HMS Trent was a launched in 1877. She was the fifth ship of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 to be named after the River Trent

River Trent

The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...

. She was renamed HMS Pembroke in 1905, and served off the coast of Tanganyika in 1915. She was renamed HMS Gannet in 1917 while serving as a diving tender. She was scrapped in 1923.

Design

The Medina class were a development of the Rendel (or "flat-iron") gunboat, a series of small vessels with low freeboards which mounted a small number of relatively large guns. Although the Medinas were exceptionally provided with masts to extend their range and independence, in essence they were available for similar operations to their un-masted sisters; offensive action against shore defences. Their ungainly appearance led them to be described by the naval historian Antony Preston as "the most grotesque craft ever seen". All 12 vessels of the class were named after rivers. They were constructed entirely of iron and were fitted with an unusual bow rudder.

Armament

As built, ships of the class mounted three 6.3-inch (160-mm) 64-pdr 64-cwt muzzle-loading rifles

RML 64 pounder 64 cwt gun

The RML 64 pounder 64 cwt gun was a Rifled, Muzzle Loading naval, field or fortification artillery gun manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately...

. By 1892 Trent had been fitted with a pair of 4.7-inch quick-firing guns.

Propulsion

All the ships of the class were fitted with a pair of R and W Hawthorn

R and W Hawthorn

R and W Hawthorn Ltd was a locomotive manufacturer in Newcastle upon Tyne, England from 1817 until 1880.-Locomotive building:Robert Hawthorne first began business at Forth Bank Works in 1817, building marine and stationary steam engines. In 1820, his brother joined him and the firm became R and W...

 2-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engines of 60 nominal horsepower. They developed 310 ihp, giving a speed of about 9+1/2 kn.

Sail plan

All ships of the class were built with three masts and a barquentine

Barquentine

A barquentine is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts.-Modern barquentine sailing rig:...

 rig of sails. Trent had her rig reduced to a pair of pole masts in 1892.

Construction

Trent was launched from the Jarrow

Jarrow

Jarrow is a town in Tyne and Wear, England, located on the River Tyne, with a population of 27,526. From the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding, and was the starting point of the Jarrow March against unemployment in 1936.-Foundation:The Angles re-occupied...

 yard of Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company

Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company

Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as Palmers, was a British shipbuilding company. The Company was based in Jarrow, in Northeast England and also had operations in Hebburn and Willington Quay on the River Tyne....

on 23 August 1877.

Fate

Trent was sold for breaking to the Dover Shipbreaking Company on 21 February 1923.