HMS ''Decoy'' was an composite

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, built at

Pembroke Dockyard Pembroke Dockyard, originally called Pater Yard, is a former Royal Navy Dockyard in Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales. History It was founded in 1814, although not formally authorized until the Prince Regent signed the necessary Order in Cou ...

and launched on 12 October 1871. She served in both the Third

Anglo-Ashanti War The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. Though the Ashanti emerged victorio ...

in 1873 and the

Bombardment of Alexandria The Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt by the British Mediterranean Fleet took place on 11–13 July 1882. Admiral Beauchamp Seymour was in command of a fleet of fifteen Royal Navy ironclad ships which had previously sailed to the harbor of ...

in 1882. She rapidly became obsolete and was sold in 1885.

Design and construction

Sir Edward Reed Sir Edward James Reed, KCB, FRS (20 September 1830 – 30 November 1906) was a British naval architect, author, politician, and railroad magnate. He was the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1863 until 1870. He was a Liberal politicia ...

Chief Constructor The Director of Naval Construction (DNC) also known as the Department of the Director of Naval Construction and Directorate of Naval Construction and originally known as the Chief Constructor of the Navy was a senior principal civil officer resp ...

of the Royal Navy, the ''Ariel''-class gunboats were the first gunboats of composite construction. She was armed with two 64-pounder (56 cwt) muzzle-loading rifles and two 20-pounder Armstrong breech loaders. All four guns were mounted on traversing carriages. All the ships of the class carried a three-masted

barquentine A barquentine or schooner barque (alternatively "barkentine" or "schooner bark") is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts. Modern barquentine sailing r ...

rig.

Operational service

''Decoy'' was deployed off the coast of West Africa to support the operations on the Gold Coast. She deployed with and . She also took part in the bombardment of Bootry. In 1882 she formed part of the Naval and Military forces at the

. ''Argus'', ''Isis'', and blockaded Damietta.''The Graphic'', 7 October 1882, p. 369

Fate

She was sold at Malta in 1885.

References

Publications

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Decoy (1871) 1871 ships Ships built in Pembroke Dock Ariel-class gunboats Victorian-era gunboats of the United Kingdom