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The ''Sharpshooter''-class torpedo gunboat was a class of
torpedo gunboat
In late 19th-century naval terminology, torpedo gunboats were a form of gunboat armed with torpedoes and designed for hunting and destroying smaller torpedo boats. By the end of the 1890s torpedo gunboats were superseded by their more successful c ...
built for 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 ...
in the late 19th century. One of the class was hulked in 1904, seven were scrapped before World War I and five were converted to minesweepers. Of these minesweepers, ''Seagull'' was lost to a collision in 1918 and the rest survived the war to be broken up in the early 1920s.
Design
The ''Sharpshooter'' class was designed by Sir William White in 1888. They had a length overall of , a beam of and a displacement of 735 tons. They were engined with two sets ofBelliss and Morcom
Belliss and Morcom is a manufacturer and supplier of oil-free reciprocating compressors, technologies and services. Founded in 1852 in Birmingham, West Midlands, it is now a division of Ingersoll Rand based in Redditch, Worcestershire, England. ...
triple-expansion steam engine
A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages.
A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up ...
s, two locomotive-type boilers, and twin screws. This layout produced with natural draught and with forced draught The difference between atmospheric pressure and the pressure existing in the furnace or flue gas passage of a boiler is termed as draft. Draft can also be referred to as the difference in pressure in the combustion chamber area which results in the ...
, giving them a top speed of . They carried 100 tons of coal, giving them a range of about at and were manned by 91 sailors and officers. The following ''Alarm'' class were essentially an enlarged version of the ''Sharpshooters''.
From 1895 to 1898 a series of different boilers were fitted to ''Sharpshooter'', ''Sheldrake'', ''Seagull'', ''Spanker'' and ''Salamander''.
Armament
At build the class was fitted with two QF /45-pounder guns and four 3-pounder guns. Five torpedo tubes were fitted, except in ''Plassey'' and ''Assaye'', which had three tubes. Three reloads were provided. Those vessels converted to minesweepers in 1909 retained their guns and had a kite winch and gallows fitted on the quarterdeck.Gray, Randal, Ed. ''Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985.Service
''Plassey'' and ''Assaye'' were built for theBombay Marine
The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India.
Fr ...
(renamed the Royal Indian Marine in 1892). ''Whiting'' and ''Wizard'' (renamed ''Boomerang'' and ''Karakatta'' before commissioning) were assigned to the Australia 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, ...
. Seven of the class, including all the colonial service boats, were sold for breaking in 1904 - 1907, and five of the class were converted to minesweepers in 1908 - 1909. Of the five minesweepers, ''Seagull'' was lost in a collision with SS ''Corrib'' in the Clyde in 1918, and the others were sold for breaking after World War I. ''Sharpshooter'' was hulked for instructional duties in 1904 and renamed ''Northampton'', surviving until 1922 until being sold for breaking.
Ships
See also
* List of torpedo gunboats of the Royal NavyReferences
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpshooter class torpedo gunboat Torpedo gunboat classes S