HMS Surly


HMS Surly was a of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Clydebank in 1894, served in home waters and was sold in 1920.

Design and construction

On 3 November 1893 the British Admiralty placed an order with the Glasgow shipbuilder J&G Thomson as part of the 1893–1894 Naval Estimates for three torpedo-boat destroyers,, and Surly, with Surly expected to be delivered within 16 months. A total of 36 destroyers were ordered from 14 shipbuilders as part of the 1893–1894 Naval Estimates, all of which were required to reach a contract speed of. The Admiralty laid down broad requirements for the destroyers, including speed, the use of an arched turtleback forecastle and armament, with the detailed design left to the builders, resulting in each of the builders producing different designs.
Surly was long overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draught of. Displacement was light and full load. Four Normand three-drum water-tube boilers fed steam at to 2 triple expansion steam engines rated at. Three funnels were fitted. Armament consisted of a single QF 12 pounder 12 cwt gun on a platform on the ship's conning tower and three 6-pounder guns, with two 18 inch torpedo tubes. One of the torpedo tubes could be removed to accommodate a further two six-pounders, although by 1908 both five 6-pounder guns and both torpedo tubes were generally fitted.
Surly was laid down at Thomson's Clydeside shipyard as yard number 271 on 14 February 1894 and was launched on 10 November 1894. She reached a speed of during Sea trials and was commissioned in July 1895.

Service

Surly spent her whole career in British waters, and was based at Portsmouth. She took part in the 1901 British Naval Manoeuvres. Surly was used in trials in the use of oil fuel instead of coal from 1898, which were still ongoing in 1906.

Citations