Purchased while building at Montreal in 1841. Served in the Mediterranean as a packet. Refitted and reboilered at Woolwich in 1843–44. Sold at Malta on 11 July 1846
Sold to Messrs. Campbell, Forsyth, Yarwood & Gaskin on 30 October 1851
Magnet
Hamilton, Canada
1846
The British Government made a part payment while during build, retaining the right to assume possession of the vessel on payment of the remaining portion. The right was relinquished in 1864
Delivered in pieces to the Kingston Yard, Lake Ontario. Served on Lake Ontario and later on Lake Huron. Lengthened by 25 ft (7.6 m) in 1846. Sold to J F Parke on 21 June 1852
The gunboats designed from 1870 onwards were of composite construction, i.e. they had an iron keel, stem and stern posts, and iron framing, with wooden planking retained over the iron frames.
The only ironclads of gunboat size were three largely experimental (and unsuccessful) vessels ordered in 1864. The first two were towed to the Royal Naval Dockyard at the Imperial fortresscolony of Bermuda (being considered unsatisfactory to sail under their own power) where they served as harbour vessels and for coastal defence (Vixen ultimately being sunk to block a channel that torpedo boats might have used to attack ships of the North America and West Indies Station at their anchorage on Grassy Bay).[1][2][3][4]Vixen was the first twin-screw vessel built for the Royal Navy, and Waterwitch employed a form of water pump propulsion.
Renamed Excellent in May 1891 as a training ship, then Calcutta on 1 November 1916, and finally Snapper in August 1917. Sold on 27 April 1924. She was sold again to Pounds shipbreakers in the 1970s but not broken up. She was finally scrapped in 2008.[5]
Built for the Ordnance Department and transferred to the Royal Navy in 1901. Renamed Excellent on 21 November 1916 and Dryad on 26 January 1919. Renamed back to Drudge later in 1919 and sold on 27 March 1920
Insect class (1915)
The Insect-class gunboats were a class of small, but well-armed Royal Navy ships designed for use in shallow rivers or inshore. Several of them took also part in World War II.
Moth: built by William Doxford & Sons, scuttled in Hong Kong 1941, captured and repaired by the Japanese and renamed Suma, sunk by mines in Yangtze River on 19 March 1945.
Scarab: built by Wood, Skinner & Co, scrapped in 1948.
Re-engined in 1833 and renamed Black Eagle on 5 February 1842, lengthened in 1843 and re-rated as a paddle yacht, completing service as Admiralty yacht until 1857. Broken up at Portsmouth in March 1876
This section includes two early iron-hulled screw gunvessels ordered in May 1845, which in other respects were half-sisters to two wooden-hulled gunvessels ordered at the same time. The four vessels comprised the first-class gunvessels Rifleman (wooden hulled) and Sharpshooter (iron hulled), and the second-class gunvessels Teazer (wooden hulled) and Minx (iron hulled). Further vessels ordered later to the same design were either cancelled or built to very different concepts. Rifleman and Sharpshooter were re-classed as sloops in 1854.
Rifleman class (wooden half-sisters to iron-hulled Sharpshooter)
The gunvessels designed from 1867 onwards were of composite construction, i.e. they had an iron keel, stem and stern posts, and iron framing, with wooden planking retained over the iron frames.
Sailing training ship in 1899. Hulked as accommodation for submarines in 1907. Submarine depot ship in 1912. Sold on 13 March 1925, but foundered under tow on 19 April 1925, then raised and beached; and used as an accommodation school ship until broken up in 1977 at Bo'ness
Tender to Britannia at Dartmouth 1896; to Portsmouth February 1903. Salvage vessel June 1917. Sold to Hughes Bolckow, Blyth on 6 November 1928 for breaking up.
Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC52620555.
^Stranack, Royal Navy, Lieutenant-Commander B. Ian D (1977). The Andrew and The Onions: The Story of The Royal Navy in Bermuda, 1795–1975. Bermuda: Island Press Ltd. ISBN9780921560036.
^Moore, Peter (5 April 2019). "15 stunningly beautiful shipwrecks you must visit: 2. H.M.S. Vixen, Bermuda". Wanderlust. Retrieved 1 January 2024. The HMS Vixen was an armoured gunboat that served with distinction, protecting the Royal Navy Dockyard in Bermuda. After finishing her days as an accommodation hulk for dockyard workers, the Vixen was scuttled off Daniel's Head in 1895, laying in a narrow gap in the coral reef, with the bow just above water.
^Lewinski, John Scott (17 March 2023). "Destinations-East Coast & Bermuda-Where to Go Snorkeling in Bermuda: HMS Vixen Wreck, Daniel's Head". Celebrity Cruises. Celebrity Cruises, Inc. Retrieved 1 January 2024. Sunk deliberately, the HMS Vixen was a Royal Navy gunboat launched out of the UK in 1866. After serving her military career, she was supposed to be sold for scrap in Bermuda. However, the military brain trust at the time decided Bermuda needed protective barriers in key spots around the island. The Vixen was scuttled in 1896 near Daniel's Head off Bermuda's west coast.
