HMS Bat was a , later called C-class destroyer

C class destroyer (1913)

The C class as designated in 1913 was a heterogeneous group of torpedo boat destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the late-1890s. They were constructed to the individual designs of their builders to meet Admiralty specifications. The uniting feature of the class was a top speed of 30 knots, a...

s of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, launched on 7 October 1896 and completed in August 1897.

The ship was built by Palmers

Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company

Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as Palmers, was a British shipbuilding company. The Company was based in Jarrow, in Northeast England and also had operations in Hebburn and Willington Quay on the River Tyne....

 and was one of six of this type constructed by the firm. It displaced 390 tons light (440 full) and its triple expansion engines developed 6,200 ihp, which gave it a top speed of 30 knots (58.8 km/h). It had a normal crew of 63 and an armament of one 12-pdr. and five 6-pdr. guns and had two 18-inch torpedo tubes. The Palmers ships were regarded as a success, keeping their speed well and being very manoeuvrable. They were wet forward, though.

The dimensions of the ship were 220 feet (67.1 m) overall length, 20.5 feet (6.2 m) width, and she drew 7 in 10 in (2.39 m) of water.

An unusual accident at high speed was caused by the failure of a connecting rod

Connecting rod

In a reciprocating piston engine, the connecting rod or conrod connects the piston to the crank or crankshaft. Together with the crank, they form a simple mechanism that converts linear motion into rotating motion....

 big end bearing bolt, leading to a piston coming loose through the cylinder cover, through the engine room hatches and being lost overboard.

Bat was the ship of Roger Keyes

Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes

Admiral of the Fleet Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes, Bt GCB KCVO CMG DSO RN was a noted British admiral, with an active service life that included 19th-century African anti-slavery patrols to the Allied landings in Leyte in World War II...

 when he pioneered aggressive new tactics for destroyers in the period 1901 to 1903. At that point it was part of the Devonport

HMNB Devonport

Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...

 Destroyer Flotilla

Flotilla

A flotilla , or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as frigates, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats, or minesweepers...

. Bat served mainly in home waters, but spent some time in the Mediterranean.

By the time of the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 Bat was obsolescent, but performed useful service on coastal patrol around the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

.

Bat was sold and broken up in 1919.