HMS Rocket (1894)

Rocket was ordered on 3 November 1893 for delivery within 12 months. The ship was laid down as Yard number 269 by J & G Thompson at its Clydebank shipyard on 14 February 1894, launched on 14 August and completed in July 1895.^[5][6] While delivered later than contracted, Rocket was still one of the quickest to build of the 27-knotter destroyers ordered as part of the 1893–94 shipbuilding programme, and the design was considered satisfactory by the Admiralty,^[5] although in March 1896, a report in the newspaper The Times noted that her boilers were prone to priming at speeds over 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h), that her machinery had broken down five times, and that she was likely to be relieved from her duties with the particular Service Squadron as soon as a replacement ship became available.^[7]

After her commission she served at the North America and West Indies Station under the command of Lieutenant Adolphus Huddlestone Williamson. She was ordered to return home in early 1902,^[8] but the order was cancelled and she was still in North American waters when she was at Halifax, Nova Scotia in September,^[9] and then visited Trinidad in December 1902.^[10]

In 1910, Rocket was disarmed, and used for radio experiments.^[11] The ship was sold for scrap on 10 April 1912 to Ward of Preston.^[6][11]

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• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (3rd Rev ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
• Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Johnston, Ian (2015). Ships for All Nations: John Brown & Company Clydebank 1847–1971 (2nd ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-584-4.
• Lyon, David (2001) [1996]. The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-3648.
• March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.