HMS Decoy (1894)

HMS Decoy was a "Daring"-class torpedo boat destroyer which served with the Royal Navy.

She was built by John I. Thornycroft & Company at Chiswick and was launched on February 7 1894. ["The Times (London)", Thursday, February 8 1894, p.4]

Her engines produced 4,200 H.P., and she could make 27 knots. Although fitted with multiple torpedo tubes, her bow tube proved useless in practice as, running at high attack speeds, the ship was prone to overtake its own torpedo. The clumsy tube also reduced living quarters and made the bridge very prone to flooding.

"Decoy" was lost in a collision with the HMS Arun off the Scilly Islands on August 13 1904 ["The Times (London)", Wednesday, August 15 1904, p.5] while taking part in night exercises.cite book |title=The Admiralty Regrets British Warship Losses of the 20th Century |last=Kemp |first=Paul |year=1999 |publisher=Sutton Publishing Ltd |isbn=0750915676 |pages=p1] 1 man was killed while the remaining 40 members of the crew were rescued by HMS Arun and HMS Sturgeon.

Courts martial regarding the sinking were subsequently assembled aboard the battleship Conqueror. The first, on August 22 ["The Times (London)", Thursday, August 23 1904, p.9] , attributed blame on the commander of the "Arun". The second, an appeal, was held on August 30 ["The Times (London)", Friday, August 31 1904, p.4] , and dismissed the charge of neglect but confirmed the charge of hazarding both vessels.

References

*"The British Destroyer" by Captain T.D. Manning, Putnam and Co, 1961.