First Class Torpedo Boats

[Brian James]

First Class Torpedo Boat HMAS Countess of Hopetoun pictured c1911.She was the last vessel to be ordered for the Victorian colonial naval forces. The 75 ton First Class Torpedo Boat was laid down in 1890 in the Shipyards of Yarrow & Co at Poplar in London and launched the following year. She was completed as Torpedo Boat No. 905 on August 25th 1891 at which time she embarked a crew of 27 to undertake builder’s trials.
For her long delivery voyage to Melbourne the vessel was rigged as a three masted schooner carrying 1800 square feet of sail. A sleek vessel,she was 130 feet long with a single funnel situated between the fore and main masts. She had a top speed of 24 knots. The voyage to Australia took seven months and she arrived in Port Phillip Bay on May 22nd 1891.She transferred to the control of the Royal Australian Navy following the granting of the ‘Royal’ title to the existing naval forces in 1911. As such she became one of a handful of vessels to have served in the colonial, commonwealth and Royal Australian navies.She was scrapped in 1925.

[Brian James]

First Class Torpedo Boat HMAS Countess of Hopetoun pictured at Port Melbourne c1912..Breastwork Monitor HMAS Cerberus is in the background.