HMS ''Serpent'', was an

torpedo cruiser A torpedo cruiser is a type of warship that is armed primarily with torpedoes. The major navies began building torpedo cruisers shortly after the invention of the locomotive Whitehead torpedo in the 1860s. The development of the torpedo gave ri ...

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 ...

. ''Serpent'' was built at Devonport Dockyard, entering service in 1888. She was lost when she ran aground off Cape Vilan in northwest Spain with the loss of 173 people out of 176 in her crew.

Construction

Archer class cruiser diagrams Brasseys 1888

''Serpent'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

at Devonport Dockyard on 9 November 1885 as a member of the of

s, was launched on 10 March 1887 and completed in March 1888.Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 81. Torpedo cruisers were small, relatively fast, ships intended to defend the fleet against attacks by hostile

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

s, while themselves being capable of attacking hostile fleets with torpedoes. The ''Archer'' class were enlarged derivatives of the earlier , which carried a heavier armament.Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, pp. 80–81. ''Serpent'' was long overall and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

, with a beam of and a draught of .

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was normal and full load. The ship's machinery, built by

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...

, consisted of two horizontal

compound steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) cylinder, then having given up heat ...

s rated at , which were fed by four boilers and drove two shafts for a speed of . 475 tons of coal were carried, sufficient to give a range of , and three masts were fitted. Armament consisted of six 6-inch (5 ton) guns, backed up by eight 3-pounder QF guns and two machine guns. Three 14-inch

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s completed the ship's armament. Armour consisted of a deck, with gunshields and protecting the ship's

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armoured, from which an officer in charge can conn (nautical), conn (conduct or control) the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for t ...

. The ship had a complement of 176 officers and ratings.

Service

''Serpent'' took part in the 1888 Fleet manoeuvres, where her machinery proved unreliable, and in the 1889 manoeuvres. On 8 November 1890, ''Serpent'' left Devonport to relieve the sloop on the West African Station. On the night of 10 November, ''Serpent'' was caught in a heavy storm in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

and attempted to reach shelter, but ran aground on Cape Vilan near the village of

Camariñas Camariñas is a municipality in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Terra de Soneira. An important fishing center, it is renowned all over Spain by the bobbin lace w ...

in Galicia, northwest Spain. All but three of her crew were killed. The resulting

court martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the mili ...

investigating the cause of the loss of ''Serpent'' concluded that the ship had been lost as a result of a navigation error. The dead are buried where they were washed ashore at the English cemetery,

Costa da Morte Costa da Morte (; "Coast of Death") is a part of the Galician coast. The most common definition of the Costa da Morte states that it extends from Cape Finisterre to Malpica, although some may debate it extends from Muros to A Coruña. Backg ...

, Galicia. File:Remains of HMS 'Serpent' washed up on the Rocks at Punto del Buey - ILN 1890-1213-0008.jpg, The remains of the ''Serpent'' washed up on the rocks at Punto del Buey.

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

, 1890 File:Cemiterio dos Ingleses, Camariñas, Galiza.jpg, ''Cemiterio dos ingleses'' (English cemetery in Galician language), in

, built for the victims of this shipwreck.

Anchor

The anchor was located in 2024 adorning a house in Muxía (La Coruña), though it was recovered from the sea about 25 years previously

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Jerusalem Post 11-24-2024
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Citations

References

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External links