H.M.S. Berwick (1902)

H.M.S. Berwick (1902)
Pendant Number:	36 (1914) P.74 (Sep 1915) P.08 (Jan 1918)
Builder:	William Beardmore & Company, Dalmuir
Ordered:	1900-01 Programme
Laid down:	19 Apr, 1901
Launched:	1902
Commissioned:	9 Dec, 1903
Sold:	1920

H.M.S. Berwick was one of ten armoured cruisers of the Monmouth Class completed between 1903 and 1904.

There was also a heavy cruiser Berwick launched in the 1920s.

Construction & Launch

Berwick was laid down at Beardmore's on 19 April, 1901. She was launched on Saturday, 20 September, 1902. The Lord-Lieutenant of Berwickshire, Lord Binning, was to have attended but was on active military duty at the time. Berwick was launched and named by Lady Houstoun-Boswall.

Service

She commissioned for service with the Cruiser Squadron at Portsmouth on 9 December, 1903 under Captain Charles Holcombe Dare with the paid-off crew of the cruiser Sutlej.

Berwick rammed and sank the destroyer Tiger 2 April 1908 during night exercises off the Isle of Wight with the Portsmouth Flotilla. Berwick was one of the six "enemy" ships led by the battleship Prince George on transit to Portland when the flotilla conducted its mock attack. Tiger was the second of three destroyers in the second division to make an attack, led by Recruit. When Recruit fired a flare to signal a mock torpedo firing, she peeled off to starboard to clear the enemy ships, but Tiger kept going straight, attempting to pass between Prince George and Berwick behind. Berwick ship struck Tiger amidships and broke her in two. The bow section sank quickly without survivors, and twenty-two survived from the stern section.

In February 1913, she was involved in a collision with the second class protected cruiser Dido. The captain of the other ship, Robert Henry Coppinger was faulted in the encounter.

Home ported in Devonport, in mid-1913 she was serving in the Third Cruiser Squadron.

BerwickShe was recommissioned on 18 October, 1918.

In August, 1919, she was one of four cruisers placed under the command of Captain Francis Wade Caulfeild under the oversight of the Rear-Admiral commanding the Devonport Reserve.

In 1934, her bell was offered for sale to naval officers and others who might be interested, at the price of £5. Interested parties were to write the Director of Stores and were urged to include any special information which might convey the importance they attach to the bell, in light of the Admiralty's understanding that such items carry great sentimental value.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Captain Charles H. Dare, 9 December, 1903 – 12 March, 1906
• Captain The Hon. Horace L. A. Hood, 13 March, 1906 – 12 August, 1907
• Captain Lewis Clinton-Baker, 16 August, 1907 – 15 January, 1908
• Captain William C. M. Nicholson, 15 January, 1908 – 2 September, 1908
• Captain Hugh T. Hibbert, 1 April, 1909 – 15 May, 1911
• Captain Lewis Clinton-Baker, 16 May, 1911 – 24 March, 1915
• Captain Adolphus H. Williamson, 24 March, 1915 – 12 November, 1915
• Captain William F. Blunt, 10 June, 1916 – 26 February, 1918
• Captain Fawcet Wray, 26 February, 1918  (lent for passage to Mediterranean)
• Captain Cunningham R. de C. Foot, ? – April, 1918
• Captain Richard G. A. W. Stapleton-Cotton, April, 1918 – 5 September, 1918
• Captain Robert G. D. Dewar, 22 October, 1918 – 20 August, 1919
• Captain Francis W. Caulfieid, 20 August, 1919 – 19 February, 1920  (and in command of Cornwall, Devonshire and Suffolk)
• Captain George P. England, February, 1920 – 31 March, 1920  (also in command of other ships, and some associated with London)

Officers

H.M.S. Berwick (Dev.)
As of December, 1918.
Rank	Name	Appointed
Captain	Robert Gordon Douglas Dewar	22 October, 1918
Commander	Charles Herbert Neill James	30 September, 1918
Lieutenant	(N) Henry William Lane Joynt Mowbray Jackson	16 September, 1918
Lieutenant	Basil Ashby Taylor	18 October, 1918
Lieutenant, R.N.R.	Thomas Henry Coughtrey, D.S.C.	25 October, 1918
Lieutenant, R.N.R.	Arthur Stanley Thomas	25 October, 1918
Lieutenant, R.N.R.	Edward Doody	—
Engineer Lieutenant-Commander	Oswald Cecil David Dallas	9 January, 1918
Temporary Engineer Lieutenant	Hugh Allan Montgomery Douglas	27 July, 1917
Temporary Engineer Lieutenant	Charles Henry Stubbings	30 March, 1917
Temporary Engineer Lieutenant	William James Russell Ross	28 September, 1918
Captain, R.M.	Edwin John Williams	25 October, 1918
Chaplain	Hubert Frank Foley (Acting)	25 October, 1918
Paymaster Lieutenant-Commander	Marcus Blake (Acting)	25 October, 1918
Surgeon Lieutenant-Commander	Frederick Morton Vincent Smith	25 October, 1918
Surgeon Lieutenant	Algernon Randolph Upton	25 October, 1918
Acting Sub-Lieutenant, R.N.R.	Andrew MacKellar	25 October, 1918
Mate	(T) George Mervyn Allchin	5 February, 1917
Mate	(G) William McEver	— September, 1918
Mate	William Hugh Moloney (Acting)	25 October, 1918
Paymaster Sub-Lieutenant, R.N.R.	Amand James Cyril Mascard	25 October, 1918
Chief Gunner	David Burnett-Herkes	28 June, 1918
Gunner	Alfred Edward Beard	7 November, 1918
Boatswain	William Harris Riddells	23 March, 1917
Boatswain	William Henry Phillips	25 October, 1918
Warrant Shipwright	Alfred Richard Tink	29 May, 1916
Artificer Engineer	Charles Porteous	17 March, 1916
Artificer Engineer	Herbert Pullen	18 September, 1918
Warrant Engineer, R.N.R.	Alexander Telford	27 July, 1917
Warrant Mechanician	William John Lewin (Acting)	4 October, 1918
Warrant Schoolmaster	Percival Frank Radford Hardy (Acting)	15 November, 1918
Midshipman, R.N.R.	Frank Tester	— October, 1918

See Also

• Transcribed Ship Logs at naval-history.net
• Wikipedia

Bibliography

• Navy Estimates for the Year 1902-1903, with Explanation of Differences (1902). London: Printed for His Majesty's Stationary Office by Wyman and Sons, Limited.
• Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.
• Chesneau, Robert; Kolesnik, Eugene (editors) (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).