View source for HMS Sparrowhawk (1895)

{{short description|Destroyer of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Sparrowhawk}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
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|Ship image= HMS Sparrowhawk Burrard Inlet circa 1898.jpg
|Ship caption=HMS ''Sparrowhawk'' in {{nowrap|[[Burrard Inlet]]}}, {{nowrap|[[British Columbia]]}}, [[Canada]], circa&nbsp;1898.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=HMS ''Sparrowhawk''
|Ship namesake= 
|Ship ordered=
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|Ship builder= [[Cammell Laird|Laird, Son & Co.]], [[Birkenhead]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=607
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|Ship laid down=30 May 1895
|Ship launched= 8 October 1895
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|Ship commissioned=July 1897
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|Ship fate= Wrecked, 17 June 1904
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Quail|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|355|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} light
*{{convert|415|LT|t|abbr=on}} full load
|Ship length={{convert|218|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|21|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draught={{convert|9|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
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|Ship propulsion=*[[Steam engine|Triple expansion steam engines]]
*Coal-fired [[Normand boiler]]s
*{{convert|6300|hp|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed= {{convert|30|kn|lk=in}}
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|Ship boats=
|Ship complement= 63
|Ship sensors=
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|Ship armament=*1 × [[QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun]] L/40 naval gun
*5 × 6-pdr (57 mm) guns
*2 × single [[Torpedo tube|tube]]s for [[British 18 inch torpedo|18-inch (450mm) torpedoes]]
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'''HMS ''Sparrowhawk''''' was a [[B class destroyer (1913)|B-class]] [[torpedo boat destroyer]] of the [[Royal Navy]]. She was completed by [[Cammell Laird|Laird, Son & Company]], [[Birkenhead]], and was launched on 8 October 1895.<ref>''[[The Times]] (London)'', Wednesday, 9 October 1895, p.7</ref> She served on the [[China Station]] and was wrecked in the mouth of the [[Yangtze River]] in 1904.<ref>{{Cite web
 |url=http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/S/04327.html
 |title=HMS Sparrowhawk
 |work=pbenyon.plus.com
 |access-date=12 July 2010
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614082748/http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/S/04327.html
 |archive-date=14 June 2011
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref>  She was one of four [[Quail class destroyer|''Quail''-class destroyers]].

==Design and construction==
HMS ''Sparrowhawk'' was the second of four 30-knot destroyers ordered from Laird's as part of the 1894–1895 Royal Navy shipbuilding programme.<ref name="Lyon p61-2">Lyon 2001, pp. 61–62.</ref> As with other early Royal Navy destroyers, the detailed design was left to the builder, with the Admiralty laying down only broad requirements.<ref name="Conways60 p87">Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 87.</ref><ref name="Manning p39">Manning 1961, p. 39.</ref> In order to meet the contract speed of {{convert|30|kn|mph km/h}}, Laird's design was powered by two four-cylinder [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple expansion steam engines]], fed by four [[Normand boiler]]s, rated at {{convert|6300|ihp|kW|abbr=on|lk=in}}, and was fitted with four funnels.<ref name="Lyon p61-2"/><ref name="conways60 p94">Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 94.</ref>

The ship had an [[length overall|overall length]] of {{convert|218|ft|m|2}}, a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|21|ft|6|in|m}} and a [[Draft (ship)|draught]] of {{convert|9|ft|6|in|m}}. [[Displacement (ship)|Displacement]] was {{convert|355|LT|t}} light and {{convert|415|LT|t}} full load,<ref name="Lyon p61-2">Lyon 2001, pp. 61–62.</ref><ref name="conways60 p94"/> while crew was 63.<ref name="Manning p40">Manning 1961, p. 40.</ref> Armament consisted of a [[QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun|QF 12 pounder 12 cwt]] ({{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}} calibre) gun on a platform on the ship's [[conning tower]] (in practice the platform was also used as the ship's bridge), with a secondary armament of five 6-pounder guns, and two 18-inch (450&nbsp;mm) torpedo tubes.<ref name="Lyon p98-9">Lyon 2001, pp. 98–99.</ref><ref name="Friedman p40">Friedman 2009, p. 40.</ref>

''Sparrowhawk'' was laid down as Yard No 607 on 30 May 1895, and was launched on 8 October 1895.<ref name="Lyon p61">Lyon 2001, p. 61.</ref> She reached a speed of {{convert|30.207|kn|mph km/h}} over a measured mile and an average speed of {{convert|30.56|kn}} over three hours during trials on 11 December 1896.<ref name="eng">{{cite magazine|title=Eight Torpedo Boat Destroyers, Built by Laird Brothers, Birkenhead. — Trials between 30th September and the 18th December 1896|magazine=[[The Engineer (UK magazine)|The Engineer]]|date=1 January 1897|volume=83|page=16|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/images/b/b8/Er18970101.pdf}}.</ref> ''Sparrowhawk'' commissioned in June 1897.<ref name="Lyon p61"/>

==Service==
Newly commissioned, ''Sparrowhawk'' took part in the [[Fleet review (Commonwealth realms)|naval review]] off [[Spithead]] on 26 June 1897 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of [[Queen Victoria]].<ref name="pben">{{Cite web|url=http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/S/04327.html|title=HMS Sparrowhawk|work=pbenyon.plus.com|access-date=18 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924070004/http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/S/04327.html|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Laird's thirty-knotters were considered strongly built ships and good seaboats, suitable for deployment on overseas stations,<ref name="Lyon p116">Lyon 2001, p. 116.</ref><ref name="conways60 p94"/> and so ''Sparrowhawk'' and sister ship {{HMS|Virago|1895|2}} were deployed to the [[Pacific Station]] in 1897, being based at [[Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard|Esquimault]], [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]].<ref name="Lyon p62, 100">Lyon 2001, pp. 62, 100.</ref>

''Sparrowhawk'' was later deployed to the [[China Station]]. On 17 June 1904, ''Sparrowhawk'' struck an uncharted rock off the mouth of the [[Yangtze]] river during fleet exercises. While all the crew survived, attempts by the battleship {{HMS|Glory|1899|2}} to recover the stricken destroyer failed, and ''Sparrowhawk'' sank.<ref name="Lyon p62">Lyon 2001, p. 62.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article89170402|title=British Navy: Destroyers in Trouble. Two Sunk|work=[[Kalgoorlie Miner]]|date=21 June 1904|page=5|access-date=19 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9687602|title=Loss of H.M.S. Sparrowhawk|work=[[The Mercury (Hobart)|The Mercury]]|location=Hobart, Australia|date=8 August 1904|page=4|access-date=19 October 2014}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|editor2-last=Kolesnik|editor2-first=Eugene M.|title=Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|year=1979 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-133-5|name-list-style=amp}}
*{{Cite Colledge2006}}
*{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War|year=2009|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=978-1-84832-049-9}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Lyon  |first=David
  |title=The First Destroyers
  |year=2001|location=London|publisher=Caxton Editions|orig-year=1996
  |isbn=1-84067-364-8}}
*{{cite book | author=Manning, Thomas Davys, Captain | title=The British Destroyer | publisher=Putnam & Co. | year=1961|oclc= 6470051}}
*{{cite book|last=March|first=Edgar J.|title=British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans|year=1966|publisher=Seeley Service|location=London |oclc=164893555}}

{{B class destroyer (1913)}}
{{1904 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparrowhawk (1895)}}
[[Category:Quail-class destroyers]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Mersey]]
[[Category:1895 ships]]
[[Category:B-class destroyers (1913)]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1904]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of China]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the East China Sea]]