HMS Lee was a Doxford three funnel - 30 knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1898 – 1899 Naval Estimates. She was the sixth ship to carry this name since its introduction in 1776 for a 6-gun sloop for service on the Great Lakes.[3][4]

History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameLee
Ordered1898 – 1899 Naval Estimates
BuilderWilliam Doxford and Sons Pallion, Sunderland
Laid down4 January 1898
Launched27 January 1899
CommissionedMarch 1901
Fate5 October 1909 wrecked off Blacksod Bay on the west coast of Ireland
General characteristics
Class and typeDoxford three funnel - 30 knot destroyer[1][2]
Displacement
  • 350 long tons (356 t) standard
  • 400 long tons (406 t) full load
  • 214 ft (65 m) o/a
  • 21 ft (6.4 m) Beam
  • 9 ft 7 in (2.92 m) Draught
Propulsion
Speed30 kn (56 km/h)
Range
  • 95 tons coal
  • 1,615 nmi (2,991 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h)
Complement63 officers and men
Armament
Service record

Construction and career edit

She was laid down on 4 January 1898 at the William Doxford and Sons shipyard at Pallion, Sunderland and launched on 27 January 1899. During her acceptance trials she took a very long time to attain the contract speed of 30 knots and was not accepted into the Royal Navy until March 1901.[3][4]

After commissioning she was deployed to the Channel Fleet and based at Shearness as part of the Medway Instructional Flotilla. In December 1901 she was replaced in the flotilla by Mermaid, her crew was transferred to the latter ship,[5] and she paid off into the Fleet Reserve.[6]

On 14 July 1907, Lee, which had been operating with the Channel Fleet, collided with the Dutch protected cruiser Friesland off Start Point, Devon, holing the destroyer on her port quarter.[7]

On 5 October 1909 she was wrecked off Blacksod Bay on the west coast of Ireland.[8]

Pennant Numbers edit

During her career she was not assigned a pennant (pendant) number.[8]

References edit

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

  1. ^ Jane, Fred T. (1969) [1905]. Jane’s Fighting Ships 1905. New York: first published by Sampson Low Marston, London 1905, Reprinted ARCO Publishing Company. p. 77.
  2. ^ Jane, Fred T. (1990). Jane’s Fighting Ships of World War I. Jane’s Publishing © 1919. p. 77. ISBN 1 85170 378 0.
  3. ^ a b Jane, Fred T. (1969) [1898]. Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships 1898. New York: first published by Sampson Low Marston, London 1898, Reprinted ARCO Publishing Company. p. 84 to 85.
  4. ^ a b Jane, Fred T. (1990). Jane’s Fighting Ships of World War I. Jane’s Publishing © 1919. p. 76. ISBN 1 85170 378 0.
  5. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36639. London. 16 December 1901. p. 10.
  6. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36641. London. 18 December 1901. p. 6.
  7. ^ "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective". The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 30. 1 August 1907. p. 15.
  8. ^ a b ""Arrowsmith" List – Part 1 Destroyer Prototypes through "River" Class". Retrieved 1 June 2013.

Bibliography edit

  • 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.