HMS Rocket (1894)
HMS "Rocket" was the lead ship of her class of three destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. Completed in 1895 she served mostly in home waters and was sold for scrap in 1912. Description. Ordered as part of the 1893–1894 Naval Programme, the "Rocket"-class torpedo boat destroyers were J & G Thompson's first such ships. They displaced at normal load and at deep load. The ships had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . They were powered by a pair of triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a single propeller  shaft using steam provided by four Normand boilers. The engines developed and were intended to give a maximum speed of . During her sea trials "Rocket" reached from . The "Rocket"-class ships carried a maximum of of coal that gave them a range of at . Their crew numbered 53 officers and ratings. The ships were armed with a single quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder (3 in (76 mm) Mk I gun and five QF 6-pounder () Mk I Hotchkiss guns in single mounts. Their torpedo armament consisted of two rotating torpedo tubes for 18-inch (450 mm) torpedoes, one mount amidships and  the other on the stern. Construction and career. "Rocket" was ordered on 3 November 1893 for delivery within 12 months. The ship was laid down as Yard number 269 by J & G Thompson at its Clydebank shipyard on 14 February 1894, launched on 14 August and completed in July 1895. While delivered later than contracted, "Rocket" was still one of the quickest to build of the 27-knotter destroyers ordered as part of the 1893–94 shipbuilding programme, and the design was considered satisfactory by the Admiralty. After her commission she served at the North America and West Indies Station under  the command of Lieutenant Adolphus Huddlestone Williamson. She was ordered to return home in early 1902, but was still in North American waters when she was reported to leave the head quarter at Bermuda for Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1910, "Rocket" was disarmed, and used for radio experiments. The ship was sold for scrap on 10 April 1912 to Ward of Preston.