HMS Aurora (1887)

Aurora at anchor
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Aurora
Builder	Pembroke Dockyard
Laid down	1 February 1886
Launched	28 October 1887
Completed	July 1889
Out of service	1905
Fate	Sold for scrap, 2 October 1907
General characteristics
Class and type	Orlando-class armoured cruiser
Displacement	5,535 long tons (5,624 t)
Length	300 ft (91.4 m) (p/p)
Beam	56 ft (17.1 m)
Draught	24 ft (7.3 m)
Installed power	8,500 ihp (6,300 kW) 4 × boilers
Propulsion	2 shafts 2 × Triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range	8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	484
Armament	2 × single BL 9.2-inch (234 mm) Mk V guns 10 × single BL 6-inch (152 mm) guns 6 × single QF 6-pounder (57 mm) Hotchkiss guns 10 × single QF 3-pounder (47 mm) Hotchkiss guns 6 × 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Waterline belt: 10 in (254 mm) Deck: 2–3 in (51–76 mm) Conning tower: 12 in (305 mm) Bulkheads: 16 in (406 mm)

HMS Aurora was one of seven Orlando-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1880s. The ship spent a brief time in reserve before she was assigned to the Channel Squadron for two years in 1890. In 1893 Aurora became a coast guard ship in Ireland for two years before she was placed in reserve again. The ship recommissioned in 1899 for service on the China Station and some of her crew participated in the Battle of Tientsin in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. Aurora returned home two years later and was again reduced to reserve. She was taken out of service in 1905 and sold for scrap on 2 October 1907.