HMS Hazard ( 1894 ) The sixth HMS " Hazard " was a " Dryad " - class torpedo gunboat . She was launched in 1894 and was converted into the world ' s first submarine depot ship in 1901 . She collided with the submarine " A3 " on 2 February 1912 , killing 14 men , and was herself sunk in collision with SS " Western Australia " on 28 January 1918 . Design . Ordered under the Naval Defence Act of 1889 , which established the " Two - Power Standard " , the class was contemporary with the first torpedo boat destroyer s . With a length overall of , a beam of and a displacement of 1 , 070 tons , these torpedo gunboats were not small ships by the standard of the time ; they were larger than the majority of World War I destroyers . " Hazard " was engined by Fairfield with two sets of vertical triple - expansion steam engines , two locomotive - type boilers , and twin screws . This layout produced , giving her a speed of . She carried between 100 and 160 tons of coal and was manned by 120 sailors and officers . Armament . The armament when built comprised two QF guns , four 6 - pounder guns and a single 5 - barrelled Nordenfelt machine gun . Her primary weapon was five 18 - inch ( 450 - mm ) torpedo tubes , with two reloads . On conversion to a minesweeper in 1914 two of the five torpedoes were removed . History . Naval review of 1897 . On 26 June 1897 " Halcyon " was present at the Fleet Review at Spithead in celebration of Queen Vicoria ' s Diamond Jubilee . " Pacification of Crete " . " Hazard " was present during 1897 and 1898 at the campaign by the Great Powers to pacify Crete . A council of Naval officers ordered that the Customs House at Candia be turned over to the British in order to initiate a system of export duties . On 6 September 1898 a well - armed mob attacked the small force of soldiers and sailors at the customs house , and concurrently the British camp and hospital at the other end of the town were assaulted . " Hazard " opened fire on the town with her 4 . 7 - inch guns when no support was provided by the Turkish troops charged with keeping order . The mob turned their attentions on the native Christian community , killing upwards of 1 , 000 men , women and children . " Hazard " lost four seamen killed and several wounded ; Lieutenant Lewes , the commanding officer of " Hazard " was promoted to commander , and Surgeon William Job Maillard was awarded the Victoria Cross . A monument to the killed seaman has been placed in the Upper Barracca at Malta . Submarine depot ship . In 1901 she was converted into the world ' s first submarine depot ship , the only ship of her class to be so converted . She was commissioned 20 August 1901 with a complement of 94 officers and men , her first captain in the new role was Captain Reginald Bacon , who held the post of " Inspecting Captain of submarine boats " . She was despatched to Barrow - in - Furness to take up her new task . In the summer of 1902 " Hazard " led a group consisting of HM Submarines " No . 2 " and " No . 3 " , and Torpedo Boat " No . 42 " to Portsmouth , where , together with submarines " No . 1 " , " No . 4 " and " No . 5 " , they formed the First Submarine Flotilla . Collision with submarine " A3 " . On 2 February 1912 " Hazard " , under the command of Lieutenant Charles J C Little , collided with the submerged submarine " A3 " . The submarine was in the process of surfacing during exercises when she was struck ; the stricken boat sank with the loss of all 14 personnel on board . World War I . In August 1914 " Hazard " was serving as the depot for the Fourth Submarine Flotilla . Loss . On 28 January 1918 she collided with the hospital ship SS " Western Australia " in the English Channel and sank . The wreck sits upside down in two parts and various parts are missing having been salvaged . The wreck ' s location in a busy shipping channel makes it an unpopular target for divers .