The Ant-class gunboat was a class of twenty-four Royal Navy flat-iron gunboat

Flat-iron gunboat

Flat-iron gunboats were a number of classes of coastal gunboats generally characterised by small size, low freeboard and the absence of masts.Some Rendel-type gunboats were fitted with masts ; they are included in the article for...

s mounting a single 10-inch gun, built between 1870 and 1880. They carried no masts or sails, being among the first Royal Navy vessels not to do so. The last four vessels were ordered separately and are sometimes known as the Gadfly class, although they were essentially identical. Members of the class lingered on as steam lighters, dredgers, boom defence vessels and base ships, lasting in some cases into the 1950s.

Design

The flat-iron gunboats were designed for coastal bombardment, and were constructed from iron. They were not rigged, and the single 10-inch (18 ton) muzzle-loading rifle

RML 10 inch 18 ton gun

The RML 10 inch guns Mk I - Mk II were large rifled muzzle-loading guns designed for British battleships and monitors. They were also fitted to the Bouncer-class flat-iron gunboats.-Design:...

 was fitted forward on a hydraulic mount that allowed it to be lowered for a sea passage and raised for action, thereby improving the vessel's seaworthiness. Power was provided by a pair of two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engines driving twin screws. Together they developed 260 ihp, giving a top speed of about 8.5 knots (16.7 km/h).

Ships

Name	Ship Builder	Launched	Fate
	Portsmouth Dockyard HMNB Portsmouth Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the British Royal Navy...	7 December 1870	Became seagoing tender for weapons testing in 1904. Gunboat August 1914. Sold to W Loveridge, West Hartlepool 19 August 1919.
	Portsmouth Dockyard HMNB Portsmouth Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the British Royal Navy...	8 December 1870	Sold to J Pas on 12 May 1908 and broken up in the Netherlands
	Robert Napier & Sons, Govan Govan Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....	7 January 1871	Sold to Ward, Milford Haven Milford Haven Milford Haven is a town and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, a natural harbour used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was founded in 1790 on the north side of the Waterway, from which it takes its name...  March 1923
	Robert Napier & Sons, Govan Govan Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....	8 February 1871	Sold in a partially dismantled state to Hughes Bolkow on 18 May 1920 and converted to a dredger
	Chatham Dockyard	25 March 1871	Converted to tank vessel, renamed C79 in 1903-4 and still listed as in service in 1930
	Chatham Dockyard	25 March 1871	Completed as a cable lighter, renamed YC15 on 23 September 1907
	Charles Mitchell and Co, Walker Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne Walker is a residential suburb and electoral ward just east of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Walker's name is a hybrid of Old English and Viking Norse, "Wall-kjerr", where "kjerr" is Norse for "marshy woodland"...	4 April 1871	Renamed Snapper in 1914, sold to Thames Shipbreakers Ltd on 28 November 1931
	Charles Mitchell and Co, Walker Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne Walker is a residential suburb and electoral ward just east of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Walker's name is a hybrid of Old English and Viking Norse, "Wall-kjerr", where "kjerr" is Norse for "marshy woodland"...	22 April 1871	Boom defence vessel in 1917, sold to F Bevis Ltd on 28 June 1921
	J & G Rennie, Greenwich Greenwich Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...	22 April 1871	Sold to W H Webber on 1 March 1922
	J & G Rennie, Greenwich Greenwich Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...	20 May 1871	Sold on 12 January 1909 as salvage vessel Disperser and lost in April 1940
	Chatham Dockyard	13 March 1872	Sold to W Loveridge, West Hartlepool West Hartlepool This article refers to the place; for the Rugby Football Club see West Hartlepool R.F.C.West Hartlepool refers to the western part of the what has since the 1960s been known as the borough of Hartlepool in North East England...  on 6 October 1908
	Chatham Dockyard	13 March 1872	Hulked or sold in 1905
	Campbell Johnston, North Woolwich North Woolwich North Woolwich is a place in the London Borough of Newham. It is located north of Woolwich proper which is on the south bank of the River Thames. The two places are linked by the Woolwich Ferry and the Woolwich foot tunnel.-History:...	17 September 1872	Sold to R Gillham on 16 July 1906
	Campbell Johnston, North Woolwich North Woolwich North Woolwich is a place in the London Borough of Newham. It is located north of Woolwich proper which is on the south bank of the River Thames. The two places are linked by the Woolwich Ferry and the Woolwich foot tunnel.-History:...	16 October 1872	Boom defence vessel at Southampton in 1908, sold to G Sharpe on 27 March 1920
	Campbell Johnston, North Woolwich North Woolwich North Woolwich is a place in the London Borough of Newham. It is located north of Woolwich proper which is on the south bank of the River Thames. The two places are linked by the Woolwich Ferry and the Woolwich foot tunnel.-History:...	15 November 1872	Dockyard lighter in 1906
	Campbell Johnston, North Woolwich North Woolwich North Woolwich is a place in the London Borough of Newham. It is located north of Woolwich proper which is on the south bank of the River Thames. The two places are linked by the Woolwich Ferry and the Woolwich foot tunnel.-History:...	11 December 1872	Sold at Chatham to Deaker, Hull in 1909
	Laird Brothers, Birkenhead Birkenhead Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...	14 August 1873	Boom defence vessel 1917, used as a target in 1921, sold to Granton Shipbreaking Company for breaking up on 2 June 1926
	Laird Brothers, Birkenhead Birkenhead Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...	14 August 1873	Became base ship, renamed Vivid on 19 February 1912, Vivid II in January 1922, YC37 in 1923 and finally sold to Hocking, Plymouth in 1959
	Laird Brothers, Birkenhead Birkenhead Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...	30 August 1873	Sold at Chatham to Adrienne Merveille of Dunkirk on 3 April 1906
	Laird Brothers, Birkenhead Birkenhead Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...	4 September 1873	Became oil fuel lighter C118 in 1904
	Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying north of Pembroke on the River Cleddau. Originally a small fishing village known as Paterchurch, the town was greatly expanded from 1814 onwards following the construction of a Royal Naval Dockyard...	5 May 1879	Converted to a coal lighter at Simonstown, completing on 18 May 1900 and then renamed YC230. Sold at the Cape in 1918
	Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying north of Pembroke on the River Cleddau. Originally a small fishing village known as Paterchurch, the town was greatly expanded from 1814 onwards following the construction of a Royal Naval Dockyard...	5 May 1879	Sold at Portsmouth on 11 June 1905
	Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying north of Pembroke on the River Cleddau. Originally a small fishing village known as Paterchurch, the town was greatly expanded from 1814 onwards following the construction of a Royal Naval Dockyard...	15 September 1879	Became steam lighter YC373 in 1905, renamed Flora on 19 June 1923 as base ship, then Afrikander in 1933. Believed to have been broken up at the Cape in 1951
	Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying north of Pembroke on the River Cleddau. Originally a small fishing village known as Paterchurch, the town was greatly expanded from 1814 onwards following the construction of a Royal Naval Dockyard...	15 September 1879	Converted to steam lighter at Simonstown in 1902, renamed Afrikander HMSAS Afrikander HMS Tickler was a Royal Navy Gadfly-class flat-iron gunboat launched in 1879. She was transferred to Simon's Town in South Africa in 1902 and converted to a steam lighter. In 1919 she became HMS Afrikander and was transferred to the South African Naval Service in 1923, becoming HMSAS Afrikander... as base ship on 26 February 1919, then Afrikander II in 1933. Broken up at Simonstown in 1937