Doterel-class sloop


The Doterel class was a Royal Navy class of screw-driven sloops. They were of composite construction, with wooden hulls over an iron frame. They were a revised version of an 1874 design by the Royal Navy's Chief Constructor, William Henry White, the. Two of the class were lost, one to an explosion off Chile and one wrecked off Canada. Gannet is preserved at Chatham Historic Dockyard.

Design

The Nathaniel Barnaby design was a development of William Henry White's 1874. The graceful clipper bow of the Opsreys was replaced by a vertical stem and the engines were more powerful. They were of composite construction, with wooden hulls over an iron frame.

Propulsion

Power was provided by three cylindrical boilers, which supplied steam at to a two-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine driving a single screw. This arrangement produced and a top speed of between.

Armament

They were armed with two 7-inch muzzle-loading rifled guns on pivoting mounts, and four 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifled guns. Four machine guns and one light gun completed the weaponry.

Sail plan

All the ships of the class were provided with a barque rig, that is, square-rigged foremast and mainmast, and fore-and aft sails only on the mizzen mast.

Crew

They had a complement of approximately 140 men.

Ships

NameShip BuilderLaid downLaunchedCommissionedFate
DragonDevonport Dockyard26 April 187730 May 187819 February 1879Sold for breaking 24 September 1892
PegasusDevonport Dockyard9 May 187713 June 18785 March 1879Sold for breaking 11 August 1892
GannetSheerness Dockyard187731 August 187817 April 1879Training ship 16 May 1903, renamed President, then in 1913 became training ship Mercury. In 1971 was turned over to the Maritime Trust, on display in Chatham Historic Dockyard
PhoenixDevonport Dockyard8 July 187816 September 187920 April 1880Wrecked off Prince Edward Island, Canada on 12 September 1882
MirandaDevonport Dockyard8 July 187830 September 187922 July 1880Sold for breaking 24 September 1892
KingfisherSheerness Dockyard23 September 187816 December 187917 August 1880Training ship 10 November 1892, renamed Lark, then on 18 May 1893 training ship Cruiser. Sold in 1919
DoterelChatham Dockyard13 May 18782 March 18807 December 1880Exploded by accident and sank off Punta Arenas, Chile on 26 April 1881, with loss of 143 men
MutineDevonport Dockyard7 June 187920 July 188010 May 1881Became boom defence vessel 1899, renamed HMS Azov in March 1904. Sold for breaking 25 August 1921
EspiegleDevonport Dockyard23 September 18793 August 188011 October 1881Became boom defence vessel 1899, renamed HMS Argo in March 1904. Sold for breaking 25 August 1921