Doterel-class sloop
 HMS Doterel
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Doterel-class sloop |
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| Cost | Between £48,700 (Miranda) and £52470 (Gannet) |
| Built | 1878–1880 |
| In commission | 1879–1921 |
| Completed | 9 |
| Lost | 2 |
| Preserved | 1 (Gannet) |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type | Screw composite sloop |
| Displacement | 1,130 tons |
| Length | 170 ft (52 m) pp |
| Beam | 36 ft (11 m) |
| Draught | 15 ft 9 in (4.80 m) |
| Installed power | 900 to 1,128 indicated horsepower (671 to 841 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Sail plan | Barque rigged |
| Speed | 11+1⁄2 knots (21.3 km/h) |
| Range | 1,480 nmi (2,740 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h) from 150 tons of coal |
| Complement | 140-150 |
| Armament |
|
The Doterel class was a Royal Navy class of screw-driven sloops. They were of composite construction, with wooden hulls over an iron frame. They were a revised version of an 1874 design by the Royal Navy's Chief Constructor, William Henry White, the Osprey-class sloop. Two of the class were lost, one to an explosion off Chile and one wrecked off Canada. Gannet is preserved at Chatham Historic Dockyard.
Design
[edit]The Nathaniel Barnaby design was a development of William Henry White's 1874 Osprey-class sloop. The graceful clipper bow of the Opsreys was replaced by a vertical stem and the engines were more powerful. They were of composite construction, with wooden hulls over an iron frame.
Propulsion
[edit]Power was provided by three cylindrical boilers, which supplied steam at 60 pounds per square inch (410 kPa) to a two-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine driving a single 13-foot-1-inch (3.99 m) screw. This arrangement produced 900 to 1,128 indicated horsepower (671 to 841 kW) and a top speed of between 11 and 11.6 knots (20.4 and 21.5 km/h).[1]
Armament
[edit]They were armed with two 7-inch (90cwt) muzzle-loading rifled guns on pivoting mounts, and four 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifled guns (two on pivoting mounts, and two broadside). Four machine guns and one light gun completed the weaponry.[1]
Sail plan
[edit]All the ships of the class were provided with a barque rig,[1] that is, square-rigged foremast and mainmast, and fore-and aft sails only on the mizzen mast.
Crew
[edit]They had a complement of approximately 140 men.[1]
Ships
[edit]| Name | Ship Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon | Devonport Dockyard | 26 April 1877 | 30 May 1878 | 19 February 1879 | Sold for breaking 24 September 1892 |
| Pegasus | Devonport Dockyard | 9 May 1877 | 13 June 1878 | 5 March 1879 | Sold for breaking 11 August 1892 |
| Gannet | Sheerness Dockyard | 1877 | 31 August 1878 | 17 April 1879 | Training ship 16 May 1903, renamed President, then in 1913 became training ship Mercury. In 1971 was turned over to the Maritime Trust, on display in Chatham Historic Dockyard |
| Phoenix | Devonport Dockyard | 8 July 1878 | 16 September 1879 | 20 April 1880 | Wrecked off Prince Edward Island, Canada on 12 September 1882 |
| Miranda | Devonport Dockyard | 8 July 1878 | 30 September 1879 | 22 July 1880 | Sold for breaking 24 September 1892 |
| Kingfisher | Sheerness Dockyard | 23 September 1878 | 16 December 1879 | 17 August 1880 | Training ship 10 November 1892, renamed Lark, then on 18 May 1893 training ship Cruiser. Sold in 1919 |
| Doterel | Chatham Dockyard | 13 May 1878 | 2 March 1880 | 7 December 1880 | Exploded by accident and sank off Punta Arenas, Chile on 26 April 1881, with loss of 143 men |
| Mutine | Devonport Dockyard | 7 June 1879 | 20 July 1880 | 10 May 1881 | Became boom defence vessel 1899, renamed HMS Azov in March 1904. Sold for breaking 25 August 1921 |
| Espiegle | Devonport Dockyard | 23 September 1879 | 3 August 1880 | 11 October 1881 | Became boom defence vessel 1899, renamed HMS Argo in March 1904. Sold for breaking 25 August 1921 |
Citations
[edit]References
[edit]- Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.
- Preston, Antony; Major, John (2007). Send a Gunboat: The Victorian Navy and Supremacy at Sea, 1854–1904 (2nd ed.). London: Conway. ISBN 978-0-85177-923-2.
