HMS Rother

HMS Rother was a Palmer Type River Class Destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1902 – 1903 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Rother a river East of Sheffield, South Yorkshire in England, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

Construction
She was laid down on 23 March 1903 at the Palmer’s shipyard at Jarrow and launched on 5 January 1904. She was completed in May 1905. Her original armament was to be the same as the Turleback torpedo boat destroyers that preceded her. In 1906 the Admiralty decided to upgrade the armament by landing the five 6-pounder naval guns and shipping three 12-pounder 8 hundredweight (cwt) guns. Two would be mounted abeam at the foc'x'le break and the third gun would be mounted on the quarterdeck.

Pre-War
After commissioning she was assigned to the East Coast Destroyer Flotilla of the 1st Fleet and based at Harwich.

On 27 April 1908 the Eastern Flotilla departed Harwich for live fire and night manoeuvres. During these exercises the cruiser HMS Attentive (1904) rammed and sank the destroyer HMS Gala (1905) then damaged the destroyer HMS Ribble (1904).

In January 1909 Rother completed a refit at Sheerness before rejoining the Eastern Flotilla at Harwich. In April 1909 she was assigned to the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla on its formation at Harwich. On 2 November 1909 the destroyer HMS Crusader (1909) collided with Rother near the Longsand lightvessel. Rother was repaired at Harwich by the depot ship HMS Blenheim (1890). She remained part of the Flotilla until displaced by a Basilisk Class destroyer by May 1912. She was assigned to the 5th Destroyer Flotilla of the 2nd Fleet with a nucleus crew.

On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyers were to be grouped into classes designated by letters, with the River-class becoming known officially as the E-Class. The class letters were painted on the hull below the bridge area and on one of the funnels.

World War I
In early 1914 when displaced by G Class destroyers she joined the 9th Destroyer Flotilla based at Chatham tendered to HMS St George (1892) The 9th Flotilla was a Patrol Flotilla tasked with anti-submarine and couner mining patrols in the Firth of Forth area. Soon after the commencement of hostilities she was deployed to the Dover Patrol at Portsmouth. Her duties here included counter mining patrols and antisubmarine measures. She was also employed as an escort for merchant shipping.

With the amalgamation of the 7th and 9th Flotillas in August 1915, she was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla when it was redeployed to Portsmouth in November 1916. She was equipped with depth charges for employment in anti-submarine patrols, escorting of merchant ships and defending the Dover Barrage. In the spring of 1917 as the convoy system was being introduced the 1st Flotilla was employed in convoy escort duties for the English Channel for the remainder of the war.

Disposition
In 1919 she was paid off and laid up in reserve awaiting disposal. On 23 July 1919 she was sold to Thos W Ward of Sheffield for breaking at Briton Ferry, Glamorgan in Wales.

She was not awarded a Battle Honour for her service.