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HMS Tauranga

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HMS Tauranga, Tasmania in 1902.
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Phoenix
BuilderJ & G Thomson, Glasgow
Launched28 October 1889
RenamedTauranga, 1890
FateSold in July 1906 for breaking up.
General characteristics
Class and typePearl-class cruiser
Displacement2,575 tons
Length
  • 278 ft (85 m) oa
  • 256 ft (78 m) pp[1]
Beam41 ft (12 m)[1]
Draught15 ft 6 in (4.72 m)
Installed power7,500 ihp (5,600 kW) on forced draught
Propulsion
  • 2 × 3-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines
  • 4 × double-ended cylindrical boilers
  • 2 screws[1]
Speed19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement217
Armament
Armour
  • Deck: 1–2 in (25–51 mm)
  • Gunshields: 2 in (51 mm)
  • Conning tower: 3 in (76 mm)

HMS Tauranga was a Pearl-class cruiser of the Royal Navy. The vessel was originally named Phoenix and built by J & G Thomson, Glasgow. She was launched on 28 October 1889.[2] Renamed on 2 April 1890, as Tauranga as part of the Auxiliary Squadron of the Australia Station. She arrived in Sydney with the squadron on 5 September 1891. During the Samoan civil unrest in 1899, she took part in operations with HMS Porpoise and HMS Royalist.[2] Spending between 1901 and 1903 in reserve at Sydney before being assigned to the New Zealand division of the Australia Station. She left the Australia Station on 14 December 1904. She was sold for £8500 in July 1906 to Thomas Ward for breaking up.[2]

A Pearl-class cruiser from Brassey's Naval Annual, 1897
Memorial to Payne, First Lieutenant of H.M.S. Tauranga, in Chester Cathedral.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Winfield (2004) p. 276
  2. ^ a b c Bastock 1988, p. 103.

References

[edit]
Robert Louis Stevenson, his family and Samoans, and the band of HMS Tauranga at Vailima (Samoa) (photo by Alfred James Tattersall).
  • Bastock, John (1988), Ships on the Australia Station, Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. ISBN 0-86777-348-0
  • 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.