H.M.S. Starfish (1895)

H.M.S. Starfish (1895)
Builder:	Vickers^[1]
Ordered:	1893-94^[2]
Laid down:	22 Mar, 1894^[3]
Launched:	26 Jan, 1895^[4]
Commissioned:	14 Jan, 1896^[5]
Broken up:	1912^[6]

H.M.S. Starfish was one of thirty-six 27 Knotters, a broad meta-class of early Torpedo Boat Destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s.

Like most of the 27 knotters, she was broken up before the war.

Service

Wizard and Starfish collided on 3 February 1903. A Court of Enquiry found that the other destroyer's Lieutenant-in-Command, Robert Wilberforce Myburgh, had committed an error in judgement.^[7]

Starfish was one of seventeen destroyers of the Reserve Division which left Sheerness on 1 July, 1905 for Spithead under the overall command of Commander R. G. Gregory in H.M.S. Spitfire.^[8]

She and sixteen other destroyers of the Reserve Division arrived at Sheerness on 13 July 1905 and proceeded to Chatham.^[9]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

Lieutenant Henry L. Tottenham, 14 January, 1896^[10] – 22 May, 1896^[11]
Lieutenant & Commander Sidney R. Olivier, early 1898 – 10 May, 1898
Lieutenant Douglas E. R. Brownrigg, 10 May, 1898^[12]^[13] – 3 March, 1899^[14]
Lieutenant & Commander Bernard St. G. Collard, 16 July, 1901^[15] (for the Annual Manoeuvres of 1901)
Chief Gunner in Command (T) Edward Walker, 22 January, 1902^[16] – 17 September, 1904
Lieutenant William H. D. Boyle, 20 June, 1902^[17] – 28 August, 1902^[18] (temporary)
Lieutenant & Commander Robert M. Groves, 21 July, 1903^[19] (for Annual Manoeuvres of 1903)
Lieutenant & Commander Charles C. Johnson, 14 July, 1904^[20] (for Annual Manoeuvres of 1904)
Lieutenant & Commander Arthur L. Popham, 3 January, 1905^[21] – 1 April, 1906
Lieutenant & Commander John B. Stevenson, 1 April, 1906^[22] – 21 July, 1906
Lieutenant & Commander Stephen H. Morres, 21 July, 1906 – 3 March, 1908
Lieutenant & Commander Robert G. Hamond, 3 March, 1908^[23]^[24] – 9 March, 1909^[25]
Lieutenant & Commander George W. Taylor, 9 March, 1909^[26] – 20 March, 1909 (may have been altered to Spitfire)

Footnotes

↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 93. Then known as the "Naval Construction and Armament Company".
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 92.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 93.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 93.
↑ The Navy List. (March, 1896). p. 266.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 93.
↑ Myburgh Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/385. f. 246.
↑ "Naval And Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Monday, Jul 03, 1905; pg. 12; Issue 37749.
↑ "Naval And Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Friday, Jul 14, 1905; pg. 10; Issue 37759.
↑ Tottenham Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/20. f. 92/182.
↑ Tottenham Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/20. f. 92/182.
↑ The Navy List. (October, 1898). p. 299.
↑ Brownrigg Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 492.
↑ Brownrigg Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 492.
↑ "The Naval Manoeuvres." The Times (London, England), Thursday, July 11, 1901, Issue 36504, p.8.
↑ The Navy List. (May, 1903). p. 304a.
↑ Boyle Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 419.
↑ Boyle Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 419.
↑ "APPOINTMENTS FOR THE NAVAL MANOEUVRES." The Times (London, England), Thursday, Jul 16, 1903; pg. 8; Issue 37134.
↑ "Appointments for the Naval Manoeuvres." The Times (London, England), Saturday, Jul 09, 1904; pg. 12; Issue 37442.
↑ The Navy List. (November, 1905). p. 379.
↑ The Navy List. (June, 1906). p. 378.
↑ Hamond Service Record The National Archives. ADM 196/45/170. f. 174.
↑ The Navy List. (October, 1908). p. 378.
↑ Hamond Service Record The National Archives. ADM 196/45/170. f. 174.
↑ "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), Wednesday, Mar 10, 1909; pg. 9; Issue 38903.