HMS Recruit (1896)

[3] 80 tons of coal were carried, giving a range of 1,465 nautical miles (2,713 km; 1,686 mi) at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph).

[9] The damage was extensive, including a large hole under the forward boiler leading the engine room to be filled with water, and she was taken to Devonport for further repairs.

A court-martial held the following month severely reprimanded Lieutenant Rooke for having "negligently, or by default, hazarded" the vessel.

[12] Recruit, attached to the gunnery school HMS Excellent, was used for trials of the use of man-lifting kites designed by Samuel Cody for observation purposes (particularly associated with attempts to spot mines from the air) in August–October 1908.

[17] In February 1913, Recruit was based at Sheerness, attached to HMS Actaeon, the torpedo training school.

On 1 May 1915 Recruit was patrolling with sister ship Brazen in the southern North Sea, 30 miles south-west of the Galloper Lightvessel off the Thames Estuary, when she was struck by a single torpedo fired by the German submarine UB-6.

The Royal Navy search for this submarine resulted in the Battle off Noordhinder Bank, in which two German torpedo boats were sunk.

A Cody Man-lifting kite being towed by Recruit