H.M.S. Vixen (1900)

H.M.S. Vixen (1900)
Pendant Number:	D.44 (1914) D.74 (Sep 1915) D.95 (Jan 1918)
Builder:	Vickers
Ordered:	1899 Programme
Laid down:	7 Sep, 1899
Launched:	29 Mar, 1900
Commissioned:	Mar, 1902
Broken up:	1921

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

Service

1904 proved a hazardous year for the destroyer. In early 1904 while under the command of Lt. Geoffrey Basil Spicer-Simson, Vixen collided with a picket boat from Edgar, which resulted in the loss of two lives and damage to the destroyer. This precipitated the Admiralty's severe displeasure. A second collision in March 1904 with the destroyer Osprey drew a similar rebuke.

Also in approximately 1904, Vixen was in a collision with Skate.

In late 1905, Vixen was one of eight destroyers in the Third Division of the Channel Fleet's Destroyer Flotilla.

On 8 September 1908, Vixen sank the steam yacht Parole in Troon Harbour, seemingly through collision. Lieutenant and Commander Frank O'Brien Wilson was found guilty of an error in judgment in attempting to turn around without warps in such a narrow area.

In mid-1913, Vixen was in the Seventh Destroyer Flotilla — a patrol flotilla operating out of Devonport.

After completing a retubing refit, she was commissioned at Sheerness by Ernest Hamblin Bannister Williams on 16 January, 1914 for service with the Seventh Destroyer Flotilla.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Commander William G. E. Ruck-Keene, 11 March, 1902 – 1 August, 1902
• Lieutenant & Commander Charles E. Cundall, 21 July, 1903 – 18 August, 1903  (for Annual Manoeuvres of 1903)
• Lieutenant & Commander Geoffrey B. Spicer-Simson, 27 February, 1904 – 5 April, 1904
• Commander Thomas L. Thorpe-Doubble, 14 July, 1904 – c. September, 1904  (for Annual Manoeuvres of 1904)
• Lieutenant-Commander Neston W. Diggle, 7 September, 1904 – 4 January, 1905
• Lieutenant in Command George P. England, 3 January, 1905 – 5 January, 1906
• Lieutenant in Command Osmond J. Prentis, 5 January, 1906 – 23 January, 1906
• Lieutenant-Commander William Cadman, 23 January, 1906 – 12 March, 1907
• Lieutenant-Commander Reginald C. L. Owen, 12 March, 1907 – 21 May, 1908
• Lieutenant & Commander Frank O'B. Wilson, 21 May, 1908 – 1 February, 1910
• Lieutenant & Commander Henry de B. Tupper, 28 May, 1910 – 30 May, 1912
• Lieutenant-Commander Malcolm L. Goldsmith, 15 June, 1912 – 15 July, 1913  (and for command of reduced T.B.Ds. of Seventh Destroyer Flotilla, temporary)
• Lieutenant-Commander Ernest H. B. Williams, 6 January, 1914 – 8 September, 1914
• Lieutenant-Commander John A. Gregory, 10 September, 1914 – 17 January, 1915
• Lieutenant in Command Basil W. L. Owen, 17 January, 1915 – 26 October, 1915
• Lieutenant in Command George L. M. Napier, 25 December, 1915 – 2 June, 1916  (temporary; start month conceivably October, end month conceivably January)
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command Herbert B. Donovan, 22 June, 1916 – 31 July, 1917
• Acting Lieutenant-Commander R.N.R. in Command Charles F. Brown, 10 December, 1917 – 5 January, 1919
• Acting Lieutenant-Commander R.N.R. (in Command?) Leonard E. Fordham, 28 August, 1918 – 26 March, 1919

See Also

• Wikipedia