 HMS Archer circa 1888
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Archer class |
| Builders | |
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| Preceded by | Scout class |
| Succeeded by | Marathon class |
| Built | 1885–1886 |
| In commission | 1890–1906 |
| Completed | 8 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Retired | 7 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | 3rd class cruiser |
| Displacement | 1,770 long tons (1,798 t) |
| Length | 240 ft (73 m) overall; 225 ft (69 m) between perpendiculars |
| Beam | 36 ft (11 m) |
| Draught | 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m) |
| Installed power | 4,500 hp (3,400 kW) at forced draught |
| Propulsion | 2 cyl HDACE, 4 boiler [1] |
| Speed | 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph) at forced draught |
| Range | 7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 176 |
| Armament |
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| Armour |
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The Archer class was a class of eight cruisers of the Royal Navy. They were envisaged from 1883 onwards by Admiral Sir Astley Cooper Key to replace existing sloops as ancillaries for working with the British Fleet and also for trade protection; a total of twenty such ships were planned by him, but only eight were built. Six ships were ordered under the 1884 Programme and built by J & G Thomson at Clydebank in Glasgow. A further two ships were ordered under the 1885 Programme, and these were built at the Devonport Dockyard with all ships completed between 1887 and 1888. These ships mainly served in the British Empire's foreign fleets being on various stations throughout the north Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. Throughout their careers they were involved in a number of local conflicts including the Anglo-Zanzibar War, First Sino-Japanese War, and the Boxer Rebellion.[2]
- ^ Brown, D.K. (2010) [1997]. Warrior to Dreadnought. Seaforth. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-84832-086-4.
- ^ Clowes pp. 430–431.