of HMS Hyacinth, with the performance of the boilers being compared at various powers in tests in the English Channel, followed by long sea runs to the Mediterranean Sea and back. While the Belleville water-tube boilers of Hyacinth proved to be more efficient than Minerva's cylindrical boilers, and lighter, but on the long runs to and from the Mediterranean, Hyacinth's boilers proved prone to leaks, and suffered a burst boiler tube.[4] The results of these and similar trials led to the use of Belleville boilers in new construction to be stopped.[5]
She took part in the
coronation of King Edward VII,[6] and visited the Aegean Sea with other ships of the Channel squadron and Mediterranean Fleet for combined manoeuvres in September and early October 1902,[7] returning to Chatham on 20 October. Captain Doveton Sturdee was appointed in command on 17 October 1902.[8]
The ship was present at the relief operations in
Vittorio Emanuele III.[9]
Minerva transferred from the Mediterranean to the United Kingdom in 1912, taking part in the rescue attempts when the submarine HMS B2 was sunk in a collision in October 1912.[10]
First World War
On the outbreak of the
First World War in August 1914, Minerva was part of the 11th Cruiser Squadron based in Ireland, but was detached to join the 5th Cruiser Squadron in September, with the responsibility of intercepting enemy merchant shipping trying to return to Germany or Austria. During these operations it captured and scuttled the Austrian merchant ship Bathori off Vigo, in North-West Spain on 3 September 1914.[10][11][12]
Minerva escorted a troop convoy from Britain to
Kennet and Wear, forced Demirhisar to run aground, where the Turkish torpedo boat was later destroyed.[11][10][13] Minerva supported the landing at Cape Helles in April and at Suvla Bay in August.[11]
Minerva was deployed to the
China Station in 1916, and then to the Indian Ocean and Red Sea in 1917, then remaining off East Africa until the end of the war. She returned to Queenstown, Ireland in 1920, and was sold for scrapping on 5 October 1920.[14]
Footnotes
- ^ The Times (London), Tuesday, 24 September 1895, p. 8
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36409. London. 22 March 1901. p. 11.
- ^ Archives, The National. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ Brassey 1902, pp. 165–173.
- ^ Brown 2003, p. 165.
- ^ "The Coronation - Naval Review". The Times. No. 36845. London. 13 August 1902. p. 4.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36880. London. 23 September 1902. p. 8.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36904. London. 21 October 1902. p. 5.
- ^ "Awards granted for service after the Messina Earthquake 1908". North East Medals. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
- ^ a b c Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 15.
- ^ a b c Rickard, J. "HMS Minerva". historyofwar.org. 11 November 2007. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
- ^ "I. Steamers: (i) Sunk by Warships or Mines" (PDF). Lloyds Register of Shipping: Returns of Vessels Totally Lost, Condemned, &c. 1 July – 30 September 1914. p. 9. Retrieved 12 April 2020 – via Lloyd's Register Foundation.
- ^ Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 392.
- ^ Gardiner and Gray 1985, pp. 14–15.
References
- Brassey, T. A. The Naval Annual 1902. Portsmouth, UK: J Griffin and Co, 1902.
- Brown, D. K. Warrior to Dreadnought: Warship Development 1860–1905. . London: Caxton Editions, 2003. ISBN 1-84067-529-2.
- Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway's Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
- Gardiner, Robert and Randal Gray, (eds). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press, 1985. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Hythe, Viscount. The Naval Annual 1912. Portsmouth, UK: J Griffin, 1912.
- McBride, Keith (2012). "The Cruiser Family Talbot". In John Jordan (ed.). Warship 2012. London: Conway. pp. 136–41. ISBN 978-1-84486-156-9.
- Moore, John. Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. London:Studio, 1990. ISBN 1 85170 378 0.
Further reading
- "The Boiler Trials of H.M.S. "Hyacinth" and H.M.S. "Minerva"" (PDF). Engineering. 30 August 1901. pp. 283–285.
External links
Media related to HMS Minerva (ship, 1895) at Wikimedia Commons
