H.M.S. Sunfish (1895)

H.M.S. Sunfish (1895)
Pendant Number:	D.47 (1914) D.2A (Sep 1915), D.81 (1918)
Builder:	Hawthorn Leslie & Company
Ordered:	1893-94
Laid down:	29 Aug, 1894
Launched:	23 May, 1895
Commissioned:	18 Feb, 1896
Broken up:	1920

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

She was one of a select few destroyers of her era who served through the Great War despite their obsolete nature.

Service

The newly-commissioned T.B.D. left Sheerness for Portland on 26 February 1896.

In 1897, under the command of Lt. Walter Maurice Ellerton, Sunfish collided with the barge Ellen. Ellerton was cautioned to be more careful in future.

Sunfish 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.

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

In 1918, she collided with S.S. Boverton, resulting in a caution for Acting Sub-Lt. Hubert Gerald Daedalus Merrett.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Lieutenant & Commander Albert S. Lafone, 18 February, 1896 – 1 September, 1896
• Lieutenant & Commander Alexander Farrington, 12 September, 1896 – 30 September, 1897  (participated in the Jubilee Naval Review and the Annual Manoeuvres of 1897)
• Lieutenant & Commander Walter M. Ellerton, 27 September, 1897 – 30 July, 1898
• Lieutenant & Commander Robert G. D. Dewar, 19 April, 1900 – January, 1902  (lent to Cygnet 29 November, 1900)
• Lieutenant & Commander John M. D. E. Warren, 2 August, 1902 – 15 October, 1903
• Commander Marcus R. Hill, August, 1903 – November, 1903
• Lieutenant & Commander John Kiddle, 15 October, 1903 – 23 March, 1904
• Lieutenant & Commander Alfred B. Barker, 14 July, 1904 – 27 August, 1904  (for Annual Manoeuvres of 1904)
• Lieutenant & Commander Reginald C. L. Owen, 29 October, 1904 – 8 June, 1905
• Lieutenant & Commander Francis B. Favell, 21 June, 1905 – 23 September, 1905
• Lieutenant & Commander Arthur N. Gouldsmith, 23 September, 1905 – April, 1907^[Inference]
• Lieutenant & Commander Henry C. Stahl, 9 April, 1907 – 4 August, 1909
• Lieutenant & Commander Reginald Watkins Grubb, 4 August, 1909 – 24 January, 1910
• Lieutenant in Command Francis S. McGachen, 24 January, 1910 – 15 August, 1910
• Lieutenant-Commander Valentine D. English, 15 August, 1910 – 4 April, 1911
• Gunner in Command John D. Sumner, 4 May, 1912 – 14 May, 1914
• Lieutenant in Command George S. Brown, 29 July, 1914 – 1 June, 1915
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command William B. Clementson, 1 June, 1915 – 11 July, 1917
• Acting Commander R.N.R. Frederick J. Thompson, 11 July, 1917 – 23 August, 1917
• Lieutenant-Commander R.N.R. George ff. H. Lloyd, 8 October, 1917 – 17 April, 1918
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command John B. Titterington, 17 April, 1918 – 9 May, 1918  (cancelled)
• Lieutenant R.N.R. in Command Hubert G. D. Merrett, 16 December, 1918 – 23 June, 1919

See Also

• Wikipedia