HMS Otter (1896)

HMS Otter was a Vickers three funnel - 30 knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895 – 1896 Naval Estimates. She was the fourth ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1782 for a fire ship, sold in 1801.

Construction
She was laid down on 9 June 1896 at the Barrow Shipbuilding Company shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness and launched on 23 November 1896. During her builder’s trials she made her contracted speed requirement. In 1897 during the construction of these ships, the Barrow Shipbuilding Company was purchases by Vickers, Sons and Maxim and renamed as the Naval Construction and Armaments Shipyard. She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in March 1900.

Pre-War
After commissioning she was deployed to China Station being based at Hong Kong. She arrived on station after the Boxer Rebellion operations were completed.

In July, 1904, complaints from Vice-Admiral Noel of the China Station about the condition of his torpedo boats and torpedo boat destroyers prompted a review of his assets by First Lord of the Admiralty Admiral Selborne. It was noted that HMS Otters' boilers had been re-tubed and her hull and machinery refitted in 1902.

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 August of 1914 she was slated for disposal but the outbreak of the First World War granted her a reprieve.

On the 5th of January, 1915 General Officer Commanding (GOC) Hong Kong came on board HMS Triumph to witness two night attacks made by the HMS Whiting and HMS Otter; these were primarily designed for training of the searchlight crews of HMS Triumph.

Disposition
In 1916 she was paid off and laid-up in awaiting disposal. She was finally sold on 25 October 1916 for breaking in Hong Kong.

She was not awarded a Battle Honour for her service.

Pennant Numbers
It is unknown if she was assigned a pennant number as no record has been found.