HMS Hart (1895)

HMS Hart was one of three s built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. Completed in 1895 she spent most of her career on the China Station and was sold in 1912.

Description

Ordered as part of the 1893–1894 Naval Programme, the Hardy-class torpedo boat destroyers were Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company'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 Thornycroft water-tube boilers. The engines developed a total of and were intended to give a maximum speed of. During her sea trials Hart reached from. The Hardys carried a maximum of of coal that gave them a range of at.
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

Hart was laid down by Fairfield at its Govan shipyard on 7 June 1894, launched on 27 March 1895 and completed in January 1896.
The ship was sold for scrap in 1912.