# Algerine-class gunvessel

The Algerine-class gunvessel was a class of three Royal Navy composite gunvessels built in 1880. Two of them were sold after only ten years of service, but the other was converted to a survey ship before commissioning and survived in this role until 1907.

## Design and construction

Designed in 1879 by Nathaniel Barnaby, the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy, the Algerine-class gunvessels were similar to the Condor-class gunvessels of 1875, but with the addition of a poop deck. It had been found that the addition of both poop and focsle made gunvessels far more comfortable in the tropics; an awning spread between the two allowed men to sleep on the upper deck during hot nights. The composite method of construction used iron for the keel, stem, stern post and framing, with wooden planking. As well as the benefits of low cost, this construction allowed repairs to be conducted easily when away from well-equipped dockyards. This was the last class of composite gunvessels built for the Royal Navy.

### Propulsion

A two-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine produced between 690 indicated horsepower (510 kW) and 760 ihp (570 kW) through a single screw, giving a speed of about 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h).

### Sail plan

The vessels of the class were barque-rigged, but some of the pictures show yards on the mizzen mast, which would have made them ship rigged. The advantage of the barque rig was the need for less manpower, but on a distant station and with an experienced crew, and infrequent coaling stops, captains sometimes preferred to gain the greater sailing benefits of the ship rig, and had the flexibility to do so.

### Armament

The Algerine-class gunvessels were designed with one 7-inch (180 mm) (4½ ton) muzzle-loading rifles, two 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifles, two machine guns and a light gun. The single 7-inch gun was later replaced by a pair of 5-inch breech-loading guns. Rambler, as a survey vessel, was finished with four 20-pounder breech loading guns, one machine gun and one light gun.

## Service lives
### HMS Rambler

Rambler was commissioned in 1880 and served on the China Station, including a survey in Western Australia. In 1899 she contributed men to a naval brigade during the Boer War, and was sold in 1907.

### HMS Ranger

Ranger served on the East Indies Station. In 1892 she was sold to the Liverpool Association for the Protection of Commercial Interests as Respects Wrecked and Damaged Property and carried out many of the more challenging salvage jobs, including on SS Suevic and HMHS Asturias. Extensive World War I work on charter to the Admiralty culminated in clearing the blockships left in the Zeebrugge Raid and the Ostend raid, together with the block ships the Germans had been able to place when evacuating before the Allies recaptured these ports.$^{:59–67,110–113}$

### HMS Algerine

Algerine commissioned in 1886, six years after she was launched.

## Ships

| Name | Ship Builder | Launched | Fate |
| Rambler | John Elder & Company, Fairfield | 26 January 1880 | Survey vessel in 1884. Sold on 23 January 1907 |
| Ranger | John Elder & Company, Fairfield | 12 February 1880 | Sold as a salvage ship on 24 September 1892. Broken up in 1947 |
| Algerine | Harland & Wolff, Belfast | 6 November 1880 | Sold on 10 May 1892 |

## Citations

* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Winfield (2008) p. 296
* 1 2 3 Preston, Antony; Major, John (2007). Send a Gunboat: The Victorian Navy and Supremacy at Sea, 1854–1904 (2nd ed.). London: Conway. ISBN 978-0-85177-923-2.
* ↑ "HMS Rambler at the Naval Database website". Archived from the original on 17 October 2005. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
* ↑ Bastock 1988, p. 113.
* ↑ "Landing Parties of HMS Rambler and Doris, Simonstown. Boer War c.1899 at Sea Your History website". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
* ↑ "HMS Ranger at the Naval Database website". Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
* ↑ "Suevic". Lloyd's List. column 3. 2 April 1907. p. 11. Retrieved 28 May 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
* ↑ Booth, Tony (2007). Admiralty Salvage in Peace and War 1906-2006. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 9781781596289.
* ↑ "HMS Algerine at the Naval Database website". Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2010.