HMS Amphion (1911)

HMS Amphion about 1914
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Amphion
Ordered:	1910 Naval Programme
Builder:	Pembroke Dockyard
Laid down:	15 March 1911
Launched:	4 December 1911
Completed:	March 1913
Fate:	Sunk by mine, 6 August 1914
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Active-class scout cruiser
Displacement:	3,340 long tons (3,390 t) (normal)
Length:	405 ft (123.4 m) (o/a)
Beam:	41 ft (12.5 m)
Draught:	14 ft 6 in (4.4 m)
Installed power:	18,000 shp (13,000 kW) 12 × Yarrow boilers
Propulsion:	4 × shafts 2 × Parsons steam turbine sets
Speed:	25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range:	4,630 nautical miles (8,570 km; 5,330 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	293
Armament:	10 × single BL 4-inch (102 mm) guns 4 × single QF 3-pounder (47 mm (1.9 in)) guns 2 × single 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Deck: 0.5–1 in (13–25 mm) Conning tower: 4 in (102 mm)

HMS Amphion was an Active-class scout cruiser built for the Royal Navy before the First World War. Completed in 1913, she was initially assigned to the First Fleet and became a destroyer flotilla leader in mid-1914. When the war began, her flotilla was assigned to the Harwich Force. While patrolling on the first full day of the war, Amphion and her destroyers encountered and sank a German minelayer, SMS Königin Luise, but not before she had laid many of her mines. While returning from patrolling the following morning, Amphion accidentally struck a mine on 6 August 1914 off the Thames Estuary and sank with the loss of 132 crewmen killed. She was the first ship of the Royal Navy to be sunk in the First World War. The wreck site is protected and may not be dived upon without permission from the Ministry of Defence.

The Active-class ships were the last class of turbine-powered scout cruisers ordered by the Admiralty. These ships were intended to work with destroyer flotillas, leading their torpedo attacks and backing them up when attacked by other destroyers, although they quickly became less useful as destroyer speeds increased before the First World War. Amphion had a length between perpendiculars of 405 feet (123.4 m), a beam of 41 feet (12.5 m) and a draught of 14 feet 6 inches (4.4 m). She displaced 3,340 long tons (3,394 t) at normal load and 3,945 long tons (4,008 t) at deep load. Her crew consisted of 289 officers and other ranks.