HMS Iris (1877)

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HMS Iris was an Iris Class second class cruiser of the Royal Navy. They were the first all steel ships to serve with the Royal Navy. Her Maudslay machinery produced 7,300 hp, slightly less than her stablemate HMS Mercury, but her 17.35 knots still made her one of the fastest ships of her day.

She was laid down at the Pembroke Dockyard on 10 November 1875, launched on 12 April 1877 and completed on 18 April 1897. She served in the Mediterranean from 1879 to 1887, then in the Portsmouth Reserve from 1887 to 1903. She was a tender to St. Vincent in 1903 and 1904 and sold off in 1905.

[edit] References

• Cruisers of the Royal and Commonwealth Navies by Douglas Morris. Maritime Books 1987. ISBN 0 907771 35 1.