Pelorus class cruiser
Encyclopedia
The Pelorus class cruiser was a "third-class" protected cruiser
Protected cruiser
The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...
class of eleven 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...
warships designed by Sir William White
William Henry White
Sir William Henry White was a prolific British warship designer and Chief Constructor at the Admiralty....
(Director of Naval Construction
Director of Naval Construction
The Director of Naval Construction was a senior British civil servant post in the Admiralty, that part of the British Civil Service that oversaw the Royal Navy. The post existed from 1860 to 1966....
1885 – 1902), based on the earlier Pearl class cruiser
Pearl class cruiser
The Pearl-class cruiser was a class of nine third-class cruisers designed by Sir William White, five of which were paid for by Australia under the terms of the Imperial Defence Act of 1887 to serve in Australian waters.-Design:...
s. They were ordered in 1893 under the Spencer Program, and laid down 1896–1900. The first, , was commissioned in 1896.
In an era of naval innovation, the class was almost outdated before they were launched. They were fitted with a variety of different boilers as a trial but most were not particularly satisfactory; so HMS Pandora was scrapped in 1913, HMS Perseus and HMS Prometheus in 1914. They had all been condemned in 1904 but had been reprieved. The remainder were to be scrapped in 1915, but were kept in service through the First World War. HMS Pegasus was sunk in combat in 1914, the rest were scrapped between 1919 and 1922 (except for HMS Pioneer). HMS Pactolus and HMS Pomone had Blechynden boilers which were particularly unreliable, they were removed from active service several years before others in the class.
Admiral Cresswell, the 1st Naval Member of the Australian Naval Board described Psyche and Pyramus in 1914 as "the unspeakably useless P. class."
Development and design
The Pelorus class ships displaced 2,135 tonTon
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s and had a top speed of 20 knots (10.9 m/s). Most served in minor roles on overseas or colonial patrol work, not with the main battlefleets. They carried a complement of 224 and were armed with eight QF 4-inch (25 pounder) guns
QF 4 inch naval gun Mk I - III
The QF 4-inch gun Mks I, II, III were early British QF naval guns originating in 1895. They all had barrels of 40 calibres length.-Naval service:The gun was intended to be a more powerful alternative to the 3-inch QF 12 pounder gun....
, eight 3 pounder guns
QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss
The QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss was a light 47-mm naval gun introduced in 1886 to defend against new small fast vessels such as torpedo boats, and later submarines...
, three machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s, and two 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo
British 18 inch torpedo
There have been a number of 18 inch torpedoes in service with the United Kingdom. These have been used on ships of the Royal Navy and aircraft of both the Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force...
tubes.
They had reciprocating triple expansion steam engines
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
and were equipped with different types of boiler which were trialled in these cruisers. Some had Normand water-tube boilers which could give 7000 hp for limited periods of time with forced draught and 5000 hp under natural draught.
Ships in the class
| Name | Launched | Fate |
|---|---|---|
| 21 December 1896 | Sold for scrap on 25 October 1921 | |
| 17 January 1900 | Sold for scrap in July 1913 | |
| 4 March 1897 | Sunk 20 September 1914 by SMS Königsberg | |
| 15 December 1896 | Sold for scrap on 6 May 1920 | |
| 15 July 1897 | Sold for scrap on 26 May 1914 | |
| 28 June 1899 | Transferred to Australia on 1 March 1913 although not sold until 1 July 1915. Scuttled on 19 February 1931 | |
| 25 November 1897 | Sold for scrap in June 1922 | |
| 20 October 1898 | Sold for scrap on 28 May 1914 | |
| 5 December 1896 | Sold for scrap on 30 November 1919 | |
| 19 July 1898 | Sold to Australia 1 July 1915. Sold for scrap in June 1922 | |
| 15 May 1897 | Sold for scrap 21 April 1920 | |