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Dapper-class gunboat
HMS Grinder (1855)
The gunvessel Grinder chasing Russian boats in the Sea of Azov, 31 August 1855
Class overview
Name: Dapper class
Operators: Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom Royal Navy
Preceded by: Gleaner class
Succeeded by: Albacore class
Built: 1854–5
In commission: 1855 – 1906
Completed: 20
General characteristics [1]
Type: 'Crimean' gunboat
Tons burthen: 215 5394 tons bm
Length: 106 ft (32 m) (gundeck)
93 ft 2.5 in (28.410 m) (keel)
Beam: 22 ft 0 in (6.71 m)
Draught: 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Installed power: 60 nominal horsepower
270 ihp (200 kW))
Propulsion:
  • 2-cylinder horizontal single expansion steam engine
  • Single screw
Speed: 7.5 kn (13.9 km/h)
Crew: 36
Armament:

The Dapper class gunboat was a class of twenty gunboats built for the Royal Navy in 1854–5 for use in the Crimean War.[1]

Design[]

The Dapper class was designed by W.H. Walker (who also designed the preceding Gleaner class and the subsequent Albacore class). The ships were wooden-hulled, with steam power as well as sails, but of shallow draft for coastal bombardment in the shallow waters of the Baltic and Black Sea during the Crimean War.[1]

Propulsion[]

Ten ships had two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion trunk steam engines built by John Penn and Sons, with two boilers. The other ten had two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion direct-acting steam engines built by Maudslay, Sons and Field, with three boilers. Both versions provided 60 nominal horsepower through a single screw, sufficient for 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph).[1]

Armament[]

Ships of the class were armed with one 68-pounder smooth bore muzzle loading cannon (SBML), one 32-pounder SBML (originally two 68-pounder SBMLs were planned but the forward gun was substituted by a 32-pounder) and two 24-pounder howitzers.[1]

Ships[]

Name Ship builder[1] Engine builder[1] Launched[1] Fate[1]
Lark Deptford Dockyard Maudslay 15 March 1855 Sold to Marshall for breaking at Plymouth on 18 July 1878
Magpie Deptford Dockyard Maudslay 15 March 1855 Wrecked in Galway Bay on 8 April 1864
Dapper R & H Green, Blackwall Yard Penn 31 March 1855 Training hulk 1885, cooking depot 1897, renamed YC37 in 1909, sold to Perry 10 May 1922
Fancy R & H Green, Blackwall Yard Penn 31 March 1855 Hulked as part of the St Vincent training establishment in 1876, being used as a laundry/drying room. Sold at Portsmouth on 11 July 1905
Grinder J & R White, West Cowes Maudslay 7 March 1855 Broken up at Haslar on 15 July 1864
Jasper J & R White, West Cowes Maudslay 2 April 1855 Grounded in action at the Siege of Taganrog on 23 July 1855
Hind John Jenkins Thompson, Rotherhithe Maudslay 3 May 1855 Broken up at Devonport in October 1872
Jackdaw John Jenkins Thompson, Rotherhithe Maudslay 18 May 1855 Became a cooking depot in 1868 and sold to C Wort in November 1888
Thistle W & H Pitcher, Northfleet Penn 3 February 1855 Completed breaking at Deptford on 11 November 1863
Starling W & H Pitcher, Northfleet Penn 1 February 1855 Sold at Hong Kong on 1 December 1871
Snap W & H Pitcher, Northfleet Penn 3 February 1855 Sold at Hong Kong in 1868 and then resold to the Japanese as the warship Kaku-ten-shan, then became Snap again in 1872 as a merchantman
Redwing W & H Pitcher, Northfleet Maudslay 19 March 1855 Became tender to the training ship Cambridge at Devonport in 1857, sold on 2 December 1878
Weazel W & H Pitcher, Northfleet Penn 19 March 1855 Sold at Hong Kong on 18 November 1869
Clinker W & H Pitcher, Northfleet Penn 2 April 1855 Sold to Castle for breaking at Charlton on 6 June 1871
Cracker W & H Pitcher, Northfleet Maudslay 2 April 1855 Broken up in April 1864
Boxer W & H Pitcher, Northfleet Penn 7 April 1855 Broken up at Malta in October 1865
Stork W & H Pitcher, Northfleet Maudslay 7 April 1855 Coal hulk in 1874, sold for breaking April 1884
Skylark W & H Pitcher, Northfleet Penn 3 May 1855 Gunnery tender in 1884, sold to Garnham for breaking on 10 July 1906
Biter W & H Pitcher, Northfleet Penn 5 May 1855 Became a coal hulk on 21 April 1865, later renamed C16. Sold to Castle, Woolwich for breaking on 12 April 1904
Swinger W & H Pitcher, Northfleet Maudslay 10 May 1855 Broken up on 6 September 1864

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Winfield, p.223



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