HMS Serpent (1887)

HMS Serpent, was an torpedo cruiser of the Royal Navy. 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 all but three of her crew.

Construction
Serpent was laid down at Devonport Dockyard on 9 November 1885 as a member of the Archer-class torpedo cruiser of torpedo cruisers, was launched on 10 March 1887 and completed in March 1888.

Torpedo cruisers were small, relatively fast, ships intended to defend the fleet against attacks by hostile torpedo boats, while themselves being capable of attacking hostile fleets with torpedoes. The Archer class were enlarged derivatives of the earlier Scout-class torpedo cruiser, which carried a heavier armament.

Serpent was 240 ft long overall and 225 ft between perpendiculars, with a beam of 36 ft and a draught of 14 ft. Displacement was 1770 LT normal and 1950 LT full load. The ship's machinery, built by Harland and Wolff, consisted of two horizontal compound steam engines rated at 4500 ihp, which were fed by four boilers and drove two shafts for a speed of 17.5 kn. 475 tons of coal were carried, sufficient to give a range of 7000 nmi, 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 tubes completed the ship's armament. Armour consisted of a 3/8 in deck, with 1 in gunshields and 3 in protecting the ship's conning tower. 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 HMS Acorn (1884) on the West African Station. On the night of 10 November, Serpent was caught in a heavy storm in the Bay of Biscay and attempted to reach shelter, but ran aground on Cape Vilan near the village of Camariñas in Galicia, northwest Spain. All but three of her crew were killed. The resulting court martial investigating the cause of the loss of Serpent concluded that the ship had been lost as a result of a navigation error.