HMS Osprey (1897)

HMS Osprey was a three funnel, 30-knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1896 – 1897 Naval Estimates from Fairfields. She was the fifth ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1797 for a 18-gun ship-sloop.

Construction
She was laid down as yard number 397 on 14 November 1896 at the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company shipyard at Govan, Glasgow and launched on 7 April 1897. During her builder’s trials she made her contracted speed requirement. She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in July 1898.

Pre-War
After commissioning she was assigned to the Portsmouth Flotilla of the 1st Fleet.

On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyer classes were to be designated by alpha characters starting with the letter 'A'. Since her design speed was 30-knots and she had three funnels she was assigned to the C Class. After 30 September 1913, she was known as an C Class destroyer and had the letter ‘C’ painted on the hull below the bridge area and on either the fore or aft funnel.

World War I
For the test mobilization in July 1914 she was assigned to the 8th Destroyer Flotilla based at Chatham. Here she provided local anti-submarine and counter mining patrols. In August 1914 she had been redeployed to the Scapa Flow Local Flotilla to provided anti-submarine patrols for the fleet anchorage until the defences of Scapa Flow could be improved.

She was deployed to the North Channel Patrol and based at Larne, Ireland in November 1916. Her deployment included anti-submarine and counter mining patrols as well as contraband enforcement. She was attached to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla when it was transferred to Londonderry in 1918, and remained based at Larne.

Disposition
In 1919 Osprey was paid off and laid-up in reserve awaiting disposal. She was sold on 4 November 1919 to J.H. Lee of Dover for breaking.

She was awarded the battle honour "Belgian Coast 1914 – 17" for her service.