Satellite-class sloop

The Satellite class was a class of 12-gun composite sloops built for the Royal Navy between 1883 and 1888, and reclassified as corvettes in 1884.[2]

HMS Satellite
Satellite
Class overview
NameSatellite-class sloops
Builders
  • Devonport Dockyard
  • Sheerness Dockyard
Operators
Cost£62,900 (Satellite) - £71,000 (Caroline)
Built1883–1888
In commission1883–1947
Completed7
General characteristics
Displacement1,420 tons
Length200 ft (61 m)
Beam38 ft (12 m)
Draught15.7 ft (4.8 m)[1]
Installed power1,400 hp (1,044 kW)
Propulsion
  • Horizontal compound expansion steam engine
  • Single screw[1]
Sail planBarque-rigged
RangeApproximately 6,000 nmi (11,000 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h)[1]
Complement170-200
Armament
ArmourInternal steel deck over machinery and magazines

Construction

Design

Designed by Nathaniel Barnaby,[1] the Royal Navy Director of Naval Construction, the hull was of composite construction; that is, iron keel, frames, stem and stern posts with wooden planking. This class of composite sloops was unique in having an internal steel deck over the machinery and magazines for protection. The Satellite class were reclassified as corvettes in 1884, and no more composite or wooden corvettes were built - in fact, Pylades was the last corvette built for the Royal Navy until the Second World War.

Propulsion

Propulsion was provided by a horizontal compound expansion of 1,400 indicated horsepower (1,044 kW) driving a single screw.

Sail plan

All the ships of the class were built with a barque rig.

Armament

The class was designed with two 6-inch/100-pounder (81cwt) breech loaders and ten 5-inch/50-pounder (38cwt) breech loaders, plus a single light gun and four (or more) machine guns.[1] Heroine, Hyacinth and Royalist were built with eight 6-inch/100-pounder (81cwt) breech loaders in place of the 5-inch/6-inch mixture, and Satellite was converted to the same fit.[1]

Ships
NameShip BuilderLaunchedFate
SatelliteSheerness Dockyard13 August 1881RNVR drill ship at North Shields on the River Tyne[3] in 1904. Sold to J G Potts for breaking on 21 October 1947
HeroineDevonport Dockyard3 December 1881Sold to King of Bristol for breaking on 28 August 1902
HyacinthDevonport Dockyard20 December 1881Sold to King of Bristol for breaking on 25 August 1902
RoyalistDevonport Dockyard7 March 1883Hulk in February 1900. Renamed Colleen on 1 December 1913 and transferred to the Irish Free State Government on 19 February 1923
RapidDevonport Dockyard21 March 1883Hulk in 1906. Became a coal hulk in 1912 and was renamed C7. Became an accommodation ship in 1916 and was renamed Hart. Sold at Gibraltar in 1948
CarolineSheerness Dockyard25 November 1882Hulk in 1897. Became a training ship in April 1908 and was renamed Ganges. Renamed Powerful III in September 1913 and Impregnable IV in November 1919. Sold on 31 August 1929
PyladesSheerness Dockyard5 November 1884Sold to Cohen of Felixstowe for breaking on 3 April 1906.

Operational lives

These ships were designed to patrol the far-flung reaches of Britain's maritime empire, and so Rapid and Royalist both went to the Australian Station, Satellite to the Pacific Station, Pylades to the North America and West Indies Station and Heroine, Caroline and Hyacinth all to the China Station.[4]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Satellite class sloop.
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  1. 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.
  2. "Satellite-class sloops at Battleships-Cruisers website". Retrieved 11 September 2008.
  3. Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy (Being a list of the Static Ships and Establishments of the Royal Navy) by Lt Cdr Warlow RN (1992), Maritime Books, Liskeard ISBN 0-907771-52-1
  4. "Naval Database website". Retrieved 10 September 2008.
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