List of gunboat and gunvessel classes of the Royal Navy
This is a list of gunboat and gunvessel classes of the Royal Navy. For gun-brigs see List of gun-brigs of the Royal Navy. Steam gunboats. Composite screw gunboats. The gunboats designed from 1870 onwards were of composite construction, i.e. they had an iron keel, stem and stern posts, and iron framing, with wooden planking retained over the iron frames. Armoured gunboats. The only ironclads of gunboat size were three largely experimental (and unsuccessful) vessels ordered in 1864. The first two were towed to Bermuda (being considered unsatisfactory to  sail under their own power) where they served as harbour vessels. "Vixen" was the first twin-screw vessel built for the Royal Navy, and "Waterwitch" employed a form of water pump propulsion. River gunboats. (1915) The Insect-class gunboats were a class of small, but well-armed Royal Navy ships designed for use in shallow rivers or inshore. Several of them took also part in World War II. Steam gunvessels. Iron paddle gunvessels. NB. A third vessel of the class was retained by Prussia. Wooden screw gunvessels. This section includes two early iron-hulled screw gunvessels ordered in May 1845 , which in other respects were half-sisters to two wooden-hulled gunvessels ordered at the same time. The four vessels comprised the first-class gunvessels "Rifleman" (wooden hulled) and "Sharpshooter" (iron hulled), and the second-class gunvessels "Teazer" (wooden hulled) and "Minx" (iron hulled). Further vessels ordered later to the same design were either cancelled or built to very different concepts. "Rifleman" and "Sharpshooter" were re-classed as sloops in 1854. Composite screw gunvessels. The gunvessels designed from 1867 onwards were of composite construction, i.e. they had an iron keel, stem and stern posts, and iron framing, with wooden planking  retained over the iron frames. Like the preceding "Arab" to "Dolphin" classes, these were designed by Nathaniel Barnaby; they were re-classed as screw sloops on 26 November 1884.