HMS Doon (1904)

HMS Doon in a floating dock at Harwich during World War I
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Doon
Ordered:	1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates
Builder:	R.W. Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Ltd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Laid down:	16 February 1904
Launched:	8 November 1904
Commissioned:	1 June 1905
Out of service:	1919 laid up in reserve awaiting disposal
Fate:	27 May 1919 sold to Thos W Ward of Sheffield for breaking at Rainham, Kent, on the Thames Estuary
General characteristics
Class and type:	Hawthorn Leslie Type River-class destroyer
Displacement:	550 t (541 long tons) standard 625 t (615 long tons) full load 226 ft 6 in (69.04 m) o/a 23 ft 9 in (7.24 m) Beam 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m) Draught
Propulsion:	4 × Yarrow type water tube boiler 2 × Vertical Triple Expansion (VTE) steam engines driving 2 shafts producing 7,000 shp (5,200 kW) (average)
Speed:	25.5 kn (47.2 km/h)
Range:	140 tons coal 1,870 nmi (3,460 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h)
Complement:	70 officers and men
Armament:	1 × QF 12-pounder 12 cwt Mark I, mounting P Mark I 3 × QF 12-pounder 8 cwt, mounting G Mark I (Added in 1906) 5 × QF 6-pdr naval gun (removed in 1906) 2 × single tubes for 18-inch (450mm) torpedoes
Service record
Part of:	East Coast Destroyer Flotilla - 1905 3rd Destroyer Flotilla - Apr 1909 5th Destroyer Flotilla - 1912 Assigned E Class - Aug 1912 - Oct 1913 9th Destroyer Flotilla - 1914 7th Destroyer Flotilla - Aug 1915
Operations:	World War I 1914 - 1918

HMS Doon was a Hawthorn Leslie type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Doon in western Scotland, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

She was laid down on 16 February 1904 at the Hawthorn Leslie shipyard at Hebburn-on-Tyne and launched on 8 November 1904. She was completed in June 1905. Her original armament was to be the same as the Turtleback torpedo boat destroyers that preceded her. In 1906 the Admiralty decided to upgrade the armament by landing the five 6-pounder naval guns and shipping three 12-pounder 8 hundredweight (cwt) guns. Two would be mounted abeam at the foc's'le break and the third gun would be mounted on the quarterdeck.

After commissioning she was assigned to the East Coast Destroyer Flotilla of the 1st Fleet and based at Harwich.

On 27 April 1908 the Eastern Flotilla departed Harwich for live fire and night manoeuvres. During these exercises HMS Attentive rammed and sank HMS Gala then damaged HMS Ribble.

In April 1909 she was assigned to the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla on its formation at Harwich. She remained until displaced by a Basilisk-class destroyer by May 1912. She was assigned to the 5th Destroyer Flotilla of the 2nd Fleet with a nucleus crew.

On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyer classes were to be designated by alpha characters starting with the letter 'A'. The ships of the River class were assigned to the E class. After 30 September 1913, she was known as an E-class destroyer and had the letter ‘E’ painted on the hull below the bridge area and on either the fore or aft funnel.