HMS Foam (1896)

Fame, sister-ship of Foam
History
Name:	HMS Foam
Ordered:	10 May 1895[1]
Builder:	John I Thornycroft, Chiswick
Cost:	£54,432[1]
Yard number:	307
Laid down:	16 July 1895
Launched:	8 October 1896
Commissioned:	July 1897
Fate:	Sold for breaking, 26 May 1914
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:	Two funnel, 30 knot destroyer
Displacement:	272 t (268 long tons) standard 352 t (346 long tons) full load
Length:	210 ft (64 m) o/a
Beam:	19 ft 6 in (5.94 m)
Draught:	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Installed power:	5,700 shp (4,300 kW)
Propulsion:	3 × water tube boilers 2 × vertical triple-expansion steam engines 2 shafts
Speed:	30 kn (56 km/h)
Range:	80 tons coal 1,310 nmi (2,430 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h)
Complement:	65 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-pdr 8 cwt L/40 gun on a Mark I* low angle mount 2 × single tubes for 18-inch (450mm) torpedoes

HMS Foam was a two funnel, 30 knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1894 – 1895 Naval Estimates. She served in the Mediterranean for most of her short career and was sold in 1914, 4 months before the beginning of World War I.

Construction

Ordered on 10 May 1895, she was laid down as yard number 307 on 16 July 1895 at the John I Thornycroft and Company shipyard at Chiswick on the River Thames. She was launched on 8 October 1896. During her builder’s trials she made her contract speed of 30 knots (56 km/h),^[1] then proceeded to Portsmouth to have her armament fitted. She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in July 1897. During her acceptance trials and work ups her average sea speed was 25 knots.^[2]

Pre-War

On 26 June 1897 she was present at the Royal Naval Review at Spithead in celebration of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.^[3] Rudyard Kipling visited her in May 1897, and what he learnt on board was put to good use in his poem "The Destroyers".^[4] Foam was deployed to the Mediterranean Fleet in the second half of 1897 and remained there for most of her career. Lieutenant Stanley Venn Ellis was appointed in command 24 March 1902.^[5] She returned to Home waters in 1913.^[1]

On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyer classes were to be designated by letters, starting with the letter 'A'. Since her design speed was 30-knots and she had two funnels she was assigned to the D class. After 30 September 1913, she was known as a D-class destroyer and had the letter ‘D’ painted on the hull below the bridge area and on either the fore or aft funnel.^[6]

Fate

As part of the progressive modernization of the Royal Navy, Foam was sold on 26 May 1914 at Chatham and scrapped in Norway.^[7]

References

1. Lyon (1996), p.45.
2. Jane’s All The Worlds Fighting Ships (1898), pp.84-85.
3. "HMS Foam at the Naval Database website".
4. "The Destroyers". The Kipling Society. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
5. "Naval & Military intelligence" The Times (London). Wednesday, 5 March 1902. (36707), p. 5.
6. Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1906 to 1922 (1985), pp.17-10.
7. ""Arrowsmith" List – Part 1 Destroyer Prototypes through "River" Class". Retrieved 1 Jun 2013.

• Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1906 to 1922. Conway Maritime Press. 1985, Reprinted 1986, 1997, 2002, 2006. ISBN 0 85177 245 5. Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Jane, Fred T. (1969) [1898]. Jane’s All The Worlds Fighting Ships 1898. New York: first published by Sampson Low Marston, London 1898, Reprinted ARCO Publishing Company.
• David Lyon (1996). The First Destroyers. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-271-1. Retrieved 1 July 2013.