HMS Sunfish (1895)

Sunfish was commissioned at Chatham on 18 February 1896, replacing the destroyer Havock as tender to the battleship Royal Sovereign as part of the Channel Fleet, with Havock's crew transferring over to Sunfish.^[13] Sunfish took part in the 1896 British Naval Manoeuvres, attached to the Channel Fleet operation from Berehaven in southern Ireland.^[14] She was commissioned by Lieutenant Robert Gordon Douglas Dewar to be among several ships sent to strengthen the Mediterranean Fleet from April 1900,^[15] but boiler problems caused her to be laid up at Malta from August 1900 to May 1902 while the boilers were re-tubed and the bottom reservoirs repaired.^[16][17][18] In June 1902 she left for Gibraltar, and early the following month she arrived at Plymouth, and proceeded to Chatham to pay off.^[19] Lieutenant John M. D. E. Warren was appointed in command on 2 August 1902,^[20] when she joined the Medway instructional flotilla. A month later, her stem was damaged during docking at Dundee in a gale,^[21] but she rejoined the flotilla in mid-October after repairs.^[22] In 1905, Sunfish was one of a number of old destroyers which the Rear Admiral (Destroyers) condemned as being "..all worn out", with "every shilling spent on these old 27-knotters is a waste of money".^[23]

Sunfish formed part of the Sixth Destroyer Flotilla at Devonport in 1910, and remained a part of that flotilla in 1912.^[16] On 5 June 1911 Sunfish hit the bow of the destroyer Havock when clearing her moorings at Waterford Harbour, and then when trying to get clear of Havock, collided with the Torpedo boat Torpedo Boat 045. Sunfish was slightly damaged and returned to Devonport for repair.^[24] On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyers were to be grouped into classes designated by letters based on contract speed and appearance. After 30 September 1913, as a 27-knotter, Sunfish was assigned to the A class.^[25][26][27]

By February 1913, Sunfish was not part of an active flotilla, but was attached as a tender to the shore establishment Vivid at Devonport, with a nucleus crew^[28] and was still attached to Vivid in July 1914, on the eve of the outbreak of the First World War.^[29]

By January 1915, Sunfish was allocated to the Devonport Local Defence Flotilla.^[30] On 23 July 1917, Sunfish, still part of the Devonport Local Defence Flotilla, was involved in operations to hunt a submarine that had been spotted in Lyme Bay. Despite the submarine being spotted on the surface by a Motor Launch, the hunt was unsuccessful, with the submarine escaping.^[31] Sunfish remained at Devonport until the end of the war.^[32]

Sunfish was sold for scrap on 7 June 1920.^[27]

• Brassey, T.A. (1897). The Naval Annual 1897. Portsmouth, UK: J. Griffin and Co.
• Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M, eds. (1979). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
• 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.
• Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
• 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 (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Lyon, David (2001). The First Destroyers. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-3648.
• Manning, T.D. (1961). The British Destroyer. London: Putnam and Co. OCLC 6470051.