The dockyard at Sheerness according to the American naval officer Philip Hichborn in 1885

Hichborn published an extensive book dealing with the dockyards in Europe. Despite the title the book is mainly dealing with England and France. See for this dockyard an earlier note on this weblog. (1)

“Compared with the dock yards already mentioned that of Sheerness is compaparatively uninportant. It has none of the imposing shops of Portsmouth and Keyham, and the outfit of building vessels is not extensive. However, an amount of interesting repair work was going on; several composite vessels were completing and one was building. The latter, named the Swallow (2) is a gun vessel of 1,040 tons displacement, and is 195 feet between perpendiculars, 28 feet extreme breadth, with a draught of 11 feet forward and 12 feet aft. The engines, building by Rennie, will indicate 1,500 horse power under forced draft, and a speed of 13½ knots is anticipated. Her coal capacity is 280 tons and the complement 82. The armament consists of eight 5-inch 36-cwt, BL [breech loaders]. The estimate cost of hull is £ 33,000 and the contract price of engines £ 15.000.The construction is essentially the same as the vessels previously described.

Two composite corvettes, the Pylades (3) and the Caroline (4), were nearly completed. They are built on the same lines as the Heroine (5), Hyacinth (6), Rapid (7), Royalist (8) and Satellite (9), of 1,420 tons displacement and the following dimensions: length between perpendiculars 235 feet; extreme breadth 38 feet; mean draught 14 feet 3 inches. The engines are to work up to 1,500 indicated horse power under forced draft, driving the vessels at a speed of 13 knots. The weight of hull is 780 tons and the coal capacity is 400 tons. The Pylades was begun January 1, 1883, and launched November 5, 1884. She is probably completed by this time. The Caroline’s keel was laid October 24, 1881, and her launch took place November 25, 1882. The estimated cost of hull is £ 54,220 for the Caroline and £ 52,020 for the Pylades. The engines are contracted for at £ 13,150 and £ 16,500 respectively. There is a protective deck, composed of two thickness of five-eights iron over the machinery. The armament is fourteen 5-inch B.L.R. (breech loaded rifles]; the vessels are bark rigged.”

Notes

1. “The British dock yard at Sheerness between 1808 and 1818 as described in a financial report published March 1818”.

2. Her keel was laid down at the Sheerness dockyard 16 November 1868, launched 27 October 1885 and commissioned 7 October 1886. Her 1,570 ihp engines delivered by J.&G. Rennie and twin screws made a speed of 13½ knots possible. She was sold to McCausland&Sons in 1904. Of the 8-5” (50pdr) composite screw steam sloops schooner-rigged Nymphe-class, designed by William White with as comparable sister ships the Nymphe, Daphne, and Buzzard. Of the same class-design were the Beagle and Basilisk both with a hull of steel. Dimensions 195’0” x 28’0” x1’6” and a displacement of 1.140 tons. Her crew numbered 70 men.

3. Her keel was laid down at the Sheerness dockyard 1 January 1883, launched 5 November 1884 and commissioned 17 August 1886. Her 1,640 ihp engines delivered by Laird Brothers made a speed of 13 knots possible. She was sold to Cohen, Felixstowe in 1906 to be broken up. Of the 12-gun composite screw steam barque-rigged sloops of the Satellite-class designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, since 1884 called corvettes. Her sister ships were the Satellite, Heroine, Hyacinth, Royalist and Caroline. Dimensions 200’0”(between perpendiculars) x 38’0”x 15’9” and a displacement of 1,420 tons. Her crew numbered 170-200 men.

4. Her keel was laid down at the Sheerness dockyard 24 October 1881, launched 25 November 1882 and commissioned 27 January 1886. Since 1897 serving as a hulk became she in 1908 as the Ganges a training ship, in 1913 renamed Powerful III and 1919 Impregnable IV and finally sold in 1929. Her 1,400 ihp engines delivered by Maudslay, Sons&Field made a speed of 13 knots possible. Of the 12-gun composite screw steam barque-rigged sloops of the Satellite-class designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, since 1884 called corvettes.

5. Her keel was laid down at the Devonport dockyard 30 August 1880, launched 3 December 1881 and commissioned 19 September 1883. Sold to King, Bristol in 1902 to be broken up. Of the 12-gun composite screw steam barque-rigged sloops of the Satellite-class designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, since 1884 called corvettes.

6. Her keel was laid down at the Devonport dockyard 30 August 1880, launched 20 December 1881 and commissioned 27 January 1884. Sold to King, Bristol in 1902 to be broken up. Of the 12-gun composite screw steam barque-rigged sloops of the Satellite-class designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, since 1884 called corvettes.

7. Her keel was laid down at the Devonport dockyard 21 April 1881, launched 21 March 1883 and commissioned 9 September 1884. Became in 1906 a hulk, since 1912 as the C 7 coal hulk and as the Hart in 1916 an accommodation ship. Sold in 1948. Of the 12-gun composite screw steam barque-rigged sloops of the Satellite-class designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, since 1884 called corvettes.

8. Her keel was laid down at the Devonport dockyard 27 April 1881, launched 7 March 1883 and commissioned 14 April 1886. Of the 12-gun composite screw steam barque-rigged sloops of the Satellite-class designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, since 1884 called corvettes.

9. Her keel was laid down at the Sheerness dockyard 4 October 1880, launched 13 August 1881 and commissioned and sold to J.G. Potts in 1947 to be broken up after being a drill ship since 1904. Of the 12-gun composite screw steam barque-rigged sloops of the Satellite-class designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, since 1884 called corvettes.

Sources

Report on the European dockyards by naval constructor Philip Hichborn, USN, 1885. Washington, 1886, p. 22. Digitized by Google.

David Lyon&Rif Winfield. The Sail&Steam Navy List. All the ships of the Royal Navy 1815-1889. London, 2004.