NOSTALGIA: Coal-powered warship sunk by her own propellor

Sailors from HMS Chamois after coaling ship.

Here we see some of the company from the turtle-back destroyer HMS Chamois.

Bottom centre of the photograph is the ship’s pet and to the left of it is George Harwood. He was the grandfather of George Millener who provided all today’s photographs.

Portsmouth-based HMS Chamois was a three-funnel, 30-knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895–1896 Naval Estimates. She was the first ship of the navy to carry this name.

The River Class destroyer HMS Welland in the Pool of London. I am sure the bridge is the old London Bridge which was sold to America in 1967.

She was commissioned in 1897 and served in the Channel and the Mediterranean.

She foundered in 1904 after her own propeller pierced her hull.

During her builder’s trials she met her contracted speed requirement.

On September 26, 1904, she was the victim of a bizarre accident. While conducting a full power trial off the Greek coast she lost a propeller blade. This unbalanced the shaft which was spinning at high speed. The resulting vibration broke the shaft bracket and tore a large hole in the hull. She sank by the stern in 30 fathoms. All hands were saved, but one engineer was wounded and another scalded.