HMS Bat

HMS Bat
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Bat
Ordered:	8 January 1896
Builder:	Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Jarrow
Laid down:	28 May 1896
Launched:	7 October 1896
Commissioned:	August 1897
Out of service:	Laid up in reserve, 1919
Fate:	Sold for breaking, 10 June 1919
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:	Palmer three funnel - 30 knot destroyer
Displacement:	390 t (384 long tons) light 420 t (413 long tons) full load
Length:	220 ft (67 m) o/a 215 ft (66 m) pp
Beam:	20 ft 9 in (6.32 m)
Draught:	12 ft 5.5 in (3.797 m)
Installed power:	6,200 ihp (4,600 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × Reed water tube boilers 2 × vertical triple-expansion steam engines 2 shafts
Speed:	30 kn (56 km/h)
Complement:	63 officers and men
Armament:	1 × QF 12-pounder 12 cwt Mark I L/40 naval gun on a P Mark I low angle mount 5 × QF 6-pounder 8 cwt L/40 naval gun on a Mark I* low angle mount 2 × single tubes for 18-inch (450mm) torpedoes
Service record
Operations:	World War I 1914 - 1918

HMS Bat was a Palmer three funnel, 30 knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895 – 1896 Naval Estimates. She was the third ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1815 for a revenue cutter in service until 1848.^[2]

Construction

HMS Bat was one of four 30-knotter destroyers (Bat, Chamois, Crane and Flying Fish) ordered from Palmer's of Jarrow on 8 January 1896 as part of the 1895–1896 shipbuilding programme, following on from two destroyers (Star and Whiting) ordered from Palmer's on 23 December 1895 as part of the same programme.^[1]

She was laid down on 28 May 1896 at the Palmer shipyard at Jarrow-on-Tyne and launched on 7 October 1896. During her builder’s trials she made her contracted speed requirement. She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in August 1897.^[2][3]

Service

Pre-War

After commissioning Bat was assigned to the 2nd Fleet and based at Devonport on training duties.

In October 1898, the ship became the first destroyer in the Royal Navy to receive a torpedo fitted for a gyroscope.^[4]

In 1899 she was the leader of the Devonport Flotilla under the command of Commander Alexander Ludovic Duff during exercises in July. Her next commanding officer, from 1901, was Commander Roger Keyes, who pioneered new aggressive tactics for destroyers during this period. Bat was paid off on 4 January 1902, when her crew was turned over to the destroyer Falcon, which took her place in the Flotilla.^[5] After paying off, she underwent repairs to re-tube her boilers.^[6]

Bat was deployed to the Mediterranean between 1902 and 1905.^[1]

In 1910, Bat was part of the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla, based at Portsmouth and tendered to the depot ship Hecla.^[7][8] By March 1913, Bat was part of the Sixth Flotilla at Portsmouth, which was equipped with older destroyers for patrol purposes.^[9][8] The destroyer transferred to the Eighth Flotilla, based at Chatham in early 1914.^[10]

On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyer classes were to be designated by alpha characters starting with the letter 'A'. Since her design speed was 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) and she had three funnels, she was assigned to the C class on 30 September 1913.^[11][12] The class letter 'C' was painted on the hull below the bridge area and on a funnel.^[13]

World War I

In 1914 Bat was assigned to the 8th Destroyer Flotilla based at Chatham tendered to HMS Tyne.^[14] On the outbreak of war, the Eighth Flotilla was deployed to the Firth of Forth, carrying out patrol duties in support of the Grand Fleet.^[15][16] By January 1915, Bat, although still supported by Tyne, was attached to the Grand Fleet.^[17] She remained attached to the Grand Fleet through the rest of 1915 and 1916.^[18]

In July 1917 Bat was redeployed to the East Coast Convoy Flotilla,^[19][20] this merging into the 7th Destroyer Flotilla based at the Humber the next month, continuing in escort operations for East coast convoys.^[21] She would remain there for the remainder of the war.^[22]

On 29 January 1918, Bat collided with the tug Guiana off Whitby, sinking the tug and killing four of Guiana's crew.^[23]

Disposition

In 1919 Bat was paid off and laid-up in reserve awaiting disposal. She was sold on 30 August 1919 to Hayes of Porthcawl for breaking.^[24][25][26]

Pennant numbers

Pennant number[26]	From	To
P97	6 Dec 1914	1 Sep 1915
D46	1 Sep 1915	1 Jan 1918
D09	1 Jan 1918	13 Sep 1918
H87	13 Sep 1918	-

Notes

1. Lyon 2001, p. 78.
2. Jane 1898, pp. 84–85
3. Moore 1990, p. 77.
4. The Dreadnought Project.
5. "Naval & Military intelligence" The Times (London). Thursday, 2 January 1902. (36654), p. 8.
6. "Naval & Military intelligence" The Times (London). Wednesday, 14 May 1902. (36767), p. 12.
7. "NMM, vessel ID 380631" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol v. National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
8. Manning 1961, p. 25.
9. "Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad: Patrol Flotillas". The Monthly Naval List: 269d. March 1913. Retrieved 18 October 2014..
10. "Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad: Patrol Flotillas". The Monthly Naval List: 269b. February 1914. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
11. Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 18.
12. Manning 1961, pp. 17–18.
13. Manning 1961, p. 34.
14. "Naval Database".
15. Dittmar and Colledge 1972, p. 16.
16. Manning 1961, p. 26.
17. "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c". The Naval List: 8. January 1915. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
18. "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c". The Naval List: 12. December 1916. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
19. "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c". The Naval List: 12. June 1917. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
20. "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c". The Naval List: 16. July 1917. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
21. "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c". The Naval List: 16. August 1917. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
22. "Supplement to the Monthly Naval List Showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c". The Naval List: 15. December 1918. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
23. "Williams Watkins Limited: Fleet List: Defiance–Her Majesty". Thames Tugs. 11 September 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
24. Dittmar and Colledge 1972, p. 57.
25. Lyon 2001, pp. 78–79.
26. Arrowsmith, John (27 January 1997). ""Arrowsmith" List – Part 1 Destroyer Prototypes through "River" Class". The World War I Primary Documents Archive. Retrieved 1 Jun 2013.

References

• Brown, D. K. (2003). Warrior to Dreadnought: Warship Development 1860–1905. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-529-2.
• Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allen. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
• 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) [first published by Sampson Low Marston, London 1898,]. Jane’s All The Worlds Fighting Ships 1898. New York: ARCO Publishing Company.
• Jane, Fred T. (1969) [first published by Sampson Low Marston, London 1905]. Jane’s Fighting Ships 1905. New York: ARCO Publishing Company.
• Lyon, David (2001). The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-3648.
• Manning, T. D. (1961). The British Destroyer. London: Putnam & Co. Ltd.
• Moore, John (1990) [Content originally published by Jane's Publishing Company, 1914, 1919]. Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. London: Studio. ISBN 1-85170-378-0.