Camelion class sloop

From SpottingWorld, the Hub for the SpottingWorld network...
Class overview
Operators: Royal Navy
Built:1860–1866
Planned:16
Completed:8
Cancelled:8
General characteristics
Displacement: 1,365 tons
Length: 185 ft (56 m)
Beam: 33 ft (10 m)
Draught: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Propulsion: Screw; 200 hp engine
Speed: 9 knots (17 km/h)
Complement: 180
Armament: 5 × 40-pounder guns
12 × 32-pounder guns

The Camelion class was a Royal Navy class of screw-driven sloops of wood construction, designed by Isaac Watts. Eight ships of the class were built from 1858 – 1866 with another eight cancelled. They were initially rated as Second Class sloops, but were later reclassified as corvettes. Their displacement was 1,365 tons with 200 hp. They were capable of approximately 9 knots and were armed with 17 guns.

Ships

The Camelion class

The first two vessels were ordered on 3 April 1854, although neither was laid down for several years. Another three were ordered on 1 April 1857 and a further three on 27 March 1858.

Cancelled ships

Four further ships of this class were ordered from the Royal Dockyards on 5 March 1860 and another four on 25 March 1861. The first four comprised Harlequin at Portsmouth (laid down 13 February 1861), Tees at Chatham (laid down February 1861), Sappho at Deptford (laid down 1 May 1861) and Trent at Pembroke (laid down 3 September 1861). The last four comprised Circassian at Deptford (laid down 5 May 1862), Diligence at Chatham (also laid down 1861), Imogene at Portsmouth and Success at Pembroke; the final two were never laid down.

  • Five of these vessels were cancelled on 12 December 1863 - the Tees, Sappho, Diligence, Imogene and Success.
  • A further vessel - the Harlequin - was cancelled 16 December 1864.
  • HMS Circassian and HMS Trent, both laid down as Camelion class sloops, were completed as the ironclad sloops HMS Enterprise and HMS Research respectively.

References