HMS Waterwitch (1866)

Waterwitch under sail, from the Illustrated London News
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Waterwitch
Ordered	29 October 1864
Builder	Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company
Laid down	1864
Launched	28 June 1866
Commissioned	1867
Fate	Sold for breaking 26 April 1890
General characteristics
Displacement	1,280 tons
Tons burthen	777 bm[1]
Length	162 ft (49.4 m) pp[1]
Beam	32 ft 1 in (9.8 m)[1]
Draught	11 ft (3.4 m)[1]
Installed power	167 nominal horsepower 780 ihp (580 kW)[1]
Propulsion	2 × Maudslay iron fire-tube boilers 6 × furnaces 3-cylinder horizontal Ruthven "hydraulic reaction engine" by J & W Dudgeon[1]
Sail plan	Barquentine rig
Speed	8.9 kn (16.5 km/h)[1]
Complement	80
Armament	2 × 7-inch (6½-ton) muzzle-loading rifled guns 2 × RBL 20-pounder guns
Armour	4+1⁄2 in (11 cm) iron belt and bulkheads with 10 in (25 cm) of teak backing

HMS Waterwitch was one of only three armoured gunboats built for the Royal Navy. Uniquely, she was powered by Ruthven's "hydraulic propeller", making her the first ship to employ waterjets. She was launched in 1866 and conducted comparative trials with her two sister ships. She was not employed operationally and was sold in 1890.