HMS Dove (1898)

HMS Dove was a three funnel, 30 knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1896 – 1897 Naval Estimates. She was the ninth ship to carry the name.

Construction
She was laid down on 17 September 1896 at Earle’s Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited shipyard at Hull, Yorkshire and launched on 21 March 1898. During her trials she made her contracted speed requirement. She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in July 1901.

Pre-War
After commissioning she was assigned to the Channel Fleet. She spent her operational career mainly in Home Waters operating with the Channel Fleet as part of the Portsmouth Flotilla.

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
In July 1914 she was in active commission in the 7th Destroyer Flotilla based at Devonport tendered to the destroyer depot ship HMS Leander (1882). In September 1914 the 7th was redeployed to the Humber River. She remained in this deployment until the cessation of hostilities. Her employment within the Humber Patrol included anti-submarine and counter-mining patrols.

By November 1918 she had been redeployed to the Devonport Local Flotilla based out of Liverpool.

Disposal
In 1919 Dove was paid off and laid-up in reserve awaiting disposal. She was sold on 27 January 1920 to Maden and McKee of Porthcawl for breaking.