Briton - class corvette The " Briton " class was a group of three wooden screw corvette s built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s . All three ships of the class only served overseas during their brief service lives . Between them , they were assigned to the China , East Indies , African , North American , and the Pacific Station s . All three were regarded as obsolete 15 years after they were completed , and they were sold in 1886 – 87 . Design and description . The " Briton " - class corvettes were designed by Sir Edward Reed , the Director of Naval Construction , as lengthened versions of the s . Like the smaller ships , they had a ram - style bow to reduce weight forward by elimination of the knee above the stem . Similarly , he shortened the counter at the stern to save weight . The ships were long between perpendiculars and had a beam of . Forward , the ships had a draught of , but aft they drew . They displaced from and had a burthen of 1 , 322 tons . The hull was built entirely from wood except for iron crossbeam s . Their crew consisted of 220 officers and enlisted men . Two different types of engines and boilers were used with this class . HMS " Druid " , the first ship completed , had a two - cylinder horizontal steam engine driving a single propeller . Four rectangular boilers provided steam to the engine at a working pressure of . The engine produced a total of which gave her a maximum speed of about during sea trials . In contrast , the two later ships had a two - cylinder horizontal compound expansion steam engine , driving a single 15 - foot or propeller . Six cylindrical boilers provided steam to the engines at a working pressure of . The engines produced between which gave the two ships a maximum speed over . " Briton " and " Thetis " carried of coal , while " Druid " carried an additional . Although no information is available on their range , Admiral G . A . Ballard estimated that " Druid " had only about two - thirds the range of her sisters , despite the additional coal that she carried , due to the greater efficiency of the compound expansion engines . The class was ship rigged and had a sail area of . The lower masts were made of iron , but the other masts were wood . The ships were poor sailors and their best speed under sail alone was about . Ballard attributed their poor performance under sail to the drag of the propeller , which could neither be hoisted out of the water , nor feathered . He also attributed their sluggish steering under sail to interference with the flow of water to the rudder by the fixed propeller . The first two ships were re - rigged as barques after their first commission . The first two ships were initially armed with a mix of 7 - inch and 64 - pounder 71 cwt rifled muzzle - loading guns . The eight 64 - pounder guns were mounted on the broadside while the two guns were mounted on the forecastle and poop as chase gun s . The 16 - calibre 7 - inch gun weighed and fired a shell . It was credited with the nominal ability to penetrate armour . After the completion of their first commissions , the two ships were rearmed with a total of fourteen lighter 64 - cwt 64 - pounder guns , two of which replaced the 7 - inch guns as chase guns . " Thetis " , the last ship completed , was given this armament from the beginning . Ships . " Druid " was the last ship to be built at Deptford Dockyard . The ship was initially assigned to the Cape of Good Hope Station , where she remained for two years before being transferred to the North America and West Indies Station . " Druid " was refitted upon her return home in December 1876 , which included rearmament . The ship recommissioned in February 1879 and returned to the North American Station . She returned home in September 1882 and was paid off . " Druid " was laid up in the Medway until she was sold for scrap in 1886 . " Briton " was the first of the trio to be commissioned and was assigned to the East Indies Station in 1871 . She remained there for four and a half years , mostly engaged on the suppression of the slave trade . The ship was refitted and rearmed upon her return home and " Briton " remained in reserve until recommissioned in 1881 for service on the Cape Station . She was transferred back to the East Indies after two years on the Cape . Her crew was relieved in 1884 by another sent out from Britain and the ship remained on station until she was sold , less her armament , in Bombay in 1887 . The construction of " Thetis " followed her sisters after a two - year delay and she was initially assigned to the China Station in 1873 . She was transferred to the East Indies after a year on station and returned home in 1877 where she was refitted . Two years later , the ship was assigned to the Pacific Station until she was ordered home in 1883 . " Thetis " was paid off after her arrival and was sold in 1887 .