HMS Thetis (1890)

HMS Thetis was an Apollo-class second-class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 December 1890. Her first significant mission was service in the Bering Sea Patrol with American warships in a combined effort to suppress poaching in the Bering Sea.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Thetis.

Protected cruiser HMS Thetis
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Thetis
BuilderJ & G Thomson, Clydebank
Laid down29 October 1889
Launched13 December 1890
CommissionedApril 1892
FateDeliberately sunk in the Zeebrugge Raid on 23 April 1918
General characteristics
Class and typeApollo-class 2nd class protected cruiser
Displacement3,400 tons
Length314 ft (95.7 m)
Beam43 ft (13.1 m)
Draught17.5 ft (5.3 m)
PropulsionTwin triple-expansion coal-fired steam engines, 7,000 indicated hp (5 MW), twin screws
Speed18.5 knots (34 km/h) maximum
Complement273 to 300 (Officers and Men)
Armament
  • As built:
  • 2 × QF 6-inch (152.4 mm) guns
  • 6 (later 4) × QF 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns
  • 8 × 6-pounder (3 kg) Hotchkiss
  • 1 × 3-pounder Vickers
  • 4 × Maxim machine guns
  • 4 × 14 inch torpedo tubes
  • 100 mines
  • Converted pre-1914 to a lightly armed minelayer.
Armour1.3 to 2 in (33 to 51 mm) deck, no belt

She served on the Mediterranean Station until relieved in March 1901. She was paid off at Chatham in early June 1901, and was placed in the Fleet reserve. She was commissioned at Chatham on 25 November 1902 with a complement of 273 officers and men for service on the China Station. She left Sheerness on 14 December, stopping in Gibraltar, Malta, Port Said, Aden and more places before arriving in China the following year.

The latter half of her career was spent as a mine-layer. Laden with concrete, she was deliberately sunk as a blockship in attempt to block the canal in the Zeebrugge Raid during the First World War, on 23 April 1918.

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