HMS Mutine (1880)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Mutine.
Sister-ship Miranda under sail
Career (United Kingdom)
Name: HMS Mutine
Builder: Devonport Dockyard
Cost: Hull £37,500, machinery £11,770[1]
Laid down: 7 June 1879
Launched: 20 Jul 1880
Commissioned: 10 May 1881
Fate: Boom defence vessel, 1899
Renamed Azov in March 1904
Sold for breaking 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:1,120 ihp (840 kW)
Propulsion:
  • 3 x cylindrical boilers
  • 2-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine
  • Single screw
Sail plan:Barque rigged
Speed:11.6 knots (21.5 km/h)
Range:1,480 nmi (2,740 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h) from 150 tons of coal
Complement:140-150
Armament:

HMS Mutine was a Doterel-class sloop of the Royal Navy, built at the Devonport Dockyard and launched on 20 July 1880. She became a boom defence vessel at Southampton in 1899 and was renamed Azov in 1904. She was sold after World War I.

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 (90 cwt) 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

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

Construction

Mutine was ordered from Devonport Dockyard and laid down on 7 June 1879. She was launched on 20 July 1880 and was commissioned on 10 May 1881[1] at Devonport.[2]

Service

Sloops of the 1880s and beyond were built to an outmoded design specifically to act as guardians of Britain's far-flung maritime empire; their sailing rig gave them enormous range, and their armament was more than sufficient for minor conflicts around the globe.[3] Mutine was assigned to the Pacific Station, including service in China.[2]

In 1904 Admiral John Fisher (amid great controversy) listed over 90 ships for disposal. Among those listed as "ships available for subsidiary purposes of war"[Note 1] was Mutine.[3] Converted to a boom defence vessel in 1899,[3] she and her sister Espiegle were assigned to the boom protecting Southampton Water.[4] Sold for breaking 25 August 1921.[1] Mutine was renamed Azov in March 1904 (Espiegle became Argo at the same time).[1] They worked throughout World War I in this capacity.

The Pacific Squadron. Trying rate of sailings, H.M.S. Kingfisher and Mutine coming in to windward of Flag Ship, 9 January 1884

Fate

Azov (ex-Mutine) was sold to C A Beard on 25 August 1921.[3]

Notes

  1. "Ships available for subsidiary purposes of war" were the so called "llamas"; those for sale were the "goats" and those for disposal the "sheep"

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Winfield (2004) p.292
  2. 2.0 2.1 "HMS Mutine at the Naval Database website". Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Preston (2007) p.124
  4. "Navy List 1908 (Other Lists)". battleshipscruisers website. Retrieved 2011-08-01.