Doterel-class sloop

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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.

HMS Doterel
HMS Doterel
Class overview
NameDoterel-class sloop
Operators Royal Navy
CostBetween £48,700 (Miranda) and £52470 (Gannet)
Built1878–1880
In commission1879–1921
Completed9
Lost2
Preserved1 (Gannet)
General characteristics [1]
TypeScrew composite sloop
Displacement1,130 tons
Length170 ft (52 m) pp
Beam36 ft (11 m)
Draught15 ft 9 in (4.80 m)
Installed power900 to 1,128 indicated horsepower (671 to 841 kW)
Propulsion
  • 3 × cylindrical boilers
  • 2-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine
  • Single screw
Sail planBarque rigged
Speed11+12 knots (21.3 km/h)
Range1,480 nmi (2,740 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h) from 150 tons of coal
Complement140-150
Armament
A rifled muzzle loader in the forecastle of Gannet

Design

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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

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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

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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

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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

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They had a complement of approximately 140 men.[1]

Ships

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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

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  1. ^ a b c d e Winfield (2004) p.292

References

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  • 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.