HMS Minerva (1895)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Minerva.

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Career
Class and type:	Eclipse-class cruiser
Name:	HMS Minerva
Builder:	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down:	4 December 1893
Launched:	23 September 1895
Fate:	Scrapped 1920
General characteristics
Displacement:	5,600 long tons (5,690 t)
Length:	350 ft (110 m)
Beam:	53 ft 6 in (16.31 m)
Draught:	20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Propulsion:	2 Triple-expansion oil-fired steam engines 8,000 ihp (6,000 kW) 2 screws
Speed:	19.5 knots (22.4 mph; 36.1 km/h)
Complement:	450
Armament:	As built: • 5 × QF 6 in (150 mm) guns (5×1) • 6 × QF 4.7 in (120 mm) guns (6×1) • 6 × 3-pounder QF guns (6×1) • 2 × Machine guns • 3 × 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes After 1905: • 11 × 6 in (150 mm) QF guns • 3 × 12-pounder guns • 3 × 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	• Gun shields: 1.5–3 in (38–76 mm) • Engine hatch: 3 in (76 mm) • Decks: 1.5–3 in (38–76 mm) • Conning tower: 1.5–3 in (38–76 mm)

HMS Minerva was a second class protected cruiser of the Eclipse class.

Minerva was laid down at Chatham Dockyard, Kent, on December 4, 1893, and was floated out on September 23, 1895. It was scrapped in 1920.

The ship was present at the relief operations in Sicily after the great earthquake and tsunami in the Strait of Messina, 28 December 1908. The crew qualified for the Medal of Merit for Participation in the Relief of the Earthquake in Calabria and Sicily, instituted by the King of Italy Vittorio Emanuele III.