Cheerful-class gunboat

A typical 'Crimea gunboat'
Class overview
Name:	Cheerful class
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Albacore class
Succeeded by:	Clown class
Built:	1855
In commission:	1855 – 1869
Completed:	20
General characteristics [1]
Type:	'Crimean' gunboat
Tons burthen:	211  64⁄94 tons bm
Length:	100 ft (30 m) (gundeck) 85 ft 5.5 in (26.048 m) (keel)
Beam:	21 ft 10 in (6.65 m)
Draught:	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Depth of hold:	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Installed power:	20 nominal horsepower (Onyx 92 ihp (69 kW))
Propulsion:	1-cylinder horizontal direct-acting single-expansion steam engine Single screw
Speed:	6.5 kn (12.0 km/h)
Crew:	30
Armament:	2 × 32-pounder SBML gun

The Cheerful-class gunboat was a class of twenty gunboats built for the Royal Navy in 1855 for use in the Crimean War.^[1]

Design

The Cheerful class was designed by W.H. Walker (who also designed the preceding Dapper and Albacore classes). The ships were of particularly shallow draft ^{[Note 1]} for coastal bombardment in the shallow waters of the Baltic and Black Sea during the Crimean War.^[1]

Propulsion

One-cylinder horizontal direct-acting single-expansion steam engines built by John Penn and Sons, with two boilers, provided 20 nominal horsepower through a single screw, sufficient for 6.5 knots (12.0 km/h; 7.5 mph).^[1]

Armament

Ships of the class were armed with two 32-pounder smooth bore muzzle loading cannons.^[1]

Ships

Notes

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475. 
• 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.