Bramble-class gunboat (1886)

This article is about the Royal Navy gunboat class of 1886. For the identically-named Royal Navy gunboat class of 1898, see Bramble-class gunboat (1898).

The Bramble-class gunboat was a class of four gunboats mounting six 4-inch guns, built for the Royal Navy in 1886. In 1887 the first three were reclassified as gunvessels.^[1]

HMS Lizard, c.1890.
Class overview
Name	Bramble class
Builders	Armstrong Mitchell Harland & Wolff
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Albacore class (1883)
Succeeded by	Pygmy class
Built	1886
In commission	1886 - 1924
Completed	4
General characteristics [1]
Type	Composite screw gunboat
Displacement	715 tons standard
Length	165 ft (50 m)
Beam	29 ft (8.8 m)
Draught	11 ft (3.4 m)
Installed power	1,000 ihp (750 kW) (Rattler 1,200 ihp (890 kW))
Propulsion	Triple-expansion steam engine Single screw
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h)
Range	2,500 nmi (4,600 km)
Crew	60
Armament	6 × 4-inch/25-pdr QF 4 × machine guns

Design

HMS Bramble, 1st class gunboat, by William Frederick Mitchell

The Bramble class was designed by William White. The ships were of composite construction, meaning that the iron keel, frames, stem and stern posts were of iron, while the hull was planked with timber. This had the advantage of allowing the vessels to be coppered, thus keeping marine growth under control, a problem that caused iron-hulled ships to be frequently docked. They were 165 feet (50 m) in length and displaced 715 tons.^[1]

Propulsion

Triple-expansion steam engines built by Hawthorn Leslie (Rattler), North East Marine Engineering (Wasp) and Harland & Wolff (Lizard and Bramble) provided 1,000 indicated horsepower (750 kW) (Rattler 1,200 ihp (890 kW)) through a single screw, sufficient for 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).^[1]

Armament

Ships of the class were armed with six 4-inch 25-pounder quick-firing guns. Four machine guns were also fitted.^[1]

Ships

Name	Ship Builder	Launched	Fate
Rattler	Armstrong Mitchell, Elswick	5 August 1886[2]	Harbour service in 1910. Navigation school ship in September 1919, renamed Dryad. Sold for breaking in October 1924
Wasp	Armstrong Mitchell, Elswick	13 September 1886	Believed foundered with all hands after leaving Singapore for Shanghai on 10 September 1887
Lizard	Harland & Wolff, Belfast	27 November 1886	Sold at Sydney for breaking in 1905
Bramble	Harland & Wolff, Belfast	11 December 1886	Renamed Cockatrice in June 1896 and sold at Chatham on 3 April 1906