| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Surprise class |
| Builders | Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Jarrow |
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| Built | 1884–1885 |
| In commission | 1885–1919 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Retired | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 1,700 long tons (1,727 t) |
| Length | 250 ft (76 m) o/a |
| Beam | 32 ft 6 in (9.91 m) |
| Draught | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
| Complement | 93 |
| Armament |
|
The Surprise class were two 3rd class cruisers built for the British Royal Navy, and launched in 1885.
Originally designed as unarmed dispatch ships, they were redesignated as fleet scouts while under construction and fitted with four 5-inch guns, four quick-firing 6-pounders, [note 1] and two machine guns. Built by Palmers at Jarrow, they displaced 1,700 tons, were 250 feet long, 36 feet 6 inches in the beam, and had a draught of 13 feet. Powered by two 2-cylinder compound steam engines they were capable of 18 knots, and had a crew of 93. [1]
The ship was laid down on 14 February 1884, launched on 17 January 1885, and completed in June 1885. After her sister ship was sold in 1913, she was renamed Alacrity, and served during World War I. Sold in 1919. [2]
The ship was laid down on 14 February 1884, launched on 28 February 1885, and completed in July 1885. [3] She saw action during the Boxer Rebellion, taking part in the capture of the Dagu Forts in June 1900. [4] Sold at Hong Kong in September 1913. [3]
The fifth USS Boston was a protected cruiser and one of the first steel warships of the "New Navy" of the 1880s. In some references she is combined with Atlanta as the Atlanta class, in others as the Boston class.
HMS Australia was one of seven Orlando-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1880s. She was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1889 and remained there until 1893 when she returned home. The ship was assigned to the Coast Guard Squadron for the next decade before she was placed in reserve in 1903. Australia was sold for scrap in 1905.
Nine ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Alacrity:
HMAS Pioneer was a Pelorus-class protected cruiser built for the Royal Navy at the end of the 19th century. She was transferred to the fledgling Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 1912. During World War I, the cruiser captured two German merchant ships, and was involved in the East African Campaign, including the blockade of the cruiser SMS Königsberg and a bombardment of Dar-es-Salaam. She returned to Australia in late 1916 and was decommissioned. Pioneer was used as an accommodation ship for the following six years, then was stripped down and sold off by 1926. The cruiser was scuttled outside Sydney Heads in 1931.
The C class was a group of twenty-eight light cruisers of the Royal Navy, and were built in a sequence of seven groups known as the Caroline class, the Calliope class, the Cambrian class, the Centaur class, the Caledon class, the Ceres class and the Carlisle class. They were built for the rough conditions of the North Sea, and proved to be rugged and capable vessels, despite being somewhat small and cramped.
USS Atlanta was a protected cruiser and one of the first steel warships of the "New Navy" of the 1880s. In some references she is combined with Boston as the Atlanta class, in others as the Boston class.
HMAS Sydney was a Chatham-class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Laid down in 1911 and launched in 1912, the cruiser was commissioned into the RAN in 1913.
HMS Galatea was one of seven Orlando-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1880s. She was sold for scrap on 5 April 1905.
The Arethusa-class cruisers were a class of eight oil-fired light cruisers of the Royal Navy all ordered in September 1912, primarily for service in the North Sea. They had three funnels with the middle one somewhat larger in diameter than the others. All served in the First World War. They were found to be very cramped internally.
HMAS Brisbane was a Town class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built in Sydney between 1913 and 1916 to the Chatham subtype design, Brisbane operated in the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Australian coastal waters during World War I.
HMAS Melbourne was a Town class light cruiser operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ship was laid down by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead in England in 1911, launched in 1912 and commissioned in 1913. At the start of World War I, Melbourne was involved in attempts to locate the German East Asia Squadron, and participated in the capture of German colonies in the Pacific, before being assigned to the North America and West Indies Stations. In 1916, the cruiser joined the Grand Fleet in the North Sea, where she remained for the remainder of the war. Melbourne spent late 1919 and early 1920 in reserve, then was flagship of the Royal Australian Navy from 1920 until 1928, except for a second period in reserve during 1924 and 1925. HMAS Melbourne paid off in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1928, and was scrapped in 1929.
HMS Leviathan was one of four Drake-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy around 1900. She was assigned to the China Station upon completion and then served in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1905–06. She was assigned to the 7th Cruiser Squadron in 1907 before she was briefly reduced to reserve. Leviathan was recommissioned in 1909 for service with the 4th Cruiser Squadron before she was placed in reserve in 1913.
HMS Lancaster was one of 10 Monmouth-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Upon completion she was assigned to the 3rd Cruiser Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet. She remained there until 1912 when she returned home to be placed in reserve. The ship was recommissioned in 1913 for service with the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station. She remained there until she was assigned to the Grand Fleet in 1915. She was transferred to the Pacific in 1916 and she became flagship of the Eastern Squadron in 1918. The ship was sold for scrap in 1920.
HMS Andromeda was one of eight Diadem-class protected cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. Upon completion in 1899, the ship was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet where she helped to escort a royal yacht during its cruise through the Mediterranean Sea. After a refit, she was assigned to the China Station in 1904 and returned home three years later to be reduced to reserve. Andromeda was converted into a training ship in 1913 and remained in that role under various names until 1956. That year she was sold for scrap and broken up in Belgium, the last Pembroke-built ship still afloat.
HMS Barfleur was the second and last of the Centurion-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. Intended for service abroad, they exchanged heavy armour and a powerful armament for high speed and long range to counter the foreign armoured cruisers then being built as commerce raiders and were rated as second-class battleships.
HMS Renown was a second-class predreadnought battleship built for the Royal Navy in the early 1890s. Intended to command cruiser squadrons operating on foreign stations, the ship served as the flagship of the North America and West Indies Station and the Mediterranean Fleet early in her career. Becoming obsolete as cruiser speeds increased, Renown became a royal yacht and had all of her secondary armament removed to make her more suitable for such duties. She became a stoker's training ship in 1909 and was listed for disposal in 1913. The ship was sold for scrap in early 1914.
The Yorktown class was a class of three steel-hulled, twin-screw gunboats built for the United States Navy beginning in 1887. All three ships of the class were named after cities near American Revolutionary War battles.
Ettore Fieramosca was a protected cruiser of the Italian Regia Marina built in the 1880s. She was the fourth and final member of the Etna class, which included three sister ships of slightly smaller dimensions. Named for the condottiero of the same name, she was the only member of her class not named for a volcano. The ship was laid down in December 1885, launched in August 1888, and was commissioned in November 1889. She was armed with a main battery of two 254 mm (10 in) and a secondary battery of six 152 mm (6 in) guns, and could steam at a speed of around 17 knots.
The Chilean cruiser Esmeralda was the first protected cruiser, a ship type named for the arched armored deck that protected vital areas like propulsion machinery and ammunition magazines.