Cadmus - class sloop The " Cadmus " class was a six - ship class of 10 - gun screw steel sloop s built for the Royal Navy between 1900 and 1903 . This was the very last class of the Victorian Navy ' s multitude of sloops , gunvessels and gunboats to be constructed , and they followed the traditional pattern for ' colonial ' small warships , with a full rig of sails . After them , the " Fisher Reforms " of the Navy ended the construction and deployment of this type of vessel . Most of the class survived until the 1920s , remaining on colonial stations during World War I . Design . The " Cadmus " class was constructed of copper - sheathed steel to a design by William White , the Royal Navy Director of Naval Construction . Propulsion was provided by a three - cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engine developing and driving twin screws . They were an evolution of the " Condor " - class sloop , carrying more coal , which in turn gave a greater length and displacement . This class comprised the very last screw sloops built for the Royal Navy , and " Espiegle " was the last Royal Navy ship built with a figurehead . Sail plan . As designed and built the class was fitted with a barquentine - rigged sail plan . After was lost in a gale in 1901 , the Admiralty abandoned sails entirely . " Espiegle " was never fitted with sails , and the rest of the class had their yards removed in 1914 . The official attitude to sails and the loss of yards did not completely prevent the use of sails , and log entries show that fore - and - aft sails were being used in " Odin " as late as April 1920 . Armament . The class was armed with six 4 - inch / 25pdr ( 1ton ) quick - firing breech loaders and four 3 - pounder quick - firing breech loaders , as well as several machine guns . " Fantome " had her armament reduced to two QF 3 - pounders for survey work . Operational histories . The design of the " Cadmus " class differed from the screw sloops of the 1860s only in an evolutionary sense . Although constructed of steel and armed with quick - loading guns , they retained the sails and layout of the earlier vessels . By the turn of the twentieth century , they were thoroughly obsolete . The overseas stations of the Royal Navy were responsible for patrolling the maritime British Empire , and these ships were intended for that role . The rapidity with which they were sold or converted to survey ships gives testament to their out - moded design . According to " Hansard " , it was stated by the Secretary to the Admiralty in Parliament on 6 March 1905 that HMS " Espiegle " . On commissioning , " Espiegle " joined the China Station . Due to the threat to British subjects and interests in Yingkou ( then known as Newchwang ) from the Russo - Japanese war , she was sent to the Liao River during 1903 - 1904 , where she wintered in the river in a mud dock dug out for her . Once the ice had melted , she made passage to Wei - hai - wei , passing Port Arthur at daylight on 13 April 1904 , witnessing exchanges of fire between Japanese and Russian ships . By 1914 , " Espiegle " was on the East Indies Station . She took part in the operations in the Shatt - al - Arab in November 1914 with " Odin " and " Clio " , reaching as far as Basra . She was sold at Bombay on 17 September 1923 . HMS " Fantome " . " Fantome " served on the North America and West Indies Station , including a period in late 1902 and early 1903 when , under Commodore Montgomerie in , she enforced a blockade of the Venezuelan coast . From 1906 , " Fantome " was operated by the Royal Navy Survey Service and conducted survey operations in Australian waters until the outbreak of war in 1914 . She was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy on 27 November 1914 as a patrol vessel armed with two and four 12 - pounder guns . From September 1915 to September 1917 , she operated in the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea , and from late 1917 was based at Suva , Fiji performing police duties . She conducted a punitive raid on Malekula in the New Hebrides in October 1918 . " Fantome " was returned to the Royal Navy in April 1920 for service as a survey ship , remaining in Australian waters until she paid off in April 1924 . She was sold for scrap at Sydney on 30 January 1925 , hulked and used as a barge , mainly in Tasmania . She was finally sold for demolition in 1956 . HMS " Merlin " . In 1904 , " Merlin " took part in the 4th expedition of the Somaliland Campaign against the Mad Mullah . The naval force included HM Ships , , , , and . From 1906 , " Merlin " was employed as a survey ship , conducting hydrographic work both at home and abroad . She re - commissioned at Hong Kong on 5 November 1913 , and continued to work as a survey vessel , for which her armament was reduced . She was sold at Hong Kong on 3 August 1923 . HMS " Odin " . " Odin " spent the first part of her life at the South Atlantic Station . On 23 January 1904 , she called at the isolated island of Tristan da Cunha , carrying Mr William Hammond Tooke with an offer to the islanders ; After vaccinating children , conducting a census ( 74 people ) and baptising a child , they received the answer of the inhabitants : three families were for , seven against , and one neutral . The offer was therefore withdrawn , and the ship carried only one passenger to the Cape , a Mrs Amy Matilda Hagan . " Odin " steamed for Nightingale Island and Inaccessible Island , before returning to the Cape . By 1909 , " Odin " had become a drill ship for the Cape Naval Volunteers , but by March 1914 had recommissioned at Muscat for service on the East Indies Station . October 1914 saw " Odin " , " Espiegle " , and protecting the Abadan Island oil refineries at the northern end of the Persian Gulf . On 7 October , the Turkish Government delivered a formal letter to " Espiegle " protesting at the violition of Turkish waters within the Shatt - al - Arab . An uneasy peace was sustained until 31 October , when " Espiegle " learnt that the Turkish Navy had shelled Odessa , thus effectively declaring war . On 5 November , Great Britain officially declared war on the Ottoman Empire , and on 6 November , " Espiegle " engaged a series of trenches opposite Abadan Island . On 21 November , " Espiegle " and " Odin " bypassed a sunken barrage in the Shatt - al - Arab and steamed as far as Basra . A naval landing party put an end to looting in the city . " Odin " and " Espiegle " supported British and Indian Troops in engagements near Basra , firing on Turkish positions . Beyond Basra the waters of the Shatt - al - Arab are too shallow for all but the smallest vessels , and the naval contribution to the Mesopotamian campaign was taken over by an improvised fleet of tugs and paddle steamers " Odin " continued to serve on the East Indies Station , and near Aden on 5 March 1917 , she pursued the German raider " Iltis " , which was scuttled rather than be captured . " Odin " was sold at Bombay on 12 November 1920 on the same day as " Clio " . HMS " Clio " . " Clio " started her career on the Australia Station , where she arrived in April 1904 after a journey with many problems . She served there for eleven months and then went on to the China Station in April 1905 . In August 1914 , " Clio " re - commissioned at Hong Kong . She was initially based at Sandakan and was tasked with patrolling the Basilan Straits . In late 1914 , she transferred to the Middle East and was in Port Said by the beginning of January 1915 . At the end of that month she moved into the Suez Canal and was active in the defence of the canal against Turkish troops . She fired on Turkish positions on 27 January and 1 – 3 February , receiving incoming rifle fire on the last . She was also hit by two heavier shells , but suffered no casualties . She formed part of the British expeditionary force in the Shatt - al - Arab in April 1915 , and in 1917 served in operations off Aden in March . At Dhubab on 6 May , and again at Ibn Abbas near the island of Kamaran on 8 May , landings were carried out at to punish smuggling . In December 1919 , after commissioning at Gibraltar , she took part in the fifth campaign against Mohammed Abdullah Hassan ( " the Mad Mullah " ) . Sailors were landed , but by late February the campaign was complete . She was sold at Bombay on 12 November 1920 on the same day as " Odin " . HMS " Cadmus " . " Cadmus " was first commissioned for the Australia Station . Her maiden voyage to Australia was accomplished in record time for a sloop . In May 1905 , she was ordered to follow " Clio " to the China Station . During the rest of her career , " Cadmus " served there . She recommissioned at Hong Kong on 18 October 1912 , and remained on the China Station during World War I . In 1920 , she was listed as " unallocated " at Hong Kong , and was sold there on 1 September 1921 .