The Plover-class gunvessels were a class of wooden gunboats built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s. They mostly served overseas and were retired early as they were regarded as hopelessly obsolete by the late 1880s.
_IWM_Q_40622.jpg) Woodlark in 1880
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Plover class |
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| Preceded by | Cormorant class |
| Succeeded by | Beacon class |
| Built | 1867–1871 |
| Completed | 12 |
| Scrapped | 12 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Type | Wooden screw gunvessel |
| Displacement | 805 long tons (818 t) |
| Tons burthen | 663 bm |
| Length | 170 ft (51.8 m) (p/p) |
| Beam | 29 ft (8.8 m) |
| Draught | 10 ft 6 in (3.2 m) |
| Depth | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Installed power | 857–985 ihp (639–735 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Sail plan | Barque rig |
| Speed | 10–11 knots (19–20 km/h; 12–13 mph) |
| Complement | 90 |
| Armament | |
Ships
edit| Ship | Builder[1] | Laid down[2] | Launched[2] | Completed[2] | Fate[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plover | Deptford Dockyard | NA | 20 February 1867 | NA | Sold for breaking, August 1885 |
| Ringdove | Portsmouth Dockyard | NA | 4 September 1867 | NA | Sold for breaking, 17 May 1882 |
| Philomel | Deptford Dockyard | NA | 29 October 1867 | NA | Sold at Bombay, 14 April 1886 |
| Lapwing | Devonport Dockyard | 21 January 1867 | 8 November 1867 | 27 June 1868 | Sold for breaking, 15 April 1885 |
| Magpie | Portsmouth Dockyard | NA | 12 February 1868 | NA | Survey vessel in 1878. Sold, September 1885 |
| Bullfinch | Sheerness Dockyard | NA | 13 February 1868 | NA | Sold for breaking, June 1885 |
| Seagull | Devonport Dockyard | 15 April 1867 | 6 March 1868 | 19 April 1871 | Sold for breaking, November 1887 |
| Curlew | Deptford Dockyard | NA | 20 August 1868 | NA | Sold for breaking, 7 November 1882 |
| Swallow | Portsmouth Dockyard | NA | 16 November 1868 | NA | Sold, 18 October 1882 |
| Bittern | Pembroke Dockyard | NA | 20 September 1869 | NA | Sold for breaking, November 1887 |
| Vulture | Sheerness Dockyard | NA | 6 November 1869 | NA | Sold for breaking, September 1885 |
| Woodlark | Chatham Dockyard | NA | 9 March 1871 | NA | Sold at Bombay, 9 March 1887 |
Footnotes
editBibliography
edit- 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.
- Ballard, G. A. (1940). "British Gunvessels of 1875: The Larger Twin-Screw Type". Mariner's Mirror. 26 (January). Cambridge, UK: Society for Nautical Research: 15–32. doi:10.1080/00253359.1940.10657367.
- Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- 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.