HMS Cynthia (1898)

HMS Cynthia was a two funnel, 30-knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1896 – 1897 Naval Estimates. She was the third ship to carry this name.[1][2] She was launched in 1898, served in home waters and the Mediterranean before World War I, and as a tender to the gunnery school at Sheerness during the war. She was sold for breaking in 1920.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Cynthia.

HMS Cynthia
History
Name:	HMS Cynthia
Ordered:	1896 – 1897 Naval Estimates
Builder:	John I. Thornycroft & Company, Chiswick
Yard number:	321
Laid down:	25 September 1897
Launched:	3 September 1898
Commissioned:	8 March 1900
Fate:	Sold for breaking, 29 April 1920
General characteristics [1][2]
Class and type:	Two funnel, 30-knot destroyer
Displacement:	270 t (266 long tons) standard 352 t (346 long tons) full load
Length:	210 ft (64 m) o/a
Beam:	19 ft 9 in (6.02 m)
Draught:	7 ft 8 in (2.34 m)
Installed power:	5,700 shp (4,300 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × Thornycroft water tube boilers 2 × vertical triple-expansion steam engines 2 shafts
Speed:	30 kn (56 km/h)
Range:	80 tons coal 1,310 nmi (2,430 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h)
Complement:	65 officers and men
Armament:	1 × QF 12-pounder 12 cwt Mark I L/40 gun on a P Mark I low angle mount 5 × QF 6-pdr 8 cwt L/40 gun on a Mark I* low angle mount 2 × single tubes for 18-inch (450 mm) torpedoes
Service record
Operations:	World War I 1914 - 1918

Construction

She was laid down as yard number 321 on 16 July 1896 at the John I. Thornycroft & Company shipyard at Chiswick on the River Thames. She was launched on 8 January 1898. During her builder's trials her maximum average speed was 30.2 knots, then proceeded to Portsmouth to have her armament fitted. She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in June 1899. During her acceptance trials and work ups her average sea speed was 25 knots.[2]

Service

Cynthia was commissioned at Chatham on 8 March 1900 by commander Murray MacGregor Lockhart, for service in the Medway Instructional Flotilla.[3] In August 1901 she was commissioned to serve with the Mediterranean Fleet,[4] and in May 1902 she completed a refit at Sheerness Dockyard. Lieutenant Rowland Henry Bather was appointed in command,[5] but was reassigned before taking up the position and Lieutenant Alan Cameron Bruce was lent in command of the ship for passage ″out″, when she travelled to Gibraltar in late May 1902.[6][7] In September 1902 she visited Nauplia with other ships of the fleet.[8]

On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyer classes were to be designated by letters. she was assigned to the D class along with other destroyers of 30-knots with two funnels. After 30 September 1913, she was known as a D-class destroyer and had the letter ‘D’ painted on the hull below the bridge area and on either the fore or aft funnel.[9]

By August 1914 she was in active commission at The Nore Local Flotilla based at Sheerness tendered to HMS Actaeon, the school of gunnery.) She remained in this deployment for the duration of the First World War.[10]

Decommissioning and disposal

In 1919 she was paid off and laid-up in reserve awaiting disposal. Cynthia was sold on 29 April 1920 to Thos W Ward of Sheffield for breaking at Rainham, Kent, on the Thames Estuary.[11]

Pennant numbers

Pennant number[11]	From	To
N09	6 Dec 1914	1 Sep 1915
D39	1 Sep 1915	1 Jan 1918
D23	1 Jan 1918	29 Apr 1920

References

1. Jane’s All the World's Fighting Ships (1898), pp.84-85.
2. Jane’s Fighting Ships of World War I (1919) p.76.
3. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36085). London. 9 March 1900. p. 12.
4. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36525). London. 5 August 1901. p. 8.
5. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36752). London. 26 April 1902. p. 11.
6. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36761). London. 7 May 1902. p. 10.
7. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36777). London. 26 May 1902. p. 7.
8. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36867). London. 8 September 1902. p. 8.
9. Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1906 to 1922. Conway Maritime Press. 2006. pp. 17–19. ISBN 0 85177 245 5.
10. "HMS Cynthia". Late 18th, 19th and early 20th Century Naval and Naval Social History.
11. ""Arrowsmith" List – Part 1 Destroyer Prototypes through "River" Class". Retrieved 1 June 2013.

Bibliography

• 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.
• 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.
• Jane, Fred T. (1990) [1919]. Jane’s Fighting Ships of World War I. Jane’s Publishing. ISBN 1 85170 378 0.
• Lyon, David (2001) [1996]. The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-364-8.
• 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.