River Class Destroyers 1902

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River Class

World Naval Ships

Royal Navy

Early Destroyers

River Class

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The River Class destroyer marked the break between torpedo boats and true destroyers and set the destroyer programmes of Britain and other major naval powers until 1916. The class served the Royal Navy well and was used during WWI for patrol and escort duties. due to their higher silhouette which made them more visible they were less suited for surprise torpedo attacks. The River Class destroyers were built by various boat yards including Palmer, Yarrow, Hawthorn Leslie, Laird, Thornycroft and White.
HMS Ribble	19th March 1904		Broken up in 1920.
HMS Teviot	7th November 1903		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Usk	25th July 1903		Broken up in 1920.
HMS Derwent	14th February 1903		Mined and sunk off Le Havre on 2nd May 1917.
HMS Eden	13th February 1903		Collided with another vessel in 1916 and sank.
HMS Foyle	25th February 1903		Mined and sunk in 1917.
HMS Itchen	17th March 1903		Torpedoed and sunk in 1917.
HMS Kennet	4th December 1903		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Jed	16th February 1904		Broken up in 1920.
HMS Welland	14th April 1904		Broken up in 1920.
HMS Cherwell	23rd July 1903		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Dee	10th September 1903		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Arun	29th April 1903		Broken up in 1920.
HMS Blackwater	25th July 1903		Sunk after colliding with another vessel in 1909.
HMS Waveney	16th March 1903		Broken up in 1920.
HMS Chelmer	8th December 1904		Broken up in 1920.
HMS Colne	21st May 1905		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Ure	25th October 1904		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Wear	21st January 1905		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Liffey	23rd September 1904		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Moy	10th November 1904		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Ouse	7th January 1905		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Boyne	12th September 1904		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Doon	8th November 1904		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Kale	8th November 1904		Mined and sunk in 1918.
HMS Rother	5th January 1904		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Gala	7th January 1905		Never completed. Sunk after colliding with another vessel in 1908.
HMS Garry	21st May 1905		Broken up in 1919 after colliding with the Attentive.
HMS Ness	5th January 1905		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Nith	7th March 1905		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Swale	20th April 1905		Broken up in 1919.
HMS Stour	3rd June 1905		Sold for scrapping in August 1919.
HMS Test	6th May 1905		Sold for scrapping in August 1919.
HMS Ribble On the afternoon of the 27th April 1908 , the eastern destroyer Flotilla, consisting of 15 vessels, in company with the scouts HMS Adventure and HMS Attentive, left Harwich for the purpose of firing exercise and night ,maneuvers. a little after midnight all the vessels having their lights masked, HMS Gala one of the destroyers came into collision with HMS Attentive being struck by the latter's ram in the after part of the engine room and cut in two. Fortunately in this case all the crew were saved, except Engineer Lieutenant F A Fletcher, who was drowned. HMS Attentive afterwards came into collision with another of the destroyers HMS Ribble which received damage sufficiently serious to oblige her to put back to sheerness. The fore part of HMS Gala sunk almost immediately, but the after part, with all the crew clinging to it remained afloat for some time, sinking while an attempt was being made to tow it into shallow water.
HMS Ribble. Submitted by George Needham		HMS Ribble. A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD0037
HMS Teviot
HMS Teviot, 1906. A large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price £25. Order photograph here Order Code XMP1517 Original republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here to order. Order Code MP1517		HMS Teviot, 1910. A large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price £25. Order photograph here Order Code XMP1518 Original republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here to order. Order Code MP1518
HMS Teviot pictured c. 1910. ©Walker Archive A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD038		HMS Teviot. A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD03A
HMS Teviot. A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD480
HMS Derwent
HMS Derwent. A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD380
HMS Eden
HMS Eden - Name History
The second “EDEN” is a turbine torpedo-boat destroyer, launched at Hawthorn Leslie’s Yard in 1903. She is of 555 tons, 7000 horse-power, and 25 knots speed. Her length, beam, and draught were 220ft., 23ft., and 9ft. Early in the morning of January 28^th, 1910, this destroyer, while commanded by Lieutenant Oliver M. F. Stokes, broke away from her moorings in bad weather, and sank at the Harbour Jetty, under East Cliff, Dover. She was got afloat again on January 30^th.
HMS Dee
HMS Dee
HMS Dee - Name History
The fourth “DEE” is a twin-screw torpedo-boat destroyer, built at Palmers Yard at Jarrow and launched on the Tyne in 1903. She is of 545 tons, 7000 horse-power, and 27 knots speed. Her length, beam, and draught were 225ft., 23ft., and 10ft. In September 1905 the “Dee,” while commanded by Lieutenant and Commander Harold E. Sulivan, and in company with the “Exe,” demonstrated her good qualities by successfully passing through a severe typhoon between Wei-hai-wei and Shanghai. At the beginning of the passage the barometer stood at 30.20, and there was only a slight breeze. In two days the glass had dropped to 27.78 and the wind had increased to force 11. By the third day the barometer and wind were both normal. An observer in the “Exe,” who was watching the “Dee,” noted that “. . .The extraordinary attitudes she assumed, and the conditions she went through, were more interesting than re-assuring. At times she would be poised on her crest of a sea, her fore part high and dry (so to speak), leaving her keel visible up to the conning tower; the after part also naked, showing her propellers racing in the air. The she would take a dive, an intervening wave would blot out this merry picture, and then to one’s relief as the wave passed by, a mast would appear waving on the other side until, thank goodness, one would catch sight of her funnels and then her hull, still above water. . .” The “Dee,” was sighted at a bad period f the typhoon by a passing mail steamer. The passengers gave the little ship up as lost, and it is said that a clergyman among them offered up prayers for the repose of their souls. The commanding officer of the “Dee,” was much struck by the contrast afforded by the blue sky and comparative calm which he experienced in the centre of the storm, and by the number of kingfishers and other land birds which took refuge on board the ship when she got into this calm vortex. The ship was in situation of considerable peril for some forty-eight hours, and was only saved by good work of her builders, and the seamanlike skill of her Commander. The whole affair reflected the greatest possible credit on the British destroyer officers, and the reader who wishes to read fuller details will find them in the second edition of Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock’s Whispers from the fleet, where they appear in the form of a letter from Commander Allan F. Everett of the “Exe,” who was the senior officer of the two vessels.
HMS Arun
HMS Arun - Name History
The Arun is a twin-screw torpedo-boat destroyer, launched at Birkenhead in 1903. She is of 550 tons, 7000 horsepower, and 27 knots speed. Her length, beam, and draught were 225ft, 23ft, and 10ft. On August 13^th, 1904, the “Arun” while commanded by commander Reginald Y. Tyrwhitt, collided with the torpedo-boat destroyer “Decoy” off the Scilly Island. The “Decoy” sank and was never recovered, but no lives were lost.
HMS Arun, 1904. A large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price £25. Order photograph here Order Code XMP1519 Original republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here to order. Order Code MP1519		HMS Arun. A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD375
HMS Blackwater
HMS Blackwater, 1906. A large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price £25. Order photograph here Order Code XMP1520 Original republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here to order. Order Code MP1520
HMS Waveney
HMS Waveney 1908 ©Walker Archive A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD039
HMS Chelmer
HMS Chelmer running dispatched Balkan War 1912. © Christopher Swindlehurst
HMS Chelmer ships company at Salina, Malta © Christopher Swindlehurst		HMS Chelmer crew on board ship © Christopher Swindlehurst
HMS Colne
HMS Colne, 1905. A large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price £25. Order photograph here Order Code XMP1521 Original republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here to order. Order Code MP1521
HMS Ure
HMS Ure A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD173		HMS Ure, 1905. A large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price £25. Order photograph here Order Code XMP1516 Original republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here to order. Order Code MP1516
HMS Wear
HMS Wear. A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD469
HMS Boyne
HMS Boyne c.1905		HMS Boyne in 1906 A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD040
HMS Doon
HMS Doon. A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD307		HMS Doon in dry dock at Harwich. A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD410
HMS Welland
HMS Welland. A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD468
HMS Cherwell
HMS Cherwell. A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD042		HMS Cherwell c.1904 A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD043
HMS Cherwell.Contributed by email.		HMS Cherwell. A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD377
HMS Rother
HMS Rother, 1907. A large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price £25. Order photograph here Order Code XMP1515 Original republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here to order. Order Code MP1515
HMS Gala On the afternoon of the 27th April 1908 , the eastern destroyer Flotilla, consisting of 15 vessels, in company with the scouts HMS Adventure and HMS Attentive, left Harwich for the purpose of firing exercise and night ,maneuvers. a little after midnight all the vessels having their lights masked, HMS Gala one of the destroyers came into collision with HMS Attentive being struck by the latter's ram in the after part of the engine room and cut in two. Fortunately in this case all the crew were saved, except Engineer Lieutenant F A Fletcher, who was drowned. HMS attentive afterwards came into collision with another of the destroyers HMS Ribble which received damage sufficiently serious to oblige her to put back to sheerness. The fore part of HMS gala sunk almost immediately, but the after part, with all the crew clinging to it remained afloat for some time, sinking while an attempt was being made to tow it into shallow water.
HMS Gala c.1908 before she sank. A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD044
HMS Garry
HMS Garry. A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD500
HMS Garry. Sent in by Mark McCauley		HMS Garry. ©Walker Archive A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD045
HMS Ness
HMS Ness. Sent in by
HMS Ness c.1908 ©Walker Archive A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD046		A Crew member of HMS Ness ©Walker Archive A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD047
HMS Nith
HMS Nith. A reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x 7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker Archive. Order Code PHD483
HMS Nith		Crew member of HMS Nith sent in by Steve Corbet... who asks, where can I find crew lists for HMS Nith to confirm the name of the sailor in the photo? --- Any info? contact our message board

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