HMS Katoomba

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Pandora and HMAS Katoomba.

HMS Katoomba was a Pearl-class cruiser built for the Royal Navy, originally named HMS Pandora, built by Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick, Tyne and Wear and launched on 27 August 1889.^[2] Renamed on 2 April 1890, as Katoomba as the flagship of the Auxiliary Squadron of the Australia Station. She arrived in Sydney with the squadron on 5 September 1891. She was damaged in a collision with the tug Yatala in Port Adelaide on 29 December 1891.^[3] She left the Australia Station on 16 January 1906. She was sold for £8500 on 10 July 1906 and broken up at Morecambe.^[2]

A Pearl-class cruiser from Brassey's Naval Annual, 1897

HMS Katoomba in Hobart, Tasmania in 1903.
History
United Kingdom
Name	Pandora
Namesake	Pandora Katoomba, New South Wales
Builder	Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick, Tyne and Wear
Laid down	15 August 1888
Launched	27 August 1889
Completed	1 December 1890
Renamed	Katoomba
Fate	Sold for scrap, 10 July 1906
General characteristics
Class & type	Pearl-class cruiser
Displacement	2,575 tons
Length	278 ft (84.7 m) (oa) 265 ft (80.8 m) (pp)[1]
Beam	41 ft (12 m)[1]
Draught	15 ft 6 in (4.7 m)
Installed power	7,500 shp (5,600 kW) 4 × boilers
Propulsion	2 × screws; 2 × 3-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines[1]
Speed	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement	210
Armament	8 × QF 4.7 inch (120 mm) guns 8 × 3-pounder guns 4 × 14-inch (356 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Deck: 1–2 inches (25–51 mm) Gun shields: 2 in Conning tower: 3 inches (76 mm)