HMS Skipjack (1889)
HMS Skipjack was a of the British Royal Navy. She was built at Chatham Dockyard from 1888–1891. She was converted to a minesweeper in 1908–1909 and continued these duties during the First World War. Skipjack survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1920. Design and construction The Sharpshooter-class was designed under the leadership of William Henry White, the Director of Naval Construction, to be faster and more seaworthy than the preceding prototype torpedo gunboat, and the three ships, while carrying a heavier armament. As torpedo gunboats, they were intended to defend the fleet from attack by torpedo-boats, while being capable of carrying out torpedo attacks themselves. The Sharpshooters were larger than the preceding ships, with a raised forecastle to improve seakeeping. They were long overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draught of . Displacement was . Two triple-expansion steam engines, fed by four locomotive boilers, drove two propeller shafts. The machinery was intended to produce giving a speed of . The use of locomotive boilers was not a success, with the machinery being unreliable and unable to provide the expected power. The machinery actually delivered giving a speed of when forced and giving under natural draft. The ship was armed with two 4.7 inch (120 mm) QF guns mounted fore and aft on the ships centreline, backed up by four 3-pounder (47 mm) guns (two in single mounts on the ship's beam and two in casemates forward). Five 14-inch torpedo tubes were fitted (one fixed in the ship's bow and two twin mounts), with three reload torpedoes carried. The ship had a crew of 91. Skipjack was laid down at Chatham dockyard on 4 July 1888 was launched on 30 April 1889 and completed in July 1891 at a cost of £59,531. Service On 26 June 1897 Skipjack was present at the Jubilee Fleet Review at Spithead, In 1898 Skipjack was sent to Palmers of Jarrow for refit. Skipjack had her locomotive boilers replaced by Reed water-tube boilers in early 1900, which increased power and reliability. Skipjacks new machinery delivered over giving a speed of . Skipjack took part in the Royal Navy's annual manoeuvres in July–August 1900, and again in 1901. In January 1901 she was a tender to the cruiser in Kingstown. In 1905 Skipjack was in reserve, but after refit, she returned to active service as part of the Fishery Protection Squadron in 1907. In 1909 she was converted to a minesweeper, a conversion that resulted in her torpedo tubes being removed. On 8 October 1910 Skipjack arrested the French trawler G599, which had been caught fishing within British territorial waters in the Thames estuary. The skipper of the trawler was fined five guineas for the offence. In January 1911 Skipjack completed a refit at Chatham and returned to fishery protection duties in the North Sea. First World War On the outbreak of the First World War Skipjack joined the newly established Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow in Orkney. In August