page_title: HMS Viper (1865)
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: HMS Viper (1865) / Career
caption_attribution_description: Photograph of British armoured composite gunboat HMS Vixen (left) and the barque Nightwatch (right) in Bermuda Dockyard
context_page_description: HMS Viper was an armoured iron gunboat, the only ship of her class, and the fourteenth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.
context_section_description: Vixen, Viper and Waterwitch conducted comparative trials at Stokes Bay in the Solent during the late 1860s.  Although turning ability was impressive, none of the ships attained more than 9.5 kn (17.6 km/h) in an era when Warrior could achieve 14.5 kn (26.9 km/h).  Furthermore, Vixen was nearly lost in the Irish Channel during a winter gale in 1876, making them unsuitable for the open sea under steam or sail.  Vixen and Viper were towed to Bermuda in 1868 where the geography favoured the use of steam-powered rams.
  In July 1869 both ships were employed to bring the floating dock Bermuda from The Narrows to the dockyard. 1873 saw the loss of all rigging, masts and upperdeck equipment, and this must have helped her to survive the 1878 hurricane which caused serious damage to the floating dock and other dockyard facilities.
caption: Identical half-sister Vixen (left) at Bermuda Dockyard
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