The ''Arrow'' class comprised six second-class screw-driven vessels built as dispatch vessels for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

in 1854, mounting six guns. In 1856 they were re-designated as second-class

gunvessel 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 ...

s. A seventh vessel was built for the Argentine Navy in 1875.

Construction

Design

The

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

sparked a sudden need for shallow-draught, manoeuvrable vessels for inshore work in the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

. The ''Arrow'' class of six wooden-hulled screw steamers were built during 1854 to a design by the Surveyor's Department. Construction was undertaken at two commercial yards on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

, R & H Green at

Blackwall Yard Blackwall Yard is a small body of water that used to be a shipyard on the River Thames in Blackwall, engaged in ship building and later ship repairs for over 350 years. The yard closed in 1987. History East India Company Blackwall was a sh ...

and C J Mare & Company, at

Leamouth Leamouth is a locality in the Blackwall area of Poplar, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area takes its name from the former ''Leamouth Wharf'' and lies on the west side of the confluence of the Bow Creek stretch of the Lea, at it ...

. Two further designs of Crimean War gunvessel were ordered during 1855, the and the , and in 1856 the six ''Arrow''-class dispatch vessels were re-classed as second-class gunvessels.

Propulsion

A two-cylinder horizontal single expansion steam engine provided through a single

screw A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

Sail plan

All ''Arrow''-class gunvessels were

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

-rigged.

Armament

The ''Arrow'' class were provided with two 68-pounder Lancaster muzzle-loading rifles weighing on pivot mounts, and four 32-pounder guns.

Ships

Operational lives

''Wrangler'' was sent to the

on completion, and the others of the class to the

where they took part in the

. The Lancaster guns were not entirely successful, and the class had their armament reduced, being employed in their original designation as dispatch vessels.

Citations

References

* * {{Arrow class gunvessels Gunboat classes Arrow