HMS Doris (1896): Difference between revisions
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She [[Ship_commissioning#Ship_decommissioning|paid off]] at [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport]] in May 1901, when, to honour her crew, the men of the other ships in the harbour spontaneously manned yards and sides and gave a salute .<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=Naval & Military intelligence |day_of_week=Monday |date=13 May 1901 |page_number=10 |issue=36453| }}</ref> After a refit, she was on 4 June 1902 commissioned into the [[Channel Squadron]] with the crew of [[HMS Arrogant (1896)|HMS ''Arrogant'']].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=Naval & Military intelligence |day_of_week=Monday |date=2 June 1902 |page_number=9 |issue=36783| }}</ref> Captain [[Frederick Robert William Morgan]] was appointed in command.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=Naval & Military intelligence |day_of_week=Monday |date=5 May 1902 |page_number=12 |issue=36759| }}</ref> |
She [[Ship_commissioning#Ship_decommissioning|paid off]] at [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport]] in May 1901, when, to honour her crew, the men of the other ships in the harbour spontaneously manned yards and sides and gave a salute .<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=Naval & Military intelligence |day_of_week=Monday |date=13 May 1901 |page_number=10 |issue=36453| }}</ref> After a refit, she was on 4 June 1902 commissioned into the [[Channel Squadron]] with the crew of [[HMS Arrogant (1896)|HMS ''Arrogant'']].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=Naval & Military intelligence |day_of_week=Monday |date=2 June 1902 |page_number=9 |issue=36783| }}</ref> Captain [[Frederick Robert William Morgan]] was appointed in command.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=Naval & Military intelligence |day_of_week=Monday |date=5 May 1902 |page_number=12 |issue=36759| }}</ref> |
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When the [[First World War]] began in August 1914, ''Doris'' was serving with the 11th Cruiser Squadron of the Home Fleet. On 5 August, ''Doris'' captured a German merchant ship.<ref name="Conways06 p15">Gardiner & Gray, p. 15</ref> |
When the [[First World War]] began in August 1914, ''Doris'' was serving with the 11th Cruiser Squadron of the Home Fleet, and her Captain was Frank Larken<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Smoke on the Horizon|last=Usborne|first=Cecil Vivian|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|year=1933|isbn=|location=London|pages=19-20}}</ref>. On 5 August, ''Doris'' captured a German merchant ship.<ref name="Conways06 p15">Gardiner & Gray, p. 15</ref> |
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By November of 1914, ''Doris'' was cruising off the West Coast of Ireland. On 7th of that month she was ordered to proceed to Alexandria to form part of the Allied force opposing Turkey.<ref name=":0" /> She was ordered to patrol the Syrian coast, looking out for enemy ships and shore installations, and to "exercise general pressure."<ref name=":0" /> |
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On 15th December ''Doris'' was lying off the Syrian coast near Beersheba when she spotted suspicious activity on a bluff commanding the shore. Closing in, her crew discovered it was a Turkish defensive position in the course of construction, and Captain Larken gave orders to open fire with one of the ship's main guns. The emplacement was swiftly destroyed.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Smoke on the Horizon|last=Usborne|first=Cecil Vivian|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|year=1933|isbn=|location=London|pages=22-23}}</ref> |
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From Beersheba, ''Doris'' proceeded to the Gulf of [[İskenderun|Alexandretta]], where she landed shore parties to disrupt Turkish communication lines, destroying telegraph lines and railway tracks. Anchoring off the harbour of Alexandretta, Larken sent word to the Military Governor of the town demanding that "All munitions of war, mines and locomotives" be handed over to his crew to be destroyed, and that all British and Allied subjects be surrendered to him, along with their families and effects.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Smoke on the Horizon|last=Usborne|first=Cecil Vivian|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|year=1933|isbn=|location=London|pages=29}}</ref> Failure to comply would result in the town being shelled. |
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The Governor communicated with [[Djemal Pasha]], Military Commander of Greater Syria, who was not a man to be intimidated. Not only did Djemal Pasha refuse the demands, but he threatened that, if Larken opened fire on Alexandretta, one British captive would be shot for every Ottoman subject killed in the bombardment.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Smoke on the Horizon|last=Usborne|first=Cecil Vivian|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|year=1933|isbn=|location=London|pages=31-32}}</ref> |
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In the event, negotiations were carried out through the American Consul in Alexandretta, and the Turks took the opportunity to evacuate all military stores and equipment from the town, before two railway locomotives were destroyed in a token gesture.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Smoke on the Horizon|last=Usborne|first=Cecil Vivian|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|year=1933|isbn=|location=London|pages=39-42}}</ref> |
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''Doris'' continued to patrol the Syrian coast until March 1915, carrying out thirteen landing operations and many coastal bombardments before being relieved by the French.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Smoke on the Horizon|last=Usborne|first=Cecil Vivian|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|year=1933|isbn=|location=London|pages=47}}</ref> |
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==Footnotes== |
==Footnotes== |
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Revision as of 20:49, 18 March 2017
_IWM_Q_021174.jpg) Doris at anchor during World War I
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Doris |
| Builder | Naval Construction & Armaments Co., Barrow-in-Furness |
| Laid down | 29 August 1894 |
| Launched | 3 March 1896 |
| Completed | 18 November 1897 |
| Reclassified | As depot ship, 1917 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 2 February 1919 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Eclipse-class protected cruiser |
| Displacement | 5,600 long tons (5,690 t) |
| Length | 350 ft (106.7 m) |
| Beam | 53 ft 6 in (16.3 m) |
| Draught | 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m) |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion | 2 shafts, 2 Inverted triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph) |
| Complement | 450 |
| Armament |
|
| Armour |
|
HMS Doris was an Eclipse-class protected cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1890s.
Under the command of Captain R. C. Prothero, she was flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Harris when he was Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope Station in South Africa 1898-1900.[1] In 1899 at least one of HMS Doris's QF 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns was mounted on an improvised field carriage and used as a field gun in the Second Boer War. The gun used at Magersfontein was known as Joe Chamberlain. Captain Prothero, known as 'Prothero the Bad', was a man of violent temper who terrified his officers and crew alike.
She paid off at Devonport in May 1901, when, to honour her crew, the men of the other ships in the harbour spontaneously manned yards and sides and gave a salute .[2] After a refit, she was on 4 June 1902 commissioned into the Channel Squadron with the crew of HMS Arrogant.[3] Captain Frederick Robert William Morgan was appointed in command.[4]
When the First World War began in August 1914, Doris was serving with the 11th Cruiser Squadron of the Home Fleet, and her Captain was Frank Larken[5]. On 5 August, Doris captured a German merchant ship.[6]
By November of 1914, Doris was cruising off the West Coast of Ireland. On 7th of that month she was ordered to proceed to Alexandria to form part of the Allied force opposing Turkey.[5] She was ordered to patrol the Syrian coast, looking out for enemy ships and shore installations, and to "exercise general pressure."[5]
On 15th December Doris was lying off the Syrian coast near Beersheba when she spotted suspicious activity on a bluff commanding the shore. Closing in, her crew discovered it was a Turkish defensive position in the course of construction, and Captain Larken gave orders to open fire with one of the ship's main guns. The emplacement was swiftly destroyed.[7]
From Beersheba, Doris proceeded to the Gulf of Alexandretta, where she landed shore parties to disrupt Turkish communication lines, destroying telegraph lines and railway tracks. Anchoring off the harbour of Alexandretta, Larken sent word to the Military Governor of the town demanding that "All munitions of war, mines and locomotives" be handed over to his crew to be destroyed, and that all British and Allied subjects be surrendered to him, along with their families and effects.[8] Failure to comply would result in the town being shelled.
The Governor communicated with Djemal Pasha, Military Commander of Greater Syria, who was not a man to be intimidated. Not only did Djemal Pasha refuse the demands, but he threatened that, if Larken opened fire on Alexandretta, one British captive would be shot for every Ottoman subject killed in the bombardment.[9]
In the event, negotiations were carried out through the American Consul in Alexandretta, and the Turks took the opportunity to evacuate all military stores and equipment from the town, before two railway locomotives were destroyed in a token gesture.[10]
Doris continued to patrol the Syrian coast until March 1915, carrying out thirteen landing operations and many coastal bombardments before being relieved by the French.[11]
Footnotes
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36406. London. 19 March 1901. p. 8. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36453. London. 13 May 1901. p. 10. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36783. London. 2 June 1902. p. 9. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36759. London. 5 May 1902. p. 12. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
- ^ a b c Usborne, Cecil Vivian (1933). Smoke on the Horizon. London: Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 19–20.
- ^ Gardiner & Gray, p. 15
- ^ Usborne, Cecil Vivian (1933). Smoke on the Horizon. London: Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 22–23.
- ^ Usborne, Cecil Vivian (1933). Smoke on the Horizon. London: Hodder and Stoughton. p. 29.
- ^ Usborne, Cecil Vivian (1933). Smoke on the Horizon. London: Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 31–32.
- ^ Usborne, Cecil Vivian (1933). Smoke on the Horizon. London: Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 39–42.
- ^ Usborne, Cecil Vivian (1933). Smoke on the Horizon. London: Hodder and Stoughton. p. 47.
References
- Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- McBride, Keith (2012). "The Cruiser Family Talbot". In John Jordan (ed.). Warship 2012. London: Conway. pp. 136–41. ISBN 978-1-84486-156-9.
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