H.M.S. Vigilant (1900)

H.M.S. Vigilant (1900)
Pendant Number:	D.43 (1914) D.72 (Sep 1915) D.92 (Jan 1918)
Builder:	John Brown & Company
Ordered:	Purchased 31 Mar 1900
Launched:	16 Aug, 1900
Commissioned:	Jun, 1901
Broken up:	1920

H.M.S. Vigilant was one of forty "C" class destroyers built for the Royal Navy — a "30 knotter".

Service

On the evening of 27 September, 1901, Vigilant and Fairy collided in Devonport Harbour while taking up moorings. Curiously, this event is not mentioned in the Service Record of either commander.

In late 1905, she was one of eight destroyers in the First Division of the Channel Fleet's Destroyer Flotilla.

She was one of twenty-seven T.B.Ds. of the Portsmouth Flotilla to participate in the Annual Manoeuvres of 1909.

In mid-1913, she was with Seventh Destroyer Flotilla — a patrol flotilla.

Under the command of Lieutenant R.N.R. Robert Geoffrey Cross, in 1916, Vigilant collided with S.S. Ellington. In 1917, he further collided her against the Leith Dock and then with the paddle minesweeper Eridge.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Lieutenant & Commander Apsley D. M. Cherry, 16 July, 1901  (for the Annual Manoeuvres of 1901)
• Lieutenant & Commander James U. Farie, 3 September, 1901 – 1 August, 1902
• Lieutenant & Commander Arthur W. Tomlinson, 21 July, 1903  (for Annual Manoeuvres of 1903)
• Lieutenant & Commander Walter J. C. Lake, 14 July, 1904  (for Annual Manoeuvres of 1904)
• Lieutenant & Commander Lionel J. G. Anderson, 18 January, 1905 – 1 April, 1905
• Lieutenant-Commander Bertram O. F. Phibbs, 12 May, 1905 – 10 November, 1905
• Lieutenant & Commander Lionel J. G. Anderson, 10 November, 1905 – 12 January, 1906
• Lieutenant & Commander Frank Powell, 12 January, 1906 – 19 August, 1907
• Lieutenant & Commander Edward Secretan, 3 September, 1907 – 14 August, 1908  (relieved of command for insubordinance)
• Lieutenant & Commander George B. Hartford, 4 August, 1908 – November, 1909
• Lieutenant & Commander Austin C. Ackland, November, 1909 – 8 February, 1910
• Lieutenant & Commander Robert F. Veasey, 8 February, 1910 – 15 August, 1910
• Lieutenant & Commander Henry C. Rawlings, 15 August, 1910 – 1 April, 1912
• Commander Frank Powell, May, 1912 – 15 August, 1913
• Lieutenant-Commander Malcolm L. Goldsmith, 15 August, 1913 – 25 August, 1913  (in command on passage to Gibraltar)
• Lieutenant & Commander Henry M. Fothergill, c. 1 May, 1914 – 20 May, 1914
• Commander John F. H. Cole, 23 May, 1914 – 12 January, 1915
• Lieutenant-Commander William C. Castle, 14 January, 1915 – 28 April, 1915
• Lieutenant in Command Colin A. G. Hutchison, 21 March, 1915 – 4 November, 1915  (temporary)
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command William J. O'Neill, 4 November, 1915 – 8 March, 1916
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command Robert G. Cross, 8 March, 1916 – 5 February, 1917
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command Alfred S. C. Bird, 5 February, 1917 – 30 October, 1917
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command Arthur Beswick, 18 January, 1919 – 29 March, 1919

See Also

• Wikipedia