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The Monument to HMS Warspite

by John M. MacFarlane 2017

Monument plaque

The Monument to HMS Warspite (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

On the seawall of the Inner Harbour at Victoria BC there is a plaque commemorating HMS Warspite.

HMS Warspite

HMS Warspite in the drydock at Esquimalt BC. (Photo from unknown source.)

From 1896 until 1902 she again served as the flagship of the Pacific Station. Captain Thomas Philip Walker RN was appointed in command in March 1899, when Rear–Admiral Henry Palliser RN was Commander–in–Chief of the station. In June 1899 she became the flagship of Rear–Admiral Lewis Beaumont RN, and from late 1900 she was the flagship of Rear–Admiral Andrew Bickford RN, with Captain Colin Richard Keppel RN as flag captain in command of the ship.

She served on Pacific Station 1890–1893 (as flagship of Rear–Admiral Hotham) under Captain The Hon. Hedworth Lambton RN and in 1899–1902 (as Flagship of Rear-Admiral Lewis Beaumont and later Rear–Admiral Andrew Bickford). She struck Warspite Rock on August 10, 1892 while returning to Esquimalt from a cruise around Vancouver Island while under command of Captain The Honorable Hedworth Lambton RN. It was named by the by the Admiralty Hydrographic Office in 1892. Four midshipmen from HMS Warspite were lost in a canoeing accident off Vancouver Island on July 15, 1891. She was sold for breaking up April 4, 1905.

She was armed with 4 × BL 9.2–inch (233.7 mm) Mk III guns; 6 × BL 6-inch (152.4 mm) Armstrong guns; 4–QF Nordenfeldt guns; 4–QF Hotchkiss guns; 6 torpedo tubes.

Warspite Rock (BC) (Located in Discovery Passage BC); and Mount Warspite (BC) (2819m. Located 65km west of Turner Valley AB) are named for her.


To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John M. (2017) The Monument to HMS Warspite. Nauticapedia.ca 2017. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Monument_Warspite.php

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