Redbreast-class gunboat

The Redbreast class comprised nine first-class screw-driven composite gunboats built for the Royal Navy in 1889, mounting six guns.

HMS Sparrow
Class overview
Name	Redbreast-class gunboats
Builders	Pembroke Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard Devonport Dockyard Scotts of Greenock
Operators	Royal Navy New Zealand Government British Merchant Navy
Cost	Between £38,000 (Widgeon) and £39,300 (Ringdove)[1]
Built	1889
In commission	1889–1921
Completed	9
Lost	1
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Redbreast-class first-class gunvessel
Displacement	805 tons
Length	165 ft 0 in (50.3 m) pp
Beam	31 ft 0 in (9.4 m)
Draught	11 ft 0 in (3.35 m) min, 13 ft 9 in (4.19 m) max
Installed power	1,200 ihp (890 kW)
Propulsion	Triple expansion steam engine 2 × boilers Single screw
Sail plan	Barquentine-rigged
Speed	13 kn (24 km/h)
Range	2,500 nmi (4,600 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h)[1]
Complement	76
Armament	Magpie, Redbreast, Redpole & Ringdove: 6 × BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) 25-pounder guns 4 × machine guns Lapwing, Goldfinch, Thrush, Widgeon & Sparrow: 6 × 4-inch/25-pounder QF guns 2 × 3-pounder QF guns 2 × machine guns

Construction

Design

The Redbreast class were designed by Sir William Henry White, the Royal Navy Director of Naval Construction in 1888.^[1] The hull was of composite construction, that is, iron keel, frames, stem and stern posts with wooden planking. These were the last class of composite-hulled gunboats built for the Royal Navy - the next class of gunboat, the Bramble-class gunboat of 1898, was of steel construction.

Propulsion

The class was fitted with a triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine developing 1,200 indicated horsepower, sufficient to propel them at 13 kn (24 km/h) through a single screw.

Sail plan

The class was given a barquentine rig.

Armament

The first four ships were armed with six 4-inch/25-pounder (25cwt) quick firing guns and four machine guns. The last five had an additional pair of 3-pounder quick firing guns in place of two of the machine guns.^[1]

Ships

Name	Ship builder	Launched	Fate
Magpie	Pembroke Dockyard	15 March 1889	Boom defence vessel in 1902. Gunboat in 1915, depot ship in October 1915. Sold to Duguid & Stewart on 29 December 1921[1]
Redbreast	Pembroke Dockyard	25 April 1889[2]	Sold in 1910[1]
Redpole	Pembroke Dockyard	13 June 1889	Served on the China Station. Sold to Cox for breaking at Falmouth on 15 May 1906[1]
Ringdove	Devonport Dockyard	30 April 1889	Became a salvage vessel on 7 December 1915, renamed Melita. Sold to Ship Salvage Corporation on 22 January 1920,[1] and renamed Telima, she was broken up in the second quarter of 1926.[3]
Lapwing	Devonport Dockyard	12 April 1889	Sold at Bombay on 10 November 1910[1]
Goldfinch	Sheerness Dockyard	18 May 1889	Survey vessel in February 1902. Sold for breaking on 14 May 1907[1]
Thrush	Scott's, Greenock	22 June 1889	Coastguard in 1906, cable ship in 1915, salvage vessel in 1916. Wrecked off Glenarm, Northern Ireland on 11 April 1917[1]
Widgeon	Pembroke Dockyard	9 August 1889	Sold to Castle for breaking at Charlton on 15 May 1906[1]
Sparrow	Scott's, Greenock	26 September 1889	Transferred to New Zealand as a training ship on 10 July 1906, renamed Amokura. Sold as a coal hulk in February 1922. Abandoned in St Omer Bay.

HMS Ringdove dressed overall at Melbourne in 1896