HMS Sapphire (1904)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Sapphire.

Pictured: sister ship HMS "Amethyst"
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Sapphire
Builder	Elswick Naval Works
Laid down	January 1903
Completed	March 1905
Fate	Sold for scrap in 1920
General characteristics
Class and type	Topaze-class Protected Cruiser
Displacement	3,000 tons
Length	360 ft (110 m)
Beam	40 ft (12 m)
Draught	14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)
Propulsion	9,800 horsepower
Speed	22.3 knots (41 km/h)
Armament	12 x QF 4 inch 8 x 3 pounder guns 4 × 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	1 inch gun shields, 2 0.5 inch deck armour
Notes	Sometimes known as the Gem class. The ship had a crew of 296.

HMS Sapphire was a third-class protected cruiser of the Topaze class of the Royal Navy.

She was laid down in January 1904 at Palmer, Jarrow, she was completed in February 1905.. She was powered by an inverted, triple expansion, 4 cylinder, surface condensing, coal-fired boiler. Her captains included: Captain H. C. Somerville R.N. and Captain P.W. Hill R.N..

She carried a number of smaller craft including: 1 x 32ft steam cutter; 1 x 34ft sailing cutter; 2 x 30ft sailing cutter; 1 x 32ft galley; 2 x 27ft whalers; 2 x 16ft skiff dinghies; and 1 x 10ft balsa raft.

World War I

HMS "Sapphire" was commissioned on 2 July 1914 at Chatham Dock, Kent, before moving out into Kethole Reach, in the estuary of the Medway. On 16th July, "Sapphire" set sail from Sheerness Docks, Kent, for Spithead, Hampshire, where she took part in the Royal Fleet Review on 20th July.