HMS Ruby (1876)

The Emerald class was a class of composite screw corvettes designed by Nathaniel Barnaby for the Royal Navy. The ships were a development of the preceding Amethyst class that replaced wooden construction with one that combined frames and keels of wrought iron, a stem and stern post of cast iron and a cladding of teak. The additional longitudinal strength of the metal frames was designed to afford the opportunity to build in finer lines, and thus achieve higher speeds. The ships did not deliver this better performance, partly due to poor underwater design, and also were prone to oscillate in heavy weather.[1] In service, however, they proved to be good sailing vessels in all sorts of weather.[2][3] The ships were later redefined as third-class cruisers.[4]

The corvette had a length between perpendiculars of 220 ft (67 m), with a beam of 40 ft (12 m) and draught of 18 ft (5.5 m). Displacement was 2,120 long tons (2,150 t).[5] The engines were provided by Hawthorn.[6] The ship was equipped with six cylindrical boilers feeding a compound engine consisting of two cylinders, working on low and high pressure respectively, rated at 2,000 indicated horsepower (1,500 kW). The engines drove a single shaft, to give a design speed of 13.2 knots (24.4 km/h; 15.2 mph). In trials, the vessel achieved 12.28 knots (22.74 km/h; 14.13 mph) from 2,018 indicated horsepower (1,505 kW). Range for the class varied between 2,000 and 2,280 nautical miles (3,700 and 4,220 km; 2,300 and 2,620 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). The steam engine was complemented by 18,250 sq ft (1,695 m²) of sail, which was ship-rigged.[1] This proved difficult to handle as it meant the vessel was too responsive to weather.[3] Between 1880 and 1890, this was altered to a barque rig.[1]

Ruby had an armament consisting of 12 slide-mounted 64-pounder rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns. Five were mounted to each side to provide a broadside, the remainder being fitted in pairs firing through embrasures at the ends of the ship. The ship had a complement of 232 officers and ratings.[1]

Laid down by Earle's Shipbuilding at their shipyard in Kingston upon Hull on 8 July 1874 alongside sister ship Turquoise, Ruby was launched on 9 August 1876 and was completed on 14 June 1877 at a cost of £93,116. The warship was the third of the class to enter service and the ninth to be given the name, the first recorded use being in 1596.[7][8][9]

Ruby was commissioned to the East Indies Station. Amongst the crew was future Admiral of the Fleet George Callaghan.[10] The vessel was stationed at Trincomalee in Ceylon. On 28 November 1877, the corvette arrived at Port Blair, staying for two days before sailing on to Rangoon in Burma. The vessel returned on 23 February 1878, departing for Madras on 3 March.[11] Ruby carried one of only two batches of mail sent between Port Blair and Madras in the two years.[12] Shortly afterwards, the corvette was transferred to the Mediterranean. On 27 March, Ruby responded to a request from women and children in Macedonia suffering during the 1878 Macedonian rebellion.[13] On 30 May, the ship was deployed to Singapore to join the China Squadron.[14] The corvette subsequently returned to the Mediterranean and, by September, was supporting the British forces during a military expedition to Egypt.[15] On 24 October the warship left Alexandria and sailed to Malta.[16]

After briefly supporting the British Army in the Anglo-Egyptian War, on 12 November 1882, Ruby returned to the UK.[17] After an extensive refit, the vessel was recommissioned and sailed for the South East Coast of America Station on 2 May 1885, arriving on 18 June in Rio de Janeiro.[18][19]

The Visit of HMS Ruby to Staten Island, Tierra del Fuego. The Graphic 1888

The corvette was the lead of the flotilla commanded by the future Admiral of the Fleet Charles Hotham.[20] The vessel subsequently returned to the UK. In December 1904, the ship was retired and turned into a coal hulk with the name C.10. During February 1921, the ship was sold to be broken up.[9]

• Archibald, Edward H. H. (1968). The Wooden Fighting Ship in the Royal Navy, A.D. 897–1860. London: Blandford. ISBN 978-0-71370-492-1.
• Brassey, Thomas (2010) [1882]. "Tables of Ships: British and Foreign". The British Navy: Its Strength, Resources, and Administration. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 549–605. ISBN 978-1-10802-465-5.
• Colledge, J.J.; Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. London: Chatham Press. ISBN 978-1-93514-907-1.
• Friedman, Norman (2012). British Cruisers of the Victorian Era. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-099-4.
• Gibbs, E. W. C. (1896). The Illustrated Guide to the Royal Navy and Foreign Navies: Also Mercantile Marine Steamers Available as Armed Cruisers and Transport, &c. London: Waterlow Bros. & Layton. OCLC 841883694.
• Heathcote, Tony (2002). British Admirals of the Fleet 1734-1995: A Biographical Dictionary. Barnsley: Leo Coope. ISBN 978-0-85052-835-0. OCLC 50175925.
• Howell, Raymond (1987). The Royal Navy and the Slave Trade. London: Croom Helm. ISBN 978-0-70994-770-7.
• Lisle, Gerard de (2008). Royal Navy and the Peruvian–Chilean War 1879–1881: Rudolf de Lisle's Diaries and Watercolors. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1-84415-652-8.
• Manning, Thomas Davys; Walker, Charles Frederick (1959). British Warship Names. London: Putnam. OCLC 780274698.
• Report on the Administration of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Penal Settlement of Port Blair and the Nicobars for the years of 1877–78. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing. 1879.
• Roberts, John (1979). "Great Britain". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 1–113. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
• Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.

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