The ''Grasshopper''-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 By the end of the 1890s torpedo gunboats were superseded by their more successful c ...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. All three ships were scrapped before
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Design
The ''Grasshopper'' class was designed by Nathaniel Barnaby in 1886 and were essentially repeats of the
''Rattlesnake'' of 1886. They had a length between perpendiculars of , a beam of and a displacement of . They were engined with two sets of
Maudslay, Sons & Field 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 boiler
A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases pass from a fire through one or more tubes running through a sealed container of water. The heat of the gases is transferred through the walls of the tubes by thermal conduction, heating t ...
s, 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 66 sailors and officers.
]
Armament
The class was each fitted with one 4 inch Gun and six 3-pounder guns. Two torpedo tubes and two additional 14-inch torpedo carriages. 4 reload torpedoes were carried
Ships
See also
* List of torpedo gunboats of the Royal Navy
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Grasshopper class torpedo gunboat
Ship classes of the Royal Navy
Torpedo gunboat classes
S