There have been nine ships of the Royal Navy bearing the title HMS Lowestoft. They span the years 1687 to 1986, a period of 299 years in all. A shame the last one wasn't preserved a few more months to mark the tercentenary!
Apart from the naming ceremony the boats have very little to do with the town, and little is made locally of the town's warship, though I admit I've yet to look into the history more closely.
The first HMS Lowestoft was built at Clapham Dockyard in 1687. She was 357 tons & carried 32 guns. She served 35 years & was broken up in 1722.
A sketch of the first HMS Lowestoft.
The second HMS Lowestoft was launched on 18th December 1723. She served 21 years & was sold in 1744.
Drawing of the second HMS Lowestoft.
The third HMS Lowestoft was built by Buxton of Deptford, London, & launched on 8th July 1742. She weighed 498 tons & carried 24 guns. She served only 7 years, & was sold in 1749.
Model of the third HMS Lowestoft.
The fourth HMS Lowestoft was built by Greaves of Limehouse & launched on 17th May 1756. She weighed 583 tons & carried 28 guns. She was wrecked in the St. Lawrence River during the siege of Quebec on the 16th May 1760, having served one day short of four years.
The fifth HMS Lowestoft was built by West, of Deptford, London, & launched on 5th June 1761. Further details are sketchy. One source says condemned in 1779, though she may have existed until 1801, a period of 40 years.
An 1816 picture of a 1795 battle. Its caption runs "The LOWESTOFT under orders of Admiral W. Hotham off Toulon, was present with the Dido at the Admiral's action off Genoa.. She engaged the Minerva and Artemise, capturing the Minerva".
Not sure which of these boats is the Lowestoft, presumably not one of the two shot up boats at the front!
The sixth HMS Lowestoft was ordered, but the order was cancelled in 1805. There would not be another HMS Lowestoft for another 108 years.
The seventh HMS Lowestoft was built at Chatham Dockyard and launched on 23rd April 1913. She was the first HMS Lowestoft to be built of iron, a Light Cruiser of the Birmingham Class, with a top speed of 25½ knots, and weighed 5440 tons.
During World War One she was part of the Harwich force that successfully tempted German boats onto the guns of Admiral Beatty's battle cruisers in the Heligoland Bight. Three German cruisers, (Ariadne, Koln, Mainz) & one destroyer, (V187) were sunk.
1916 - 1917 she was flagship of the 8th Light Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean.
1921 - 1924 she was flagship of the 6th Light Cruiser Squadron, (South Africa).
Sold to Wards of Milford haven, 1931, after 18 years of service.
The plaque below the picture reads
Presented to Lovewell Road Girls School Lowestoft
by the Captain, Officers, and Ship's Company of
HMS Lowestoft
Paying off from active service 1929
to commemorate long and happy
Associations.
(Thanks to Robin Smith for cutting out the centre part of the shield).
The eighth HMS Lowestoft (above) was built at Devonport Dockyard and launched 11th April 1934. She was a Grimsby class sloop of 990 tons, with a top speed of 16 ½ knots.
She began her working life in China, & stayed there until the outbreak of World War 2 in 1939. On 12th July 1942 she was involved in a late night collision with the French destroyer Leopard. Other than that she seems to have had an unmemorable war.
In October 1946 she was sold for conversion to a merchant vessel, but was seized at Dunkirk for owners debts & laid up. In 1955 she was sold to Belgian ship breakers & broken up in Antwerp. She was 21 years old.
The ninth HMS Lowestoft was launched on 23rd June 1960. She was a 2800 ton Rothsay Class Type 12 Frigate with a top speed of 30 knots.
In In 1975 - 6 she was involved in the Cod wars off Iceland, and was rammed by the Icelandic gunboat, Thor.
In 1986, at 26 years old, she came to the end of her working life when she was towed to the Bahamas for use as target practice. She was sunk by a Tigerfish torpedo fired from the nuclear submarine HMSM Conquerer. This was thought to be the best way to test new weapons, however the public outrage that followed resulted in ships' names & identifying numbers being removed from then on.
There were no more HMS Lowestoft's after the ninth. An opportunity to moor her at the South Pier end of the habour (in the space now occupied by the Mincarlo), and keep her name & memory alive in the town was lost. That's if it was ever offered? I don't know.
The Tigerfish torpedo strikes, splitting the ship
in half.
(Thanks to Chris Osborne for this photograph).
HMS Lowestoft explodes.
Last look before she sinks.
End of an era.
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Copyright © Joe Capp 2003
