HMS ''Cadmus'' was a of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. She was launched at Sheerness in 1903, spent her entire career in the Far East and was sold at Hong Kong in 1921.

Design

''Cadmus'' was constructed of copper-sheathed steel to a design by William White, the Royal Navy

Director of Naval Construction The Director of Naval Construction (DNC) also known as the Department of the Director of Naval Construction and Directorate of Naval Construction and originally known as the Chief Constructor of the Navy was a senior principal civil officer res ...

. Her propulsion was provided by a J. Samuel White three-cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engine developing and driving twin screws. She and her sisters were an evolution of the ''Condor''-class sloop, carrying more coal, which in turn gave a greater length and displacement. This class comprised the very last screw sloops built for the

, and ''Espiegle'' was the last Royal Navy ship built with a

figurehead In politics, a figurehead is a practice of who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet '' de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that ...

. Her sister ship was the last to sport a figurehead till her breaking up in 1923.

Sail plan

As designed and built the class was fitted with a

barquentine A barquentine or schooner barque (alternatively "barkentine" or "schooner bark") is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts. Modern barquentine sailing ...

-rigged sail plan. After was lost in a gale in 1901, the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

abandoned sails entirely.
Fifty Years in the Royal Navy
'', Admiral Sir Percy Scott, Bt., John Murray, London, 1919, p.37 ''Espiegle'' was never fitted with sails, and the rest of the class had their yards removed in 1914. The official attitude to sails and the loss of yards did not completely prevent the use of sails, and log entries show that fore-and-aft sails were being used in ''Odin'' as late as April 1920.

Armament

The class was armed with six 4-inch/25-pdr (1ton) quick-firing breechloaders and four 3-pounder quick-firing breechloaders, as well as several machine guns.

Construction

''Cadmus'' was laid down at

Sheerness Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960. Location In the Age of Sail, the Royal Navy would often establish shore ...

on 11 March 1902, and launched on 29 April 1903. She was commissioned in 1904 for the Far East.

Service history

''Cadmus'' started her career on the

Australia Station The Australia Station was the British, and later Australian, naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent. Australia Station was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station, whose rank varied over t ...

, where she arrived on 13 July 1904; her maiden voyage to Australia was accomplished in record time for a sloop. She was refitted at

Cockatoo Island Dockyard The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...

, Sydney in 1905. In May 1905, she was ordered to follow ''Clio'' to the

China Station The Commander-in-Chief, China, was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 1 ...

and served there for the rest of her career. She recommissioned at

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

on 18 October 1912, and remained on the China Station during World War I. In November 1914 she arrived at Direction Island in the Indian Ocean a week after the battle between ''Emden'' and ''Sydney'' to bury the sailors killed in action. She was in Singapore during the Sepoy Mutiny of February 1915, and her crew was involved in capturing the mutineers. In 1920, she was listed as "unallocated" at Hong Kong.

Fate

She was sold at Hong Kong on 1 September 1921.

References

*Bastock, John (1988), ''Ships on the Australia Station'', Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. * * Transcription of ship's logbooks October 1913 to July 1920 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cadmus (1903) 1903 ships Cadmus-class sloops Victorian-era sloops of the United Kingdom World War I sloops of the United Kingdom