Condor-class gunvessel
![]() "Well Done Condor". Bombardment of Alexandria, 1882 by Charles Dixon
| |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Condor-class gunvessels |
Builders | |
Operators | ![]() |
Built | 1876–1877 |
In commission | 1877–1923 |
Completed | 4 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 774 tons |
Length | 157 ft (48 m) |
Beam | 29 ft 6 in (8.99 m) |
Draught | 12 ft (3.7 m)[1] |
Installed power | Designed 750 ihp (560 kW) |
Propulsion |
|
Sail plan | Barque-rigged |
Speed | 11.5 kn (21.3 km/h) under power |
Complement | 100[1] |
Armament |
|
The Condor-class gunvessel was a class of four Royal Navy composite gunvessels of 3 guns, built between 1876 and 1877.[2] They were all hulked or sold before 1893, giving them an active life of less than 15 years.
Construction
[edit]Design
[edit]Designed by Nathaniel Barnaby,[1] the Royal Navy Director of Naval Construction, the hull was of composite construction; that is, iron keel, frames, stem and stern posts with wooden planking.
Propulsion
[edit]They were fitted with three boilers, a 2-cylinder horizontal compound expansion steam engine and a single screw. Griffon and Falcon were engined by Laird Brothers and had a feathering propeller. Flamingo and Condor were engined by John Elder & Co, and all ships had a designed 750 indicated horsepower (560 kW), developing about 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h) under power.[1]
Sail plan
[edit]The class was rigged with three masts, with square rig on the fore- and main-masts, making them barque-rigged vessels.[1]
Armament
[edit]The ships of the class were fitted with a 7-in (4½-ton) muzzle-loading rifle and two 64-pounder (64cwt) muzzle-loading rifles, except for Flamingo, which had two 20-pounder breech-loaders in place of one of the 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifles. In 1884 Flamingo and Griffon were rearmed with two 5-in Vavasseur breech loaders replacing the 7-in muzzle-loading rifle.[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/HMS_Griffon_%281876%29.jpg/220px-HMS_Griffon_%281876%29.jpg)
Ships
[edit]Name | Ship Builder | Launched | Fate |
---|---|---|---|
Flamingo | Devonport Dockyard | 13 December 1876 | Hulk 1893. Sold to Plymouth Port Sanitary Authority on 25 May 1923. Sold on 4 May 1931 for breaking |
Griffon | Laird Brothers, Birkenhead | 16 December 1876 | Sold to the Board of Trade as a hulk on 28 September 1891 and renamed Richmond |
Condor | Devonport Dockyard | 28 December 1876 | Sold to George Cohen in August 1889 |
Falcon | Laird Brothers, Birkenhead | 4 January 1877 | Hulk in 1890. Sold to E W Payne & Company on 25 June 1920 |
References
[edit]- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)