H.M.S. Express (1897)

H.M.S. Express (1897)
Pendant Number:	D.84 (1914) D.80 (Sep 1915) D.34 (Jan 1918)
Builder:	Laird
Ordered:	1896-97
Laid down:	1 Dec, 1896
Launched:	11 Dec, 1897
Commissioned:	Feb, 1902
Broken up:	1921

H.M.S. Express was one of twenty-four "B" class destroyers built for the Royal Navy — a "30 knotter".

Service

She and ten other T.B.Ds. of the Devonport Reserve followed the scout cruiser H.M.S. Skirmisher from Plymouth on 21 August 1905 for a practice cruise along the Devon and Cornish coasts.

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

In December 1907, Mermaid and Express collided at night. Mermaid's Lt. in Command Thynne was castigated for allowing the ships to converge, unlit, on a rendezvous at such a high speed.

On 6 May 1913, she ran aground at Spurn Head while returning to port after operations with the Seventh Destroyer Flotilla. On 8 May, as she made her way back to dock, she collided with the Great Central passenger steamer Leicester, sustaining extensive damage to her right side.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Commander Roger J. B. Keyes, 8 January, 1903 – 8 April, 1903
• Lieutenant & Commander Henry St. G. S. Clive, 21 July, 1903  (for Annual Manoeuvres of 1903)
• Lieutenant in Command Hugh P. Buckle, 14 July, 1904 – 3 January, 1905  (for Annual Manoeuvres of 1904)
• Lieutenant & Commander Denis G. Thynne, 3 January, 1905 – 10 October, 1905
• Lieutenant & Commander Lionel G. Preston, 10 October, 1905 – 5 December, 1905
• Lieutenant & Commander George H. Brown, December, 1905 – 26 March, 1908
• Lieutenant & Commander Geoffrey Corlett, 17 March, 1908 – 26 March, 1908  (lent by C-in-C)
• Lieutenant in Command Frederick E. K. Strong, 26 March, 1908 – 29 March, 1909
• Lieutenant & Commander Henry F. H. Wakefield, 29 March, 1909 – 14 April, 1909
• Lieutenant & Commander The Rt. Hon. Lord George F. Seymour, 14 April, 1909 – 11 April, 1911
• Lieutenant-Commander James R. M. M. Crichton, 7 October, 1911 – 2 September, 1913
• Lieutenant & Commander Clive Phillipps-Wolley, 2 September, 1913 – 13 January, 1914
• Lieutenant-Commander Stephen H. S. Moxly, 3 February, 1914 – 30 January, 1916
• Commander Charles T. A. Bunbury, 30 January, 1916 – 21 June, 1916
• Lieutenant-Commander R.N.R. Frank Pattinson, 22 June, 1916 – March, 1917^[Inference]
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command James A. Hodges, March, 1917 – 10 November, 1917
• Lieutenant-Commander R.N.R. Thomas W. Young, 10 November, 1917 – 1919^{[Fact Check]}

See Also

• Wikipedia