18 November 1897

Moored in Bombay Harbour. Wind east force 2 with broken cloud. Barometer 30.05 inches rising to 30.11 at 0800 and to 30.13 at noon before falling to 30.06 at1600 and finishing at 30.08 inches at midnight. Temperature at noon. 81F. Distilling. 0400. Received 114 lbs of beef and 57 lbs of vegetables plus 196 lbs of bread. 0700. Banked fires in number 4 boiler. 0800. Divisions and prayers. 1000. Preparing for coaling. 1300. Unbent sails. Embarked 4.7 Quick fire for Flagship. 1600. Special leave to port watch. 1700. Quarters. Discharged one CC mate and one Petty Officer First class to MAGDALA

HMS Magdala was a Cerberus-class breastwork monitor of the Royal Navy, built specifically to serve as a coastal defence ship for the harbour of Bombay (now Mumbai) in the late 1860s. She was ordered by the India Office for the Bombay Marine. The original specifications were thought to be too expensive and a cheaper design was ordered. While limited to harbour defence duties, the breastwork monitors were described by Admiral George Alexander Ballard as being like “full-armoured knights riding on donkeys, easy to avoid but bad to close with.”[1] Aside from gunnery practice Magdala remained in Bombay Harbour for her entire career. The ship was sold for scrap in 1903.

One Able Seaman and one Stoker rejoined from hospital. Embarked warlike stores for passage. Coal expended 1 ton 11cwt. Number on sick list 10.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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