Camelion-class sloop

Class overview
Name	Camelion-class sloop
Operators	Royal Navy
Built	1860–1866
Planned	16
Completed	8
Cancelled	8
General characteristics
Displacement	1,365 tons
Length	185 ft (56 m)
Beam	33 ft (10 m)
Draught	14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Installed power	200 hp
Propulsion	2-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine Single screw
Sail plan	Barque-rigged
Speed	9 knots (17 km/h)
Complement	180
Armament	5 × 40-pdr breech-loading guns 12 × 32-pdr muzzle-loading guns

The Camelion class was a Royal Navy class of screw-driven sloops of wood construction, designed by Isaac Watts. Eight ships of the class were built from 1858 to 1866 with another eight cancelled. They were initially rated as second-class sloops, but were later reclassified as corvettes.

Design

The class was designed by Issac Watts as second-class sloops of 17 guns, and were a lengthened version of the Cruizer-class sloop.

Construction

Built of a traditional wood structure, they were 185 feet (56 m) long at the gundeck, 33 feet (10 m) in beam and displaced 1,365 tons. A barque rig was fitted to allow easy sail handling with a relatively small crew of 180.

Propulsion

They were fitted with a two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine (although Perseus and Reindeer received single trunk steam engines) driving a single screw. These engines generated 200 nominal horsepower, giving a speed of approximately 9 knots.

Armament

They were armed with five 40-pounder breech-loading guns and twelve 32-pounder muzzle-loading smoothbore guns, although Reindeer was completed with a single 110-pounder and five 64-pounders.

Ships

The first two vessels were ordered on 3 April 1854, although neither was laid down for several years. Another three were ordered on 1 April 1857 and a further three on 27 March 1858.

Name	Ship Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Fate
HMS Camelion	Deptford Dockyard	8 November 1858	23 February 1860	30 July 1861	Sold for breaking up 1883
HMS Pelican	Pembroke Dockyard	16 June 1859	19 July 1860	25 September 1861	Sold in February 1867 as mercantile Hawk, then resold to the Portuguese Navy and renamed Infanta Dom Henrique
HMS Rinaldo	Portsmouth Dockyard	1 March 1858	26 March 1860	8 June 1861	Sold for breaking up April 1884
HMS Zebra	Deptford Dockyard	4 July 1859	13 November 1860	23 May 1861	Sold in the Far East for breaking up 20 August 1873
HMS Perseus	Pembroke Dockyard	20 July 1860	21 August 1861	September 1862	Became training ship in 1886, renamed Defiance II in March 1904, sold for breaking up 26 June 1931
HMS Chanticleer	Portsmouth Dockyard	2 February 1860	9 February 1861	December 1861	Sold for breaking up 23 January 1875
HMS Reindeer	Chatham Dockyard	1 May 1860	29 March 1866	October 1866	Sold for breaking up 28 August 1873
HMS Rattler	Deptford Dockyard	28 August 1860	18 March 1862	July 1862	Wrecked off Japan 24 September 1868

Cancelled ships

Four further ships of this class were ordered from the Royal Dockyards on 5 March 1860 and another four on 25 March 1861. The first four comprised Harlequin at Portsmouth (laid down 13 February 1861), Tees at Chatham (laid down February 1861), Sappho at Deptford (laid down 1 May 1861) and Trent at Pembroke (laid down 3 September 1861). The last four comprised Circassian at Deptford (laid down 5 May 1862), Diligence at Chatham (also laid down 1861), Imogene at Portsmouth and Success at Pembroke; the final two were never laid down.

• Five of these vessels (Tees, Sappho, Diligence, Imogene and Success) were cancelled on 12 December 1863.
• A sixth vessel (Harlequin) was cancelled 16 December 1864.
• The remaining two vessels (HMS Circassian and HMS Trent), both laid down as Camelion-class sloops, were completed as the ironclad sloops HMS Enterprise and HMS Research respectively.

References

• Royal Navy Sloops
• Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.