Rambler with an unidentified gunboat berthed to the right
Class overview
NameAlgerine class
Builders
Operators Royal Navy
Preceded byLinnet class
Succeeded byDolphin class
Built1880
In commissionc.1880-1907
Completed3
Scrapped3
General characteristics
TypeComposite gunvessel
Displacement835 t
Length157 ft (48 m) pp
Beam29 ft 6 in (8.99 m)
Draught13 ft 7 in (4.14 m)
Installed power690 to 750 ihp (510 to 560 kW)[1]
Propulsion
  • 2-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine
  • Single screw
Sail planBarque or full-rigged ship
Speed10.5 knots (19.4 km/h)
Endurance110t of coal[1]
Complement100
Armament
  • Algerine & Ranger:
  • 1 × 7-inch (180 mm) (4½ ton) muzzle-loading rifles
  • 2 × 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifles
  • 2 × machine gun
  • 1 × light gun
  • Rambler
  • 4 × 20-pounder breech loading guns
  • 1 × machine gun
  • 1 × light gun[1]

The Algerine-class gunvessel was a class of three Royal Navy composite gunvessels built in 1880. Two of them were sold after only ten years of service, but the other was converted to a survey ship before commissioning and survived in this role until 1907.

Design and construction

Designed in 1879 by Nathaniel Barnaby, the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy, the Algerine-class gunvessels were similar to the Condor-class gunvessels of 1875, but with the addition of a poop deck.[1] It had been found that the addition of both poop and focsle made gunvessels far more comfortable in the tropics; an awning spread between the two allowed men to sleep on the upper deck during hot nights.[2] The composite method of construction used iron for the keel, stem, stern post and framing, with wooden planking. As well as the benefits of low cost, this construction allowed repairs to be conducted easily when away from well-equipped dockyards.[2] This was the last class of composite gunvessels built for the Royal Navy.[2]

Propulsion

A two-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine produced between 690 indicated horsepower (510 kW) and 760 ihp (570 kW) through a single screw, giving a speed of about 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h).[1]

Sail plan

The vessels of the class were barque-rigged, but some of the pictures show yards on the mizzen mast, which would have made them ship rigged. The advantage of the barque rig was the need for less manpower, but on a distant station and with an experienced crew, and infrequent coaling stops, captains sometimes preferred to gain the greater sailing benefits of the ship rig, and had the flexibility to do so.

Armament

The Algerine-class gunvessels were designed with one 7-inch (180 mm) (4½ ton) muzzle-loading rifles, two 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifles, two machine guns and a light gun. The single 7-inch gun was later replaced by a pair of 5-inch breech-loading guns. Rambler, as a survey vessel, was finished with four 20-pounder breech loading guns, one machine gun and one light gun.[1]

Service lives

HMS Rambler

A view of Rambler from the port bow

Rambler was commissioned in 1880 and served on the China Station,[3] including a survey in Western Australia.[4] In 1899 she contributed men to a naval brigade during the Boer War, and was sold in 1907.[5]

HMS Ranger

Ranger served on the East Indies Station.[6] In 1892 she was sold to the Liverpool Association for the Protection of Commercial Interests as Respects Wrecked and Damaged Property and carried out many of the more challenging salvage jobs, including on SS Suevic and HMHS Asturias. Extensive World War I work on charter to the Admiralty culminated in clearing the blockships left in the Zeebrugge Raid and the Ostend raid, together with the block ships the Germans had been able to place when evacuating before the Allies recaptured these ports.[7][8]: 59–67, 110–113 

HMS Algerine

Algerine commissioned in 1886, six years after she was launched.[9]

Ships

NameShip Builder[1]Launched[1]Fate[1]
RamblerJohn Elder & Company, Fairfield26 January 1880Survey vessel in 1884. Sold on 23 January 1907
RangerJohn Elder & Company, Fairfield12 February 1880Sold as a salvage ship on 24 September 1892. Broken up in 1947
AlgerineHarland & Wolff, Belfast6 November 1880Sold on 10 May 1892

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Winfield (2008) p. 296
  2. 1 2 3 Preston, Antony; Major, John (2007). Send a Gunboat: The Victorian Navy and Supremacy at Sea, 1854–1904 (2nd ed.). London: Conway. ISBN 978-0-85177-923-2.
  3. ↑ "HMS Rambler at the Naval Database website". Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  4. ↑ Bastock 1988, p. 113.
  5. ↑ "Landing Parties of HMS Rambler and Doris, Simonstown. Boer War c.1899 at Sea Your History website". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  6. ↑ "HMS Ranger at the Naval Database website". Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  7. ↑ "Suevic". Lloyd's List. column 3. 2 April 1907. p. 11. Retrieved 28 May 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  8. ↑ Booth, Tony (2007). Admiralty Salvage in Peace and War 1906-2006. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 9781781596289.
  9. ↑ "HMS Algerine at the Naval Database website". Retrieved 22 December 2010.

References

  • Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.
  • Bastock, John (1988), Ships on the Australia Station, Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. ISBN 0-86777-348-0
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