HMS Avon (1896)
HMS Avon was a Vickers three-funnel, 30-knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895–1896 Naval Estimates. She was the fifth ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1805 for an 18-gun brig-sloop, sunk in 1847. Construction and career She was laid down on 17 February 1896, at the Barrow Shipbuilding Company shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness, and launched on 10 October 1896. During her builder's trials she made her contracted speed requirement. In 1897 during the construction of these ships, the Barrow Shipbuilding Company was purchases by Vickers, Sons and Maxim and renamed as the Naval Construction and Armaments Shipyard. Avon was completed and accepted by the Royal Navy in January 1899. After commissioning, HMS Avon was assigned to the East Coast Flotilla based at Harwich. She was deployed in Home waters for her entire service life. In early January 1901 she was part of the Medway instructional flotilla, as Lieutenant John Roderick Segrave was appointed in command on 23 January. In early March 1902 she was at Chatham for repairs, after encountering a heavy gale during a cruise, and the following month she was paid off and her crew transferred to the destroyer . She subsequently