Name HMS Seal Completed May 1898 Displacement 395 long tons (401 t) Launched 6 March 1897 Draft 2.97 m | Laid down 17 June 1896 Fate Scrapped, 1921 Construction started 17 June 1896 Length 64 m Builder Cammell Laird | |
Class and type Earnest-class destroyer | ||
HMS Seal was a B-class torpedo boat destroyer of the British Royal Navy. She was completed by Laird, Son & Company, Birkenhead, in 1897.
Contents
Design and construction
Seal was ordered on 9 January 1896 as the fifth of six 30-knotter destroyers programmed to be built by Lairds under the 1895–1896 programme. These followed on from four very similar destroyers ordered from Lairds as part of the 1894–1895 programme.
Seal was 218 feet (66.4 m) long overall and 213 feet (64.9 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 21 feet 6 inches (6.55 m) and a draught of 9 feet 9 inches (2.97 m). Displacement was 355 long tons (361 t) light and 415 long tons (422 t) full load. Like the other Laird-built 30-knotters, Seal was propelled by two triple expansion steam engines, fed by four Normand boilers, rated at 6,300 ihp (4,700 kW), and was fitted with four funnels.
Armament was the standard for the 30-knotters, i.e. a QF 12 pounder 12 cwt (3 in (76 mm) calibre) gun on a platform on the ship's conning tower (in practice the platform was also used as the ship's bridge), with a secondary armament of five 6-pounder guns, and two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.
Seal was laid down on 17 June 1896 as yard number 625 and was launched on 6 March 1897. On 24 January 1898 she carried out final sea trials, reaching an average speed of 30.79 kn (35.43 mph; 57.02 km/h) over the measured mile and 30.15 knots (55.84 km/h; 34.70 mph) on a three hour continuous run. Seal commissioned in May 1898.
Service
Lieutenant Arthur John Payne was appointed in command in September 1899, and she was commissioned as part of the Devonport Destroyer Instructional Flotilla. In February 1900 she was slightly damaged while in the Falmouth harbour when the destroyer Fairy dragged her moorings and drifted into several of the other ships of the flotilla. She was scheduled to a commission on the Mediterranean station in December 1901, but owing to defects her place was taken by Flying Fish. She underwent repairs to re-tube her boilers in 1902.
On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyers were to be grouped into classes designated by letters based on contract speed and appearance. As a four-funneled 30-knotter destroyer, Wolf was assigned to the B Class.