This is the history of the third ship to bear the name HMS Cossack. Launched on 3 June 1886, she remained in service until 1905. Most of her career was spent in the Far East, visiting ports such as India, Aden, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), among others.

The records also provide an interesting insight into daily life aboard, including how the crew were fed. Rations typically included 120 lbs of beef or meat, 60 lbs of vegetables, and 162 lbs of bread per day, with slight variations depending on the number of crew members. There is no reference to the daily tot of rum, which had been issued from 1866. This consisted of 1/8 of an imperial pint of rum at 95.5 proof (54.6% ABV), usually served at midday. Petty Officers and above received their rum neat, while Seamen had theirs diluted with two parts water to make 3/8 of an imperial pint (213 ml).

HMS Cossack - launched 3 June 1886

HMS COSSACK (THIRD of the NAME)

The third vessel to bear the name HMS Cossack was reclassified as a Third-Class Cruiser shortly after completion, having proved too slow for front-line fleet duties and regarded as an indifferent sea boat. She was one of six cruisers constructed by J. & G. Thomson of Clydebank, Glasgow.

KEY DATES:

3 June 1886 – Launched by J. & G. Thomson (Yard No. 230)
1 January 1889 – Commissioned into Royal Navy service
1905 – Sold to G. Graham

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

HMS Cossack was a twin-screw, six-gun cruiser launched on 4 June 1886. She had a displacement of 1,770 tons (1,950 tons at full load). Her principal dimensions were recorded as:

Length: 240 ft (alternatively recorded as 225 ft)
Beam: 36 ft
Draught: 16 ft (alternatively 14.5 ft)

PROPULSION

Machinery: Twin shafts driven by compound, horizontal, direct-acting engines
Boilers: Four steel boilers with iron tubes
Indicated Horsepower: 3,500 IHP (2,500 HP under forced draught)
Speed: 16.5 knots
Propellers: Three-bladed Griffiths type, manufactured by J. & G. Thomson
Coal Capacity: 369 tons

ARMAMENT

6 × 6-inch BLR guns
8 × 3-pounder quick-firing guns
3 × 14-inch twin turrets
12 × 14-inch Whitehead torpedoes (above-water launch)
1 × 1.7-pounder MLR fitted to a ship’s boat

Armour protection was fitted on the upper deck, forecastle, and bridge.

EQUIPMENT

A mercurial barometer (Negatti & Lambra No. 153), previously carried aboard the second Cossack and returned to the Board of Trade in 1860 as damaged, is recorded as being in service again aboard the third Cossack in 1889.

CREW COMPLEMENT

159–176 officers and men

WHITEHEAD TORPEDO

The Whitehead torpedo—pioneered by Robert Whitehead in 1866 from a concept originated by Giovanni Luppis of the Austro-Hungarian Navy—was the first successful self-propelled torpedo. Specifications for the 14-inch variant carried by HMS Cossack include:

Length: 3.56 m
Diameter: 45 cm
Effective Range: 732 m
Design Year: 1866
Origin: Austria-Hungary
Designer: Robert Whitehead

Starboard side view of the third class cruiser (Formerly Torpedo Cruiser) HMS Cossack alongside. Originally three masted, she has now been altered to a two masted rig. Note the prominent 6” gun mountings sponsoned out from the side forward and amidships. A third weapon is just visible behind the boat aft. Torpedo tubes are mounted in the bows and inset into the ships side beneath the anchor and well aft.

Torpedo plan

Log

Hidden Gems

Unsurprisingly, on the 24th December 1894 over 15 crew members were on the sick list. The day before Christmas!

1806-1816

This is the account of the first vessel named HMS Cossack, a title that would be passed on to five later ships and commemorated by the Royal Navy in the Cossack Building at HMS Raleigh.

READ MORE

1854-1875

The second Cossack was originally ordered by Russia for the Black Sea Fleet in December 1852 at a cost of 290,000 silver roubles. However, when relations between Britain and Russia deteriorated, Russia sold the vessels to the Hamburg trading firm Henry Mersk & Co.

READ MORE

1886-1905

This account covers the third vessel named HMS Cossack. Launched on 3 June 1886 and in service until 1905, she spent the majority of her career in the Far East, calling at India, Aden, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and other ports.

READ MORE

1907-1919

The fourth HMS Cossack received the first Battle Honour for participating in operations along the Belgian coast from 17 October to 8 November 1914. This section contains copies of the original construction contract and detailed plans showing her launch, deck arrangements, and machinery.

READ MORE

1938-1941

Credited with battle honours including Baltic 1855, Witu 1890, Dover Patrol 1914–1919, Narvik 1940, Norway 1940, Atlantic 1940–1941, the Bismarck Action 1941, and the Malta Convoys 1941, the HMS Cossack in service from 1938 to 1941 was a formidable presence.

READ MORE

1944-1960

During Warship Week in February 1942, the town of Esher raised £1,192,211, contributing to the construction of the warship HMS Cossack. The funds were collected by the public depositing money into a rubber-type float in a pool. Remarkably, the surplus was enough to fund a submarine as well. The story continues.

READ MORE