The ''Albacore''-class gunboat was a class of three
gunboats built for the
Royal Navy in 1883. The name had already been used for
a class of 98 gunboats built during the
Great Armament
The Great Armament was the popular name given to the rapid build-up in the strength of the British Royal Navy as a consequence of the need for inshore warfare vessels that emerged during the 1854-56 Crimean War against Russia. These forces were fo ...
of the
Crimean War.
Design
The ''Albacore'' class was designed by
Nathaniel Barnaby, the Admiralty
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 ships were of composite construction, meaning that the iron keel, frames, stem and stern posts were of iron, while the hull was planked with timber. This had the advantage of allowing the vessels to be coppered, thus keeping marine growth under control, a problem that caused iron-hulled ships to be frequently docked. They were in length and displaced 560 tons.
[ They were a slightly larger version of the and es that preceded them. They pioneered the use of modern breech-loading guns as the main armament, but were the last gunboats to mount their weapons on traversing mountings.][
]
Propulsion
Two-cylinder compound-expansion steam engines built by the builder, Laird Brothers
Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
of Birkenhead, provided 650 indicated horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of Power (physics), power, or the rate at which Work (physics), work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two commo ...
through a single screw, sufficient for .[
]
Armament
Ships of the class were armed with two 5-inch/50-pdr (38cwt) breech-loading guns and two 4-inch/20-pdr breech-loading guns. A pair of machine guns was also fitted.[
]
Ships
Notes
References
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{{Albacore-class gunboat (1883)
Gunboat classes
Gunboats of the Royal Navy
Victorian-era gunboats of the United Kingdom