The ''Satellite'' class was a class of 12-gun composite
sloops built for the
Royal Navy between 1883 and 1888, and reclassified as
corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
s in 1884.
Construction
Design
Designed by
Nathaniel Barnaby,
the Royal Navy
Director of Naval Construction
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 ...
, the hull was of composite construction; that is, iron keel, frames, stem and stern posts with wooden planking. This class of composite sloops was unique in having an internal steel deck over the machinery and magazines for protection. The ''Satellite'' class were reclassified as corvettes in 1884, and no more composite or wooden corvettes were built - in fact, ''Pylades'' was the last corvette built for the Royal Navy until the
Second World War.
Propulsion
Propulsion was provided by a horizontal compound expansion of driving a single screw.
Sail plan
All the ships of the class were built with a
barque rig.
Armament
The class was designed with two
6-inch/100-pounder (81cwt) breech loaders and ten
5-inch/50-pounder (38cwt) breech loaders, plus a single light gun and four (or more) machine guns.
[ ''Heroine'', ''Hyacinth'' and ''Royalist'' were built with eight 6-inch/100-pounder (81cwt) breech loaders in place of the 5-inch/6-inch mixture, and ''Satellite'' was converted to the same fit.][
]
Ships
Operational lives
These ships were designed to patrol the far-flung reaches of Britain's maritime empire, and so ''Rapid'' and ''Royalist'' both went to the Australian Station
The Australia Station was the British, and later Australian, naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent.Dennis et al. 2008, p.53. Australia Station was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station, ...
, ''Satellite'' to the Pacific Station, ''Pylades'' to the North America and West Indies Station and ''Heroine'', ''Caroline'' and ''Hyacinth'' all to the China Station.
References
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{{Satellite class sloop
Sloop classes
Satellite