HMS Decoy (1871)

Last updated
H.M's Gunboat Decoy at sea (cropped) RMG PW8172.jpg
H.M's Gunboat Decoy at sea
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Decoy
Ordered1871
Builder Pembroke Dockyard
Launched12 October 1871
FateSold in 1885
General characteristics
Class and type Ariel-class gunboat
Displacement430 tons
Tons burthen295 bm
Length125 ft 0 in (38.10 m)
Beam22 ft 6 in (6.86 m)
Draught10 ft 3 in (3.12 m) max
Installed power
Propulsion
  • 2-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine
  • Two boilers
  • Single (hoisting) screw
Sail planThree-masted barquentine rig
Speed9.5 kn (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph)
Armament

HMS Decoy was an Ariel-class composite gunboat of the Royal Navy, built at Pembroke Dockyard and launched on 12 October 1871. She served in both the Third Anglo-Ashanti War in 1873 and the Bombardment of Alexandria in 1882. She rapidly became obsolete and was sold in 1885.

Contents

Design and construction

Designed by Sir Edward Reed, Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy, the Ariel-class gunboats were the first gunboats of composite construction. She was armed with two 6-inch (150 mm) 64-pounder (56 cwt) muzzle-loading rifles and two 4-inch (100 mm) 20-pounder Armstrong breech loaders. All four guns were mounted on traversing carriages. All the ships of the class carried a three-masted barquentine rig.

Operational service

Decoy at the bombardment of Elmina on 13 June 1873 Elmina bombardment 1873.jpg
Decoy at the bombardment of Elmina on 13 June 1873

Decoy was deployed off the coast of West Africa to support the operations on the Gold Coast. She deployed with Druid and Argus. [1] She also took part in the bombardment of Bootry.

In 1882 she formed part of the Naval and Military forces at the Bombardment of Alexandria. [2] Argus, Isis, and Beacon blockaded Damietta. [3]

Fate

She was sold at Malta in 1885.

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Enterprise</i> (1864) Armoured sloop from UK

The seventh HMS Enterprise of the Royal Navy was an armoured sloop launched in 1864 at Deptford Dockyard. Originally laid down as a wooden screw sloop of the Camelion class, she was redesigned by Edward Reed and completed as a central battery ironclad. The ship spent the bulk of her career assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet before returning to England in 1871 where she was paid off. Enterprise was sold for scrap in 1885.

HMS <i>Invincible</i> (1869)

HMS Invincible was a Royal Navy Audacious-class ironclad battleship. She was built at the Napier shipyard and completed in 1870. Completed just 10 years after HMS Warrior, she still carried sails as well as a steam engine.

HMS <i>Defence</i> (1861) 1861 ship of the Royal Navy

HMS Defence was the lead ship of the Defence-class armoured frigates ordered by the Royal Navy in 1859. Upon completion in 1862 she was assigned to the Channel Fleet. The ship was paid off in 1866 to be refitted and rearmed and was briefly reassigned to the Channel Fleet when she recommissioned in 1868. Defence had short tours on the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Stations, relieving other ironclads, from 1869 to 1872 before she was refitted again from 1872 to 1874. She became guard ship on the River Shannon when she recommissioned. The ship was transferred to the Channel Fleet again in 1876 and then became guard ship on the River Mersey until 1885. Defence was placed in reserve until 1890, when she was assigned to the mechanical training school in Devonport in 1890. She was renamed Indus when the school adopted that name and served there until sold for scrap in 1935.

HMS <i>Monarch</i> (1868) Royal Navy warship

HMS Monarch was the first seagoing British warship to carry her guns in turrets, and the first British warship to carry guns of 12-inch (300 mm) calibre.

HMS <i>Alexandra</i> (1875)

HMS Alexandra was a central battery ironclad of the Victorian Royal Navy, whose seagoing career was from 1877 to 1900. She spent much of her career as a flagship, and took part in operations to deter the Russian Empire's aggression against the Ottoman Empire in 1878 and the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882. She was affectionately known by her crew as Old Alex.

HMS <i>Vixen</i> (1865) Armoured composite gunboat

HMS Vixen was an armoured composite gunboat, the only ship of her class, and the third ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She was the first Royal Navy vessel to have twin propellers.

HMS <i>Revenge</i> (1892) Royal Sovereign-class battleship

HMS Revenge was one of seven Royal Sovereign-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1890s. She spent much of her early career as a flagship for the Flying Squadron and in the Mediterranean, Home and Channel Fleets. Revenge was assigned to the International Squadron blockading Crete during the 1897–1898 revolt there against the Ottoman Empire. She was placed in reserve upon her return home in 1900, and was then briefly assigned as a coast guard ship before she joined the Home Fleet in 1902. The ship became a gunnery training ship in 1906 until she was paid off in 1913.

HMS <i>Bruizer</i> (1895) Ardent-class destroyer

HMS Bruizer was an Ardent-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. She was launched on 27 February 1895 by John Thornycroft at Chiswick, and was sold on 26 May 1914.

Twelve ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Mosquito, or the archaic HMS Musquito, after the tropical insect, the Mosquito:

HMS <i>Dryad</i> (1893) Gunboat of the Royal Navy

HMS Dryad was the name ship of the Dryad-class torpedo gunboats. She was launched at Chatham Dockyard on 22 November 1893, the first of the class to be completed. She served as a minesweeper during World War I and was broken up in 1920.

HMS <i>Rattlesnake</i> (1886)

HMS Rattlesnake was a unique design of torpedo gunboat of the Royal Navy. A result of the Russian war scare of 1885, she was designed by Nathaniel Barnaby that year and built by Laird Brothers, of Birkenhead. Quickly made obsolete by the new torpedo boat destroyers, she became an experimental submarine target ship in 1906, and was sold in 1910.

HMS <i>Condor</i> (1876) Gunvessel of the Royal Navy

HMS Condor was the name-ship of the Royal Navy Condor-class gun-ship carrying 3 guns.

HMS <i>Swinger</i> (1872) Gunboat of the Royal Navy

HMS Swinger was an Ariel-class composite gunboat of the Royal Navy, built at Pembroke Dockyard and launched on 7 February 1872. She served at first on the China Station and from 1883 on the Australia Station. She was hulked in 1895 sold for breaking in 1924.

HMS <i>Raven</i> (1882) Gunboat of the Royal Navy

HMS Raven was a Banterer-class gunboat of the Royal Navy, built by Samuda Brothers of Poplar, London, and launched on 18 May 1882. She served on the Australia Station and was converted to a diving tender in 1904. After being lent as a training ship in 1913 she was sold for breaking in 1925.

HMS <i>Basilisk</i> (1848) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Basilisk was a first-class paddle sloop of the Royal Navy, built at the Woolwich Dockyard and launched on 22 August 1848.

<i>Ariel</i>-class gunboat

The Ariel-class gunboat was a class of nine 4-gun composite gunboats built for the Royal Navy between 1871 and 1873. Although most were sold by 1890, one of them survived into the 1920s as a salvage vessel in private ownership. They were the first class of Royal Navy gunboat built of composite construction, that is, with iron keel, stem and stern posts, and iron framing, but planked with wood.

HMS <i>Dragon</i> (1878) British naval vessel

HMS Dragon was a Doterel-class sloop of the Royal Navy, built at Devonport Dockyard and launched on 30 May 1878. She served in the East Indies, including the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882, and the suppression of slavery. She was sold for breaking in 1892.

<i>Beacon</i>-class gunvessel British class of composite gunboats

The Beacon-class gunvessels were a class of composite gunboats built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s. They were the first warships of the Royal Navy expressly designed to use the engines of an older class of ships with a different hull shape. They were generally deployed overseas to the China, East Indies, West Africa, Pacific, North America and West Indies Stations. In addition to showing the flag, the ships fought pirates and suppressed the slave trade in East and West Africa. As their engines wore out in the mid-1880s, they were mostly retired and scrapped by the end of the decade. A few survived into the early 1900s as they were modified for harbour service before being sold or scrapped.

HMS <i>Aldenham</i> British Hunt-class escort destroyer

HMS Aldenham was an escort destroyer of the Type III Hunt class. The Royal Navy ordered its construction in July 1940. Upon completion in February 1942, she was deployed to convoy escort duty. Aldenham is one of the ships credited with the sinking of the U-587 on 27 March 1942. After circumnavigating Africa, she joined the Mediterranean Fleet, escorting convoys between Alexandria, Malta and Tobruk. She took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily, landings at Salerno and Anzio, the Dodecanese campaign and Operation Dragoon before being assigned to the Adriatic campaign.

<i>Forester</i>-class gunboat

The Forester-class gunboat was a class of 4-gun composite gunboats built for the Royal Navy between 1874 and 1877. Although half had been sold by 1890, the rest survived into the 20th century as coal hulks, base vessels and other secondary uses. Foxhound survived as a hulk on the Blackwall Reach of the Thames until 1975, when she was broken up. They were built of composite construction, that is, with iron keel, stem and stern posts, and iron framing, but planked with wood.

References

  1. Illustrated London News, 26 July 1873, p. 89
  2. Goodrich, Caspar F (Lt Cdr), Report of the British Naval and Military Operations In Egypt 1882, Navy Department, Washington, 1885, p. 30
  3. The Graphic, 7 October 1882, p. 369

Publications