H.M.S. Fawn (1897)

H.M.S. Fawn (1897)
Pendant Number:	P.94 (1914) D.55 (Sep 1915) D.38 (Jan 1918) H.38 (Sep 1918)
Builder:	Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company
Ordered:	1896-97 Programme
Laid down:	5 Sep, 1896
Launched:	13 Apr, 1897
Commissioned:	Dec, 1898
Broken up:	1919

H.M.S. Fawn was one of forty "C" class destroyers built for the Royal Navy — a "30 knotter".

Service

Fawn was delivered at Portsmouth from Palmer's, Jarrow-on-Tyne, on 15 September, 1898. On 14 October, she completed her speed trial at Portsmouth, averaging 30.267 knots at 6,454 HP and 396.4 revolutions during her coal consumption trial. When coal consumption was not an issue, she made 30.462 knots in heavy winds and high seas which likely denied her another quarter knot. Her gun mounting trials were completed successfully at Portsmouth on 26 October.

In early June, 1899, Lt. John Knox Laird and the crew of Chamois were ordered to turn over to Fawn after their ship suffered a broken bed plate. This appears to be the first commissioning of the ship, dated 7 June. The ship became part of the Portsmouth Instructional Flotilla.

Shortly after midnight on Saturday 10 August, 1901, a seaman named Luke drowned after he fell into a wet dock when trying to cross from T.B. 71 to Fawn. This was despite prompt measures to recover him.

She was to be commissioned at Portsmouth on 2 April, 1902 for service on the Mediterranean Station, as tender to Orion, replacing the "A" Class destroyer Conflict.

In mid-1913, she was with the Sixth Destroyer Flotilla.

By May 1919, Fawn was among 33 obsolete ships awaiting sale.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Lieutenant in Command John K. Laird, 7 June, 1899 – 26 October, 1899
• Lieutenant Alan C. Bruce, 26 October, 1899 – 23 November, 1899
• Lieutenant & Commander Robert W. Dalgety, 22 October, 1899 – 15 January, 1901
• Lieutenant & Commander Christopher P. Metcalfe, 15 January, 1901 – 14 March, 1901
• Lieutenant & Commander Francis H. Mitchell, 16 July, 1901 – c. 20 August, 1901  (for the Annual Manoeuvres of 1901)
• Lieutenant & Commander Henry W. Osburn, 27 August, 1901 – 16 October, 1901
• Lieutenant & Commander Robert W. Myburgh, 2 April, 1902 – mid June, 1902^[Inference]
• Lieutenant & Commander Bertram O. F. Phibbs, 14 June, 1902 – 1902
• Lieutenant & Commander Bertram O. F. Phibbs, late 1902 – 21 December, 1903
• Lieutenant & Commander Albert M. H. Phillips, 21 December, 1903 – 2 March, 1905
• Lieutenant & Commander Morris E. Cochrane, 28 March, 1905 – 10 April, 1905
• Lieutenant in Command Reginald St. P. Parry, 19 September, 1905
• Lieutenant & Commander Albert M. H. Phillips, 10 January, 1906 – 20 February, 1906
• Lieutenant in Command Anselan J. B. Stirling, 20 February, 1906 – 10 April, 1906
• Lieutenant & Commander Herbert M. Denny, 10 April, 1906 – 22 September, 1908
• Lieutenant in Command Hubert S. Monroe, 24 September, 1908 – 8 January, 1909
• Lieutenant & Commander George F. A. Mulock, 16 January, 1909 – 8 July, 1909  (sick)
• Lieutenant & Commander Hugh T. England, 15 June, 1909 – 31 December, 1909
• Lieutenant & Commander Montague G. B. Legge, 1 January, 1910 – 23 August, 1910
• Lieutenant & Commander Adrian St. V. Keyes, November, 1910 – 7 May, 1911
• Lieutenant-Commander Wilfrid W. Hunt, June, 1911 – 31 August, 1912
• Lieutenant in Command Laurence R. Palmer, 31 August, 1912 – 3 November, 1912
• Lieutenant-Commander John H. Smith-Wright, 3 November, 1912 – 20 December, 1912
• Lieutenant & Commander Herbert E. W. C. Whyte, 18 December, 1912 – 1 April, 1913  (and for charge of reduced T.B.Ds.)
• Lieutenant-Commander Gerald C. Harrison, 1 April, 1913 – 29 August, 1913  (and for charge of reduced T.B.Ds.)
• Lieutenant in Command Harold C. Woolcombe-Boyce, 29 July, 1914 – 9 April, 1915
• Lieutenant in Command George N. Gilbertson, 9 April, 1915 – 20 April, 1915
• Lieutenant in Command Harold C. Woolcombe-Boyce, 20 April, 1915 – 6 March, 1916
• Lieutenant in Command Frederick R. M. Johnson, 6 March, 1916 – 31 July, 1916
• Lieutenant-Commander R.N.R. John Willits, 1 August, 1916 – 5 March, 1918
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command Francis Miners, 11 October, 1918 – 23 May, 1919

See Also

• Wikipedia