Redbreast-class gunboat | |
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![]() HMS Sparrow | |
Class overview | |
Name: | Redbreast-class gunboats |
Builders: |
Pembroke Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard Devonport Dockyard Scotts of Greenock |
Operators: |
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Cost: |
Between £38,000 (Widgeon) and £39,300 (Ringdove)[1] |
Built: | 1889 |
In commission: | 1889–1921 |
Completed: | 9 |
Lost: | 1 |
General characteristics | |
Class & type: | Redbreast-class first-class gunvessel |
Displacement: | 805 tons |
Length: | 165 ft (50 m) |
Beam: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
Draught: | 11.6 ft (3.5 m) min, 13.9 ft (4.2 m) max |
Installed power: | 1,200 indicated horsepower |
Propulsion: |
Triple expansion steam engine Two boilers Single screw |
Sail plan: | Barquentine-rigged |
Speed: | 13 kn (24 km/h) |
Range: | 2,500 nmi (4,600 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h)[1] |
Complement: | 76 |
Armament: |
Magpie, Redbreast, Redpole & Ringdove:
Lapwing, Goldfinch, Thrush, Widgeon & Sparrow:
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The Redbreast class comprised nine first-class screw-driven composite gunboats built for the Royal Navy in 1889, mounting 6 guns.
Construction[]
Design[]
The Redbreast class were designed by Sir William Henry White, the Royal Navy Director of Naval Construction in 1888.[1] The hull was of composite construction, that is, iron keel, frames, stem and stern posts with wooden planking. These were the last class of composite-hulled gunboats built for the Royal Navy - the next class of gunboat, the Bramble-class gunboat of 1898, was of steel construction.
Propulsion[]
The class was fitted with a triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine developing 1,200 indicated horsepower, sufficient to propel them at 13 kn (24 km/h) through a single screw.
Sail Plan[]
The class was given a barquentine rig.
Armament[]
The first four ships were armed with six 4-inch/25-pounder (25cwt) quickfiring guns and four machine guns. The last five had an additional pair of 3-pounder quickfiring guns in place of two of the machine guns.[1]
Ships[]
Name | Ship Builder | Launched | Fate |
---|---|---|---|
HMS Magpie | Pembroke Dockyard | 15 March 1889 | Boom defence vessel in 1902. Gunboat in 1915, depot ship in October 1915. Sold to Duguid & Stewart on 29 December 1921[1] |
HMS Redbreast | Pembroke Dockyard | 25 April 1889 | Sold in 1910[1] |
HMS Redpole | Pembroke Dockyard | 13 June 1889 | Sold to Cox for breaking at Falmouth on 15 May 1906[1] |
HMS Ringdove | Devonport Dockyard | 30 April 1889 | Became a salvage vessel on 7 December 1915, renamed Melita. Sold to Ship Salvage Corporation on 22 January 1920,[1] and renamed Telima, she was broken up in the second quarter of 1926.[2] |
HMS Lapwing | Devonport Dockyard | 12 April 1889 | Sold at Bombay on 10 November 1910[1] |
HMS Goldfinch | Sheerness Dockyard | 18 May 1889 | Survey vessel in February 1902. Sold for breaking on 14 May 1907[1] |
HMS Thrush | Scott’s, Greenock | 22 June 1889 | Coastguard in 1906, cable ship in 1915, salvage vessel in 1916. Wrecked off Glenarm, Northern Ireland on 11 April 1917[1] |
HMS Widgeon | Pembroke Dockyard | 9 August 1889 | Sold to Castle for breaking at Charlton on 15 May 1906[1] |
HMS Sparrow | Scott’s, Greenock | 26 September 1889 | Transferred to New Zealand as a training ship on 10 July 1906, renamed Amokura. Sold as a coal hulk in February 1922. Broken up in 1955[1] |

HMS Ringdove dressed overall at Melbourne in 1896
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Winfield, Rif; Lyon, David (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.
- ↑ "1132764". Miramar Ship Index. http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz. Retrieved 8 July 2009. (subscription required)
- 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. OCLC 67375475.
External links[]
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