Algerine-class gunboat

Leven rigged as a barquentine
Class overview
NameAlgerine-class gunboat
Builders
Operators
  •  Royal Navy
  • Merchant navy Ensign of the UK British Merchant Navy
  • Qing dynasty Chinese Imperial Customs
  • Ottoman Empire Egyptian Government
Preceded byAlbacore class
Succeeded byBritomart class
CostHull £5,668, machinery £4,350 (Jaseur)[Note 1][1]
Built1856–1857
In commission1857–1873
Completed6
Lost3
Retired3
General characteristics
TypeWooden screw gunboat (gunvessels from 1859)[1]
Displacement370 tons
Tons burthen300 8894 bm
Length
  • 125 ft 0 in (38.1 m) (gundeck)
  • 110 ft 1.5 in (33.6 m) (keel)
Beam23 ft 0 in (7.0 m)
Depth of hold9 ft 3 in (2.8 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
  • 2-cylinder horizontal direct-acting single-expansion steam engine
  • Single (hoisting) screw
Sail plan
Speed9 kn (17 km/h)[1]
Armament
Design profile for the Algerine class

The Algerine-class gunboats were a class of six 3-gun wooden gunboats (reclassified as gunvessels from 1859) built for the Royal Navy in 1857. A further pair were built in India for the Bombay Marine in 1859.

An enlarged version of the very numerous Albacore class, they reflected the change in use from coastal operations towards deep-water cruising, but were delivered too late to see action in the Crimean War. They were the first class of Royal Navy gunboat to incorporate a hoisting screw, which gave them improved performance under sail. The last man hung from the yardarm in the Royal Navy was a Royal Marine executed on 13 July 1860 in Leven.


Cite error: There are <ref group=Note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=Note}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ a b c Winfield (2004), p.230