HMS ''Raven'' was a of 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 ...

, built by

Samuda Brothers Samuda Brothers was an engineering and ship building firm at Cubitt Town on the Isle of Dogs in London, founded by Jacob and Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda. The site is now occupied by Samuda Estate. Samuda Brothers initially leased a premise ...

of Poplar, London, and launched on 18 May 1882.Bastock, p. 93. She served on 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, ...

and was converted to a diving tender in 1904. After being lent as a

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

in 1913 she was sold for breaking in 1925.

Design

The ''Banterer'' class was designed by

Nathaniel Barnaby Sir Nathaniel Barnaby, (25 February 1829 – 16 June 1915) was Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1872 to 1885. Biography Born on 25 February 1829 in Chatham, Barnaby began his career as a naval apprentice at Sheerness in 1843. He won ...

, 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 ...

. They were of composite construction, meaning that the frame,

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

and sternpost 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 465 tons. In appearance they were distinguishable from the preceding s (also a Barnaby design) by their vertical stems.

Propulsion

A two-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine by J & G Rennie provided through a single screw, sufficient to drive ''Raven'' at . The initial cost of the machinery was £6,250.

Armament

Ships of the class were armed with two 6-inch 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifles (a conversion of the smoothbore 32-pounder 58 cwt gun) and two 4-inch 20-pounder breech loading guns. A pair of machine guns were also fitted.

Construction

''Raven'' was ordered from

in 1880 and launched from their Poplar yard on 18 May 1882. The cost of building the hull was £14,800, while fitting out was conducted by the naval dockyard at Sheerness. She was rigged with three masts, and photographs of sister ships show a

square rig Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called '' yards'' ...

on the foremast only, making them

barquentine A barquentine or schooner barque (alternatively "barkentine" or "schooner bark") is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts. Modern barquentine sailing ...

-rigged vessels.

Service history

''Raven'' commissioned at Sheerness for the first time on 25 April 1883 and commenced service on the

. She left the Australia Station in October 1890. On 26 June 1897 she was present at the Naval Review at

Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...

in celebration of the

Diamond Jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th anniver ...

. She served at the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

under Commander E. J. Rein, and was paid off at

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

26 November 1901, when her crew was transferred to which then replaced her at the Channel Islands. She was converted to a diving tender in 1904 and was lent as a

in March 1913.

Fate

''Raven'' was sold for breaking on 13 March 1925.Winfield (2004) p. 298

Citations

References

* Bastock, John (1988), ''Ships on the Australia Station'', Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raven (1882) 1882 ships Ships built in Poplar Banterer-class gunboats