Kite Balloon Ship 'City of Oxford' at Dover

Previous name:                    HMS St Vincent
Subsequent name:

Official Number                    86679

Class:                                    Dummy Battleship / Kite Balloon Ship

Pennant No:                         Y4.50

Laid down:
Builder:                                  Barclay Curle & Co, Whiteinch
Launched:                            13 June 1882
Into Service:                          1914
Out of service:                      1919
Fate:                                      Broken up October 1924

Items of historic interest involving this ship: -

Background Data:  Some official lists, marked as  “Lists of RFA’s” show vessels which spent some time as RFA’s during the First World War. These records are extremely sketchy and some of these vessels were “Yard Craft”, partially or wholly Dockyard manned, partly by RNR or Reserve Fleet personnel. Some of the Depot Ships staffed by skilled civilian Dockyard workers were for a time White Ensign. The Director of Stores was understood to be concerned with their manning and operationally they remained under Admiralty control.

13 June 1882 Llaunched by  Barclay, Curle & Co Ltd, Whiteinch as Yard Nr 307 named CITY OF OXFORD for City Line Ltd (George Smith & Sons, Managers) Glasgow

June 1882 completed

28 August 1882 sailed Tail of the Bank for Calcutta

6 October 1882 berthed at Calcutta

17 November 1882 arrived at Malta from Calcutta - she sailed the same day for the UK

26 November 1882 berthed at London

4 December 1882 sailed London for Glasgow and passed Dover

8 December 1882 arrived at Glasgow 

7 June 1901 sailed Calcutta for the Clyde

August 1901 acquired by Ellerman Lines Ltd, London name unchanged

8 August 1901 sailed Greenock for Calcutta via London

25 September 1901 sailed Calcutta for the Clyde

19 December 1901 arrived Malta while on passage from the Clyde to Calcutta

31 January 1902 sailed Colombo

14 February 1902 at Malta while on passage from Calcutta to London

17 July 1902 sailed Liverpool for Calcutta

17 August 1902 arrived Calcutta from the UK

25 April 1903 arrived at Malta

21 September 1903 sailed Calcutta

24 November 1903 at Port Said - on passage from Liverpool to Bombay

7 December 1903 arrived at Bombay from Liverpool

1903 transferred to Ellerman Papayani’s Alexandria service

3 January 1904 at Suez - on passage from Karachi to Genoa

25 January 1904 arrived at Liverpool from Karachi

22 February 1904 at Malta while on passage Liverpool to Karachi

26 March 1904 sailed Karachi to Genoa and LIverpool

13 May 1904 sailed Liverpool to Bombay

7 June 1904 arrived at Bombay from Liverpool

15 July 1904 arrived at Marseilles while on passage from Bombay to Liverpool

27 October 1904 at Port Said while on passage from Liverpool to Bombay

17 November 1904 arrived at Karachi while on passage from Liverpool to Bombay

17 December 1904 arrived at Gibraltar while on passage from Karachi to Liverpool

27 May 1905 sailed Alexandria to Liverpool

9 June 1905 arrived Liverpool from Alexandria

5 September 1905 arrived at Gibraltar while on passage from Alexandria to Liverpool

10 September 1905 arrived at Liverpool from Alexandria

13 March 1907 sailed Liverpool for Constantinople

18 May 1907 arrived at Liverpool from Odessa

4 June 1907 sailed Liverpool to Constantinople

6 February 1909 sailed Liverpool to Tangiers

28 May 1910 sailed Liverpool to Alexandria

5 August 1910 sailed Liverpool to Alexandria

14 February 1911 sailed Liverpool to Alexandria

26 June 1911 the crew walked off the ship at Liverpool during a widescale seamans strike - dockers also walked out in sympathy from the port

24 January 1912 sailed Liverpool for Alexandria

12 July 1912 sailed Liverpool to Alexandria

3 December 1912 sailed Liverpool to Alexandria

2 February 1913 arrived at Liverpool

28 June 1913 sailed Liverpool to Alexandria

22 March 1914 arrived at Alexandria from Liverpool

28 October 1914  purchased by the Admiralty and converted into a dummy battleship HMS St. Vincent.

January 1915 was based at Scapa Flow and patrolled the North Atlantic

17 July 1915 commissioned at a Kite Balloon ship 

6 January 1916 Engineer Lieutenant James Kirkpatrick RNR appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

12 April 1916 1st class Air Mechanic George Saunders F/10461 Royal Naval Air Service discharged dead. He died at the Royal Marine Infirmary, Deal of pneunomia after an operation and is buried in St Mary's Cemetery, Dover

Entertainment  on board

27 September 1916 Firemen  Frederick Heatley, William Hanley and Thomas Henry appeared before a court martial charge with (a) using threatening and insulting behavious to their superior officer (b) behaving with contempt to their superior officer and (c) wilful disobedience of a lawful command when ordered to come back to the Quarter Deck. Pleaded Guilty to the charges (a) and (b) charge (c) was adjudged not to be proved. Firemen Heatly and Hanley adjudged to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for the term of 18 calendar months and Fireman Henry adjudged to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for the term of 1 year. The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were pleased to reduce the sentences to 6months imprisonment with hard labour each in the cases of Heatley and Hanley and to 4 months imprisonment with hard labour in the case of Henry.

13 September 1917 Storekeeper Thomas Oswald Monkley MMR 486748 discharged dead. He is buried in the Port Said War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt - he died of enteric fever

Courtesy and © of The War Graves Photographic Project

11 November 1917 Fireman R Lynch MMR 781115 discharged dead. He is buried in Belfast City Cemetery, Northern Ireland in grave H3 822. He is also remembered with pride on the World War 1 Roll of Honour of Charles Church, Plymouth

24 May 1918 Sub-Lieutenant Peter McGwigan RNR appeared before a court martial charge with (a) drunk on board ship and (b) act to the prejudice of good order and naval discipline in using obscene language on board ship. Pleaded Guilty to both charges and was adjudged to forfeit six months seniority, to be dismissed his ship and to be severely reprimanded.

2/3 July 1918 Junior Engineer Settimo L Peters MMR appeared before a court martial charge with (a) Act to the prejudice of good order and naval discipline in creating a serious disturbance on shore and (b) drunk on shore. The first charge was found proved. The second charge was found not proved. The accused was adjudged  to be dismissed his ship and to be reprimanded. The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were pleased to annul the sentence on the ground that it was not proved that the act  which formed the subject of the first charge was an act to the prejudice of good order and naval discipline

9 September 1918 berthed at Port Said

14 September 1918 sailed Port Said for Alexandria

22 October 1918 anchored off Milford Haven

9 November 1918 ship paid off - Kite Balloon Ship service ended

1919 resold to Ellerman & Bucknall Steamship Co Ltd, London.

21 February 1920 sailed Liverpool to Smyran and Constantinople

28 August 1920 sailed Liverpool for Malta and Alexandria

17 December 1920 sailed Liverpool for Alexandria

11 April 1921 passed Peniche while on passage from Liverpool to Alexandria

2 July 1921 arrived at Liverpool from Alexandria

11 August 1921 sailed Liverpool for Malta and Alexandria

9 April 1922 sailed Liverpool for Alexandria and Constantinople

12 April 1922 at Devonport 750 men who had previously served in the Royal Irish Constabulary Auxilary Force embarked for passage to Palestine as the main part of the Palestine Gendarmerie

25 April 1922 arived at Malta

22 December 1922 sailed Liverpool for Malta,  Alexandria 

24 February 1923 sailed Liverpool for Malta and Alexandria

22 May 1923 sailed Alexandria for Liverpool

20 July 1923 arrived at Malta from Alexandria

5 September 1923 sailed Liverpool for Malta and Alexandria

19 January 1924 sailed Liverpool for Malta and Alexandria

21 June 1924 sailed Liverpool for Malta and Alexandria

October 1924 purchased for £11,000 for demolition by Cantieri Olivio S.A, at La Spezia