HMS Thetis (1890)
Protected cruiser HMS Thetis
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Thetis |
| Builder | J & G Thomson, Clydebank |
| Laid down | 29 October 1889 |
| Launched | 13 December 1890 |
| Commissioned | April 1892 |
| Fate | Deliberately sunk in the Zeebrugge Raid on 23 April 1918 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Apollo-class 2nd class protected cruiser |
| Displacement | 3,400 tons |
| Length | 314 ft (95.7 m) |
| Beam | 43 ft (13.1 m) |
| Draught | 17.5 ft (5.3 m) |
| Propulsion | Twin triple-expansion coal-fired steam engines, 7,000 indicated hp (5 MW), twin screws |
| Speed | 18.5 knots (34 km/h) maximum |
| Complement | 273 to 300 (Officers and Men) |
| Armament |
|
| Armour | 1.3 to 2 in (33 to 51 mm) deck, no belt |
HMS Thetis was an Apollo-class second-class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 December 1890. Her first significant mission was service in the Bering Sea Patrol with American warships in a combined effort to suppress poaching in the Bering Sea.
She served on the Mediterranean Station until relieved in March 1901.[1] She was paid off at Chatham in early June 1901, and was placed in the Fleet reserve.[2] She was commissioned at Chatham on 25 November 1902 with a complement of 273 officers and men for service on the China Station.[3] She left Sheerness on 14 December, stopping in Gibraltar, Malta, Port Said, Aden and more places before arriving in Shanghai in early February the following year.[4][5]
The latter half of her career was spent as a mine-layer. Laden with concrete, she was deliberately sunk at 51°21′28.66″N 3°11′50.64″E / 51.3579611°N 3.1974000°E as a blockship in attempt to block the canal in the Zeebrugge Raid during the First World War, on 23 April 1918.
Post-war, Thetis was beached on a sandbank west of the harbour entrance. The wreck was cleared in 1957.[6]
References
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36407. London. 20 March 1901. p. 7.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36478. London. 11 June 1901. p. 10.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36935. London. 26 November 1902. p. 12.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36951. London. 15 December 1902. p. 6.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36993. London. 2 February 1903. p. 10.
- ^ "Zeebrugge Blockship to be Broken Up". The Times. No. 53757. London. 5 February 1957. col A, p. 7.
Publications
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.
External links
- Media related to HMS Thetis (ship, 1892) at Wikimedia Commons