Class overview |
Name | Gleaner class |
Operators | Royal Navy |
Succeeded by | Dapper class |
Built | 1854 |
In commission | 1854 – 1864 |
Completed | 6 |
General characteristics [1] |
Type | 'Crimean' gunboat |
Tons burthen | 215 53⁄94 tons bm |
Length |
- 100 ft (30 m) (gundeck)
- 86 ft 4 in (26.31 m) (keel)
|
Beam | 22 ft 0 in (6.71 m) |
Draught | 7 ft 10 in (2.39 m) |
Installed power | |
Propulsion |
- 2-cylinder horizontal single expansion steam engine
- Single screw
|
Speed | 7.5 kn (13.9 km/h) |
Crew | 36 |
Armament | |
|
The Gleaner (or Pelter)-class gunboat was a class of six gunboats built for the Royal Navy in 1854 for use in the Crimean War.[1]
Design
The Gleaner class was designed by W.H. Walker (who also designed the subsequent Dapper and Albacore classes). The ships were wooden-hulled, with steam power as well as sails, but of shallow draught for coastal bombardment in the shallow waters of the Baltic and Black Sea during the Crimean War.[1]
Propulsion
Two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engines built by John Penn and Sons, with two boilers, provided 60 nominal horsepower through a single screw, sufficient for 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph).[1]
Armament
Ships of the class were armed with one 68-pounder smooth bore muzzle loading cannon (SBML), one 32-pounder SBML (originally two 68-pounder SBMLs were planned but the forward gun was substituted by a 32-pounder) and two 24-pounder howitzers.[1]
Ships
Name |
Ship builder[1] |
Launched[1] |
Fate[1]
|
Pelter |
W & H Pitcher, Northfleet |
28 August 1854 |
Sold for breaking January 1864, breaking up completed by Tolpult on 1 February 1864
|
Pincher |
W & H Pitcher, Northfleet |
5 September 1854 |
Breaking completed on 17 February 1864
|
Badger |
W & H Pitcher, Northfleet |
23 September 1854 |
Broken up at Portsmouth in June 1864
|
Snapper |
W & H Pitcher, Northfleet |
4 October 1854 |
Became a coal hulk in 1865, sold in 1906
|
Gleaner |
Deptford Dockyard |
7 October 1854 |
Sold at Montevideo in April 1868
|
Ruby |
Deptford Dockyard |
7 October 1854 |
Broken up October 1868
|
References
Bibliography