Design and construction
Designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, the Royal Navy's Chief Constructor, Arab was ordered from the Govan yard of Robert Napier and Sons in 1873 and laid down the same year as yard number 333. She was launched on 13 October 1874 [1] and commissioned at Devonport in August 1875. [2]
Her hull was built of iron frames and ribs, and planked in wood. [1] This "composite" construction was both cheap and easy to repair and allowed the wooden planking to be coppered, reducing marine growth. On far-flung colonial stations, the benefits of both simple repair and reduced marine growth were particularly positive, due to a lack of substantial ship repair and careening facilities. For this reason, smaller vessels like the Arab class continued to use composite construction until long after larger vessels had transitioned to iron or steel construction.
Propulsion
Steam was provided at 60 pounds per square inch (410 kPa) by 3 boilers to a single 2-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine generating 656 indicated horsepower (489 kW). A single screw was provided, which could be hoisted clear of the water to improve the ship's hull lines when sailing. She achieved a trials speed of 10.3 knots (19.1 km/h; 11.9 mph) under power. [1] A sailing rig was provided, with square rig on the fore and main masts, and fore-and-aft rigging only on the mizzen, giving her a "barque" rig. [1]
Armament
A single 7-inch rifled muzzle-loading gun amidships and two 6.3-inch 64-pounder rifled muzzle-loading guns, one forward and one aft, and both fitted on traversing slides, constituted her main armament. Two machine guns and a light gun were also fitted. [1] Arab (but not her sister ship, Lily) was re-armed in about 1879, with the after 6.3-inch 64-pounder gun replaced by three 20-pounder breech-loading guns under a newly constructed poop deck. [1]
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