HMS Pelorus (1896)

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

HMS Pelorus was the first of the Pelorus-class cruisers, and was laid down at Sheerness dockyard in 1895. Completed and commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1897, she was designed by Sir William White. Construction cost £154,315. The ship was well armed for her size, but was primarily a workhorse for the overseas fleet.^[2]

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Pelorus
Namesake	Pelorus
Builder	Sheerness Dockyard, Kent
Laid down	May 1895
Launched	15 December 1896
Commissioned	1897
Fate	Sold for scrap, 1920[1]
General characteristics
Class & type	Pelorus-class cruiser
Displacement	2,135 long tons (2,169 t)
Length	313 ft 6 in (95.55 m) o/a 300 ft (91 m) p/p
Beam	36 ft 6 in (11.13 m)
Draught	16 ft (4.9 m)
Propulsion	Triple expansion engine, 2 shafts, 5,000 ihp (3,728 kW)
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	224
Armament	8 × QF 4 in (100 mm) guns 8 × QF 3-pounder guns 3 × machine guns 2 × 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	0.25in (gun shields) 2-1.5in (decks)

HMS Pelorus displaced 2,135 tons and had a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h). She had reciprocating triple expansion engines and Normand water-tube boilers which could give 7,000 horsepower (5,200 kW) for limited periods of time with forced draught, and 5,000 horsepower (3,700 kW) under natural draught. It carried a crew complement of 224 men and it was armed with eight QF 4 inch (102 mm) (25 pounder) guns, eight QF 3 pounder (47-mm) guns, three machine guns, and two 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo tubes.

Service history

Pelorus served in the Channel Fleet under Captain Henry Charles Bertram Hulbert, when in February 1900 she joined the Eastern division of the fleet.^[3]

Protected cruiser HMS Pelorus during WWI

In 1901, the ship was stationed at Gibraltar under the command of Commander Ernest Troubridge. The following year she paid off at Devonport, had her boilers repaired,^[4] and in August was towed to Clydebank to be refitted by Messrs J. Brown and Co. in Glasgow.^[5]

In 1906, the ship was assigned to the Cape of Good Hope Station under the command of Commander James C. Tancred. In 1908 the captain was Arthur W Craig.