[1] She was built at Belfast by Workman, Clark and Company as yard number 215, launched on 21 December 1904 and completed early in 1905.

[1] From 1914 to 1917 she was a tender to HMS Vivid, and in February 1914 she was under the command of Chief Officer James B Newman.

[1][2] Surplus to requirements, Squirrel was sold on 16 November 1921 to the Sunderland Pilotage Authority for conversion to the pilot tender Vedra.

[5] In the mid-1930s several attempts were made to sell Vedra, and in 1936 Thomas Young & Sons (Shipbreakers) Ltd purchased her for local demolition.

[4] However, she was resold to Captain Vernon Sewell for use during the making of the Michael Powell film The Edge of the World in Scotland during 1937.