Redbreast class gunboat

HMS Sparrow
Class overview
Name:	Redbreast-class gunboats
Builders:	Pembroke Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard Devonport Dockyard Scotts of Greenock
Operators:	Royal Navy New Zealand Government British Merchant Navy
Cost:	Between £38,000 (Widgeon) and £39,300 (Ringdove)
Built:	1889
In commission:	1889–1921
Completed:	9
Lost:	1
General characteristics
Class and type:	Redbreast-class first-class gunvessel
Displacement:	805 tons
Length:	165 ft 0 in (50.3 m) pp
Beam:	31 ft 0 in (9.4 m)
Draught:	11 ft 0 in (3.35 m) min, 13 ft 9 in (4.19 m) max
Installed power:	1,200 ihp (890 kW)
Propulsion:	Triple expansion steam engine 2 × boilers Single screw
Sail plan:	Barquentine-rigged
Speed:	13 kn (24 km/h)
Range:	2,500 nmi (4,600 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h)
Complement:	76
Armament:	Magpie, Redbreast, Redpole & Ringdove: 6 × BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) 25-pounder guns 4 × machine guns Lapwing, Goldfinch, Thrush, Widgeon & Sparrow: 6 × 4-inch/25-pounder QF guns 2 × 3-pounder QF guns 2 × machine guns

The Redbreast class comprised nine first-class screw-driven composite gunboats built for the Royal Navy in 1889, mounting 6 guns.

The Redbreast class were designed by Sir William Henry White, the Royal Navy Director of Naval Construction in 1888. The hull was of composite construction, that is, iron keel, frames, stem and stern posts with wooden planking. These were the last class of composite-hulled gunboats built for the Royal Navy - the next class of gunboat, the Bramble-class gunboat of 1898, was of steel construction.

The class was fitted with a triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine developing 1,200 indicated horsepower, sufficient to propel them at 13 kn (24 km/h) through a single screw.

The class was given a barquentine rig.

The first four ships were armed with six 4-inch/25-pounder (25cwt) quick firing guns and four machine guns. The last five had an additional pair of 3-pounder quick firing guns in place of two of the machine guns.

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Wikipedia