The ''Pelorus''-class cruiser was a "third-class" protected cruiser designed by

Sir William White Sir William Henry White, (2 February 1845 – 27 February 1913) was a prolific British warship designer and Chief Constructor at the Admiralty. Biography White was born in Devonport, the son of Robert White, a currier, and his wife, Jane M ...

(

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 ...

1885 – 1902) for the Royal Navy, based on the earlier ''Pearl''-class cruisers. Eleven ships were ordered to this design in 1893 under the Spencer Programme, and were laid down 1896–1900. The first, , was commissioned in 1896.

Development and design

The ''Pelorus'' class ships displaced 2,135

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

s and had a top speed of . Most served in minor roles on overseas or colonial patrol work, not with the main battlefleets. They carried a complement of 224 and were armed with eight QF 4-inch (25 pounder) guns, eight 3 pounder guns, three machine guns, and two 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo tubes. They had reciprocating triple expansion steam engines and were equipped with different types of boiler which were trialled in these cruisers. Some had Normand water-tube boilers which could give for limited periods of time with forced draught and under natural draught. Protected cruiser HMS Pelorus - IWM Q 75405

Protected cruiser HMS Pelorus - IWM Q 75405

Ships in the class

Service

In an era of naval innovation, the class was almost outdated before they were launched. They were fitted with a variety of different boilers as a trial but most were not particularly satisfactory; so HMS ''

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...

'' was scrapped in 1913, HMS ''

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus ...

'' and HMS '' Prometheus'' in 1914. They had all been condemned in 1904 but had been reprieved. The remainder were to be scrapped in 1915, but were kept in service through the First World War. HMS ''

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

'' was sunk in combat in 1914, the rest - except for HMS ''

Pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

'' - were scrapped between 1919 and 1922. HMS '' Pactolus'' and HMS '' Pomone'' had Blechynden boilers which were particularly unreliable, they were removed from active service several years before others in the class. Rear Admiral Cresswell, the 1st Naval Member of the Australian Naval Board described '' Psyche'' and '' Pyramus'' in 1914 as "the unspeakably useless P. class."McGibbon, I.C. (1981) ''Blue-Water Rationale: The Naval Defence of New Zealand 1914–1942'', page 15 note 50 (GP Print, Wellington, NZ)

References

External links

Pelorus Class
Battleships-Cruisers.co.uk

worldwar1.co.uk {{WWI British ships Cruiser classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy