HMS Watchful
Class overview
NameAlbacore class
BuildersLaird Brothers, Birkenhead
Operators Royal Navy
Preceded byBanterer class
Succeeded byBramble class
Built1883
In commission1884–1907
Completed3
Retired3
General characteristics [1]
TypeComposite screw gunboat
Displacement560 tons standard
Length135 ft 0 in (41.1 m) pp
Beam26 ft 6 in (8.1 m)
Draught10 ft 3 in (3.1 m)
Depth of hold11 ft 6 in (3.5 m)
Installed power650 ihp (480 kW)
Propulsion
  • 2-cylinder compound-expansion steam engine
  • Single screw
Speed10.7 kn (19.8 km/h)
Crew60
Armament

The Albacore-class gunboat was a class of three gunboats built for the Royal Navy in 1883. The name had already been used for a class of 98 gunboats built during the Great Armament of the Crimean War.

Design

The Albacore class was designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, the Admiralty Director of Naval Construction. The ships were of composite construction, meaning that the iron keel, frames, stem and stern posts were of iron, while the hull was planked with timber. This had the advantage of allowing the vessels to be coppered, thus keeping marine growth under control, a problem that caused iron-hulled ships to be frequently docked. They were 135 feet (41 m) in length and displaced 560 tons.[1] They were a slightly larger version of the Forester and Banterer classes that preceded them. They pioneered the use of modern breech-loading guns as the main armament, but were the last gunboats to mount their weapons on traversing mountings.[1]

Propulsion

Two-cylinder compound-expansion steam engines built by the builder, Laird Brothers of Birkenhead, provided 650 indicated horsepower through a single screw, sufficient for 10.7 knots (19.8 km/h; 12.3 mph).[1]

Armament

Ships of the class were armed with two 5-inch/50-pdr (38cwt) breech-loading guns and two 4-inch/20-pdr breech-loading guns. A pair of machine guns was also fitted.[1]

Ships

NameShip builderLaunchedFate
AlbacoreLaird Brothers, Birkenhead13 January 1883Sold on 18 May 1906.[2]
MistletoeLaird Brothers, Birkenhead7 February 1883Boom defence in 1903. Sold to Shipbreaking Company, London on 14 May 1907.[2]
WatchfulLaird Brothers, Birkenhead13 February 1883Boom defence in 1903. Sold to Shipbreaking Company, London on 14 May 1907.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ Watchful received the 40cwt Mk III version of the same gun.[1]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Winfield (2004), p.298
  2. 1 2 3 Preston, Major (2007), pp.176–177

References

  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • 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.
  • 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.
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