HMS Cobra was a turbine-powered destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was built speculatively by Armstrong Whitworth and then offered for sale to the British Admiralty. She was launched on 28 June 1899, and purchased by the Navy on 8 May 1900 for £70,000.
Her short career came to an end when she broke her back and sank near Cromer on 18 September 1901. The break occurred from her bows, between the two aft boilers. Twelve men — including the chief engineer — were saved; 44 Navy officers and men, as well as 23 staff from the contractors, mostly employees of the turbine manufacturers, Parsons Marine, were drowned.
A court-martial enquiry held in October absolved the surviving officers of all blame, finding that "Cobra did not touch the ground or come into any contact with any obstruction, nor was her loss due to any error in navigation, but was due to structural weakness of the ship." This was contested by the manufacturers and other shipbuilders, with examples of equivalent boats being navigated to Australia or Japan without incident.
The loss of Cobra came only six weeks after that of the destroyer , the only other turbine-powered ship in the navy. Both ships had been intended as trial vessels to demonstrate the capabilities of the new technology. Neither loss was caused by problems with the turbines, but the losses were still a setback for the general introduction of turbines into warships. The losses came after the loss of in 1890 and created an aversion in the Royal Navy towards snake names, and these names were not reused.
History
Cobra was constructed by Armstrong Whitworth and company as a private venture and was one of two which it offered for sale to the British Admiralty on 12 December 1899. Ship number 674 was fitted with Parsons Marine turbines similar to those installed in the destroyer . Such engines were expected to be 60% more powerful than reciprocating engines usually fitted to similar ships at that time. There were four shafts from the engines, each driving three propellers. The overall design was based on that for the destroyers and recently built in the same yard. The Director of Naval Construction, Sir William Henry White inspected the vessel and although considering it to be less strong than would have been the case had it been specified by the navy, could find no particular objections to its hull design. It was considered that the Admiralty should purchase it rather than permit its sale to a foreign navy.
The shipwreck
The ship had her first steam trials in June 1900. She was completed including Admiralty alterations and had finished steam trials by September 1901. Lieutenant Bosworth Smith — with a crew of two officers and 48 men — was appointed to collect the ship from Newcastle and take her to Portsmouth where she would be fitted with guns and ammunition. She left Elswick at 11:00 on 17 September, proceeding down the river Tyne, where the crew adjusted the compass, reaching the mouth of the river by only 19:00 and then taking a course S 25° E at about . Wind from the NNW and a rough sea caused the ship to roll heavily, so that there was difficulty feeding coal to the boilers and two had to be extinguished, reducing speed to by around 22:00. Stoker John Collins reported that in the early morning of the 18th, the crew could hardly stand in the stokehold. By dawn on the 18th, it was possible to increase speed to . At 07:00, the 'Outer Dowsing' lightvessel was seen about away. Cobra altered course towards the light to confirm its identity and was seen approaching by crewmembers of the lightvessel. Its crew reported that Cobra was seen to be "plunging heavily", then stopped in a cloud of steam, before breaking in two. The stern section sank, while the bow continued to drift in the wind.