HMS Espiegle (1880)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Espiegle.

HMS Espiegle was a Doterel-class sloop of the Royal Navy, built at the Devonport Dockyard and launched on 3 August 1880.^[2]

Espiegle moored to a buoy
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Espiegle
Builder	Devonport Dockyard
Cost	Hull £37,500, machinery £11,770[1]
Laid down	23 September 1879
Launched	3 August 1880
Commissioned	11 October 1881
Fate	Boom defence vessel, 1899 Renamed Argo, 1904 Sold to W. Thorpe on 25 August 1921.
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Doterel-class sloop
Displacement	1,130 tons
Length	170 ft (52 m) pp
Beam	36 ft (11 m)
Draught	15 ft 9 in (4.80 m)
Installed power	1,140 ihp (850 kW)
Propulsion	3 × cylindrical boilers 2-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine Single screw
Sail plan	Barque rigged
Speed	11+1⁄2 knots (21.3 km/h)
Range	1,480 nmi (2,740 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h) from 150 tons of coal
Complement	140–150
Armament	2 × 7-inch (90cwt) muzzle-loading rifles 4 × 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifles 4 × machine guns 1 × light gun

Design

The Doterel class was designed by Nathaniel Barnaby as a development of William Henry White's 1874 Osprey-class sloop. The graceful clipper bow of the Ospreys was replaced by a vertical stem and the engines were more powerful. The hull was of composite construction, with wooden planks over an iron frame.^[1]

Propulsion

Power was provided by three cylindrical boilers, which supplied steam at 60 pounds per square inch (410 kPa) to a two-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine driving a single 13-foot-1-inch (3.99 m) screw. This arrangement produced 1,020 indicated horsepower (760 kW) and a top speed of 11 knots (20 km/h).^[1]

Armament

Ships of the class were armed with two 7-inch (90cwt) muzzle-loading rifled guns on pivoting mounts, and four 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifled guns (two on pivoting mounts, and two broadside). Four machine guns and one light gun completed the weaponry.^[1]

Sail plan

All the ships of the class were provided with a barque rig,^[1] that is, square-rigged foremast and mainmast, and fore-and-aft sails only on the mizzen mast.

Crew

Espiegle would have had a normal complement of 140–150 men.^[1]

Construction

Espiegle was ordered from Devonport Dockyard and laid down on 23 September 1879. She was launched on 3 August 1880 and was commissioned on 11 October 1881^[1] at Devonport.^[3]

Service

She commenced service on the Australia Station in November 1881.^[2] She left the Australia Station in March 1885 and went to the China Station. She assisted during the Chilean Revolt in 1891. She was fitted out as a boom defence vessel in 1899 and stationed at Southampton; she was renamed Argo in 1902.^[1]

Fate

She was sold to W. Thorpe for breaking on 25 August 1921.^[1]