HMS Ostrich (1900)

On 30 March 1899, the British Admiralty placed an order with the shipbuilder Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company for two "Thirty-Knotter" torpedo-boat destroyers, {{HMS|Falcon|1899|2}} and Ostrich.Lyon 2001, pp. 23–24.Lyon 2001, p. 89. As with other early Royal Navy destroyers, the design of Ostrich was left to the builder, with the Admiralty laying down only broad requirements.Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 87.Manning 1961, p. 39.

Ostrich was {{convert|214|ft|6|in}} long overall and {{convert|209|ft|9|in}} between perpendiculars, with a beam of {{convert|12|ft|2|in}} and a draught of {{cvt|8|ft|9|in}}. Displacement was {{convert|375|LT|t|}} light and {{convert|420|LT|t}} full load. Four Thornycroft boilers, with their out-takes routed to three funnels, drove triple-expansion steam engines rated at {{convert|6300|ihp|lk=in}}. The ship had the standard armament of the Thirty-Knotters—a QF 12 pounder 12 cwt ({{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}} calibre) gun on a platform on the ship's conning tower (in practice the platform was also used as the ship's bridge), with a secondary armament of five 6-pounder guns, and two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.Lyon 2001, pp. 98–99.Friedman 2009, p. 40.

She was laid down as Yard No 413 on 28 June 1899, at the Fairfield shipyard at Govan, Glasgow, and launched on 22 March 1900. During her builder's trials she made her contracted speed requirement. She was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in December 1901.

Ostrich was commissioned at Devonport on 4 January 1902,{{Cite newspaper The Times |title= Naval & Military intelligence |date=16 January 1902 |page=7 |issue= 36666 }} and was assigned to the Channel Fleet to serve in the instructional flotilla.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title= Naval & Military intelligence |date=6 January 1902 |page=8 |issue= 36657 }} She paid off at Devonport on 12 May 1902, when her crew transferred to HMS Lively, which was the following day commissioned for the instructional flotilla.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title= Naval & Military intelligence |date=10 May 1902 |page=8 |issue= 36764 }} In late August she received the crew of HMS Decoy, and took her place in the Devonport instructional flotilla.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence|date=13 August 1902 |page=8 |issue=36845}}

On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed that all destroyer classes were to be designated by alphabetic 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 a C-class destroyer and had the letter 'C' painted on the hull below the bridge area and one of her funnels.Gardiner and Gray 1985, pp. 17–19.

In 1912, older destroyers were organised into Patrol Flotillas, with Ostrich being part of the 6th Flotilla, based at Portsmouth, in March 1913.Manning 1961, p. 25.{{cite magazine|title=Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad: Patrol Flotillas|magazine=The Navy List|date=March 1913|page=269d|url=http://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/pageturner.cfm?id=94246554&mode=fullsize}} She had transferred to the 8th Flotilla, based at Chatham by February 1914.{{cite magazine|title=Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad: Patrol Flotillas|magazine=The Navy List|date=March 1913|page=269d|url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/91820645}}

For the test mobilization in July 1914 she remained part of the 8th Destroyer Flotilla.{{cite web|title=Ships of the Royal Navy — Location/Action Data 1914–1918: Admiralty "Pink Lists", 18 July 1914|work=World War 1 at Sea|publisher=naval-history.net|date=24 March 2015|url=http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritishShips-Locations2PL1407.htm|access-date=8 April 2018}} The 8th Flotilla was deployed to move to Rosyth immediately prior to the outbreak of the war to provide local defence for the Firth of Forth.Naval Staff Monograph No. 7 1921, pp. 77–78. Ostrich remained part of the 8th Flotilla in June 1917,{{cite magazine|title=Supplement to the Monthly Naval List showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands, &c.: VIII.—Local Defence Flotillas|magazine=The Navy List|date=June 1917 |url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92148834}} but by July had transferred to the East Coast Convoy Flotilla.{{cite magazine|title=Supplement to the Monthly Naval List showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands, &c.: VI.—Vessels Under Rear-Admiral Commanding East Coast of England: East Coast Convoy Flotilla|magazine=The Navy List|date=July 1917|page=16 |url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/94241426}} On 12 July Ostrich and the destroyer {{HMS|Thrasher|1895|2}} were escorting a north-bound convoy when the German submarine {{GS|UC-55||2}} attacked the convoy, torpedoing and sinking the Norwegian merchant ship Balzac. Although Thrasher retaliated with a depth charge, the submarine was undamaged.{{harvnb|Naval Staff Monograph No. 35|1939|p=264}} In October 1917, Ostrich was listed as being under the Captain-in-Charge Lowestoft.{{cite magazine|title=Supplement to the Monthly Naval List showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands, &c.: IV.—Miscellaneous Ships in Home Waters or on Detached Service: Vessels Under Captain-In-Charge, Lowestoft|magazine=The Navy List|date=October 1917|page=14 |url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92176666}} She remained based at Lowestoft until the end of the war.{{cite web|title=Ships of the Royal Navy — Location/Action Data 1914–1918: Admiralty "Pink Lists", 11 November 1918|work=World War 1 at Sea|publisher=naval-history.net|date=24 March 2015|url=http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritishShips-Locations2PL1811.htm|access-date=8 April 2018}}

In 1919 Ostrich was paid off and laid-up in reserve awaiting disposal. She was sold on 29 April 1920 to the Barking Ship Breaking Company for scrap.{{cite web|title="Arrowsmith" List – Part 1 Destroyer Prototypes through "River" Class|url=http://www.gwpda.org/naval/s0420000.htm|access-date=1 Jun 2013}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|editor-last1=Chesneau|editor-first1=Roger|editor-last2=Kolesnik|editor-first2=Eugene M|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|year=1979|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-133-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War|year=2009|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=978-1-84832-049-9}}
• {{cite book|editor-last1=Gardiner|editor-first1=Robert|editor-last2=Gray|editor-first2=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-245-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Jane|first=Fred T.|title=Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships 1898|year=1969|orig-year=first published by Sampson Low Marston, London 1898|publisher=ARCO Publishing Company|location=New York}}
• {{cite book|last=Jane|first=Fred T.|title=Jane's Fighting Ships 1905|year=1969|publisher=ARCO Publishing Company|location=New York|orig-year=First published by Sampson Low Marston, London 1905|page=77}}
• {{cite book|last=Lyon|first=David|title=The First Destroyers|year=2001|publisher=Caxton Editions|location=London|isbn=1-84067-364-8|orig-year=1996}}
• {{cite book|last=Manning|first=T. D.|title=The British Destroyer|year=1961|publisher=Putnam & Co.|location=London|oclc= 6470051}}
• {{cite book|last=Moore|first=John|title=Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I|year=1990|publisher=Studio Editions|isbn=1-85170-378-0}}
• {{cite book|title=Monograph No. 7: The Patrol Flotillas at the Outbreak of the War|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical)|volume=III|year=1921|pages=71–107|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.III_opt.pdf |publisher=Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division|ref={{harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 7|1921}} }}
• {{cite book|title=Monograph No. 35: Home Waters: Part IX.: 1st May, 1917 to 31st July, 1917|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical)|volume=XIX|year=1939|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XVIIIX_opt.pdf |publisher=Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division|ref={{harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 35|1939}} }}

{{C class destroyer}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ostrich (1900)}}

Category:Ships built in Govan

Category:1900 ships

Category:C-class destroyers (1913)

Category:World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom