View source for H.M.S. Traveller (1885)

<div name=fredbot:career>{{ShipCareer|fullname=H.M.S. ''Traveller'' (1885)|fate2=
|purchased=1885{{FC}}
|cat=Misc
|order=
|chain=NONE
|name=Traveller
|builder=
|launch=1885<ref>This year may be incorrect.</ref>
|yardno=
|nat=UK
|type=twin-screw tug
|fate=
|fg=white|bg=crimson}}</div name=fredbot:career>
'''H.M.S. ''Traveller''''' was a civilian twin-screw tug of uncertain heritage which the Royal Navy acquired through a Vote of Credit around 1885 for conversion into an armed tug/special service vessel for use in the Mediterranean.{{NMI|Wednesday, Aug 26, 1885; pg. 10; Issue 31535}}  Her date of launch and her fate are not known.

She displaced 700 tons and boasted 1120 H.P..{{NLApr87|p. 235}}

==Service==
Mention I can find of ''Traveller''{{'}}s employment seem to be centred on accompanying torpedo gunboats, which were notoriously unreliable in their machinery, on Annual Manoeuvres, to be on hand in the event of a breakdown.

Her conversion seems to have taken years, as it was not before January 1889 that she underwent her trials, where great friction in piston caused a near-fatal accident when a fitter had his neck caught as in a vice when he attempted to inspect the engine and wave action caused the engine to cycle.  He was nearly decapitated as a result, and the vessel returned so that he could be sent to Haslar Hospital.{{NMI|Tuesday, Jan 15, 1889; pg. 7; Issue 32596}}

She was mobilised on 18 June 1889 to participate in the [[Annual Manoeuvres of 1889]].  She also participated in [[Annual Manoeuvres of 1890|those of 1890]], [[Annual Manoeuvres of 1892|1892]] and [[Annual Manoeuvres of 1893|1893]].

She participated in the Jubilee Naval Review and possibly the [[Annual Manoeuvres of 1897]].{{ToL|The Naval Review at Spithead|25 June 1897; p. 13}}

In 1900, she became a tender to {{UK-Nile}} under the charge of {{CBosunRN}} [[William Platt]] after [[Richard Archibald Cathie]] stepped aside after nearly a decade in command.{{NLJan01|p. 307''a''}}

She passed into a semi-active state from around mid 1903 to November, 1905.

Though a Chief Bosun in Command commanded her through the first half of the [[Great War]], and she is still listed in ''The Navy List'' of December 1918, no personnel were known to be assigned to her after mid-1917.{{NLNov17|p. 298''n''}}

==Armament==
The initial concept would be that she would carry about six guns, the cost for strengthening her hull to accommodate the weaponry was thought to run to £8,000.  It is not clear whether her outfit matched this plan in the end.{{NMI|Wednesday, Aug 26, 1885; pg. 10; Issue 31535}}

==Captains==
Dates of appointment are provided when known.
<div name=fredbot:officeCapt otitle="Captain of H.M.S. ''Traveller''">
{{Tenure|rank={{LaCRN}}|name=George Drury|nick=George Drury|appt=23 July, 1889{{NMI|Wednesday, Jul 24, 1889; pg. 12; Issue 32759}}|end=}}
{{Tenure|rank={{LaCRN}}|name=Gustavus Humphry Yonge|nick=Gustavus H. Yonge|appt=22 July, 1890{{ToL|Naval Intelligence|Saturday, Jul 19, 1890; pg. 12; Issue 33068}}|end=3 September, 1890|note=for [[Annual Manoeuvres of 1890]]}}
{{Tenure|rank={{LaCRN}}|name=Richard Archibald Cathie|nick=Richard A. Cathie|appt=1 October, 1891{{NLFeb00|p. 307}}{{NMI|Wednesday, Sep 30, 1891; pg. 4; Issue 33443}}|end=c. April, 1900{{INF}}|note=}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CBosunRN}} (in Command?)|name=William Platt|nick=William Platt|appt=12 April, 1900{{NLMay02|p. 307''a''}}|end=23 June, 1901<ref>Platt Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/31/426.|D7595046}} f. 433.</ref>}}
{{Tenure|rank={{LaCRN}}|name=Thomas John Spence Lyne|nick=Thomas J. S. Lyne|appt=30 June, 1902{{NLMay03|p. 308''a''}}|end=22 May, 1903}}
{{Tenure|rank={{LiCRN}}|name=Michael John Ahern|nick=Michael John Ahern|appt=27 November, 1905{{NMI|Monday, Nov 27, 1905; pg. 10; Issue 37875}}|end=27 November, 1906<ref>Ahern Service Record. {{TNA|ADM 196/34/33.}} f. ?.</ref>}}
{{Tenure|rank={{LaCRN}}|name=Frank Lewis|nick=Frank Lewis|appt=27 November, 1906<ref>Lewis Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/31/600.|D7595220}} f. ?.</ref>{{NLMar07|p. 387}}|end=21 July, 1907<ref>Lewis Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/31/600.|D7595220}} f. ?.</ref>}}
{{Tenure|rank={{LiCRN}}|name=Theodore Bye|nick=Theodore Bye|appt=22 July, 1907{{NLJul08|p. 387}}|end=22 January, 1909<ref>Bye Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/31/559.|D7595179}} f. ?.</ref>}}
{{Tenure|rank={{LiCRN}}|name=William Burridge Mann|nick=William B. Mann|appt=17 January, 1909{{NLJan10|p. 387}}|end=10 August, 1910}}
{{Tenure|rank={{LiCRN}}|name=John Edwards|nick=John Edwards|appt=31 August, 1910{{NLJul11|p. 387}}|end=1 February, 1912<ref>Edwards Service Record. {{TNA|ADM 196/84/63.|D7615456}} f. ?.</ref>}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CBosunRN}} in Command|name=Robert Johnston Dailey|nick=Robert J. Dailey|appt=1 February, 1912{{NLJan14|p. 384}}|end=December, 1913{{INF}}}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CBosunRN}} in Command|name=James John Webber|nick=James J. Webber|appt=18 December, 1913<ref>Webber Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/35/74.|D7596655}} f. ?.</ref>{{NLDec16|p. 398''t''}}|end=8 June, 1917<ref>Webber Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/35/74.|D7596655}} f. ?.</ref>}}
</div name=fredbot:officeCapt>

==See Also==
{{refbegin}}
{{WP|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Traveller}}
{{refend}}

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
{{refend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Traveller}}

{{CatShipMinelayer|UK}}
{{CatClassMisc|UK}}


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