HMS Pegasus (1878)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Pegasus.
Pegasus anchored at Port Hamilton
Career (United Kingdom)
Name: HMS Pegasus
Builder: Devonport Royal Dockyard
Cost: Hull £36,697, machinery £12,809[1]
Laid down: 9 May 1877
Launched: 13 June 1878
Commissioned: 5 March 1879
Fate: Sold on 11 August 1892[1]
General characteristics [1][2]
Class and type:Doterel-class screw composite sloop
Displacement:1,130 tons
Length:170 ft (52 m)
Beam:36 ft (11 m)
Draught:15 ft 9 in (4.80 m)
Installed power:972 indicated horsepower
Propulsion:
  • Two-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine
  • Three cylindrical boilers
  • Single 13 ft 1 in (3.99 m) screw
Sail plan:Barque rigged
Speed:11.4 kn (21.1 km/h)
Range:1,480 nmi (2,740 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h)
Complement:140
Armament:
  • Two 7-inch (90cwt) muzzle-loading rifled guns
  • Four 64-pound guns
  • Four machine guns
  • One light gun

HMS Pegasus was a Doterel-class screw composite 6-gun sloop launched on 13 June 1878. She was sold for scrap in 1892.

Design

The Doterel class were a development of the Osprey-class sloops and were of composite construction, with wooden hulls over an iron frame. The original 1874 design by the Chief Constructor, William Henry White was revised in 1877 by Sir Nathaniel Barnaby and nine were ordered. Of 1,130 tons displacement and approximately 1,100 indicated horsepower, they were capable of approximately 11 knots and were armed with two 7" muzzle loading rifled guns on pivoting mounts, and four 64-pound guns (two on pivoting mounts, and two broadside). They had a crew complement of approximately 140 men.[1]

Construction

Pegasus was laid down at Devonport Royal Dockyard in 1877 and launched on 13 June 1878.[1] She was commissioned on 5 March 1879,[1] and was classified as both a sloop of war and as a colonial cruiser. She was capable of attaining 11.4 kn (21.1 km/h) under full steam or 15 knots under sail.[1]

Service history

The primary purpose of ships of her class was to maintain British naval dominance through trade protection, anti-slavery, and long term surveying. Pegasus served on the China Station.

Occupation of Port Hamilton

With a view to forestalling Russian intentions, on 16 April 1885 Pegasus, Agamemnon and Firebrand occupied Port Hamilton, a small group of islands in the Jeju Strait off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula. The base was demolished and the occupation ended on 27 February 1887 after the Russian threat had diminished.

Fate

Pegasus was sold to George Cohen for breaking on 11 August 1892.[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Winfield, Rif & Lyon, David (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.
  2. "Naval Sloops at battleships-cruisers.co.uk". Retrieved 2008-08-30.