HMS Rambler (1880)
Rambler with an unidentified gunboat berthed to the right
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Rambler |
Builder | John Elder & Co., Glasgow |
Cost |
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Yard number | 227 |
Laid down | 1879 |
Launched | 26 January 1880 |
Commissioned | 1884 |
Fate | Sold on 23 January 1907 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | gunvessel |
Displacement | 835t |
Length | 157 ft (48 m) pp |
Beam | 29 ft 6 in (8.99 m) |
Draught | 13 ft 7 in (4.14 m) |
Installed power | 690 ihp (510 kW)[1] |
Propulsion |
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Sail plan | Barque or full-rigged ship |
Speed | 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h) |
Endurance | 110t of coal[1] |
Complement | 100 |
Armament |
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HMS Rambler was an
Design and construction
Designed in 1879 by
Propulsion
A two-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine provided by the builders produced 690 ihp (510 kW) through a single screw, giving a speed of about 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h).[1]
Sail plan
The vessels of the class were barque-rigged, but some of the pictures show yards on the mizzen mast, which would have made them ship rigged. The advantage of the barque rig was the need for less manpower, but on a distant station and with an experienced crew, and infrequent coaling stops, captains sometimes preferred to gain the greater sailing benefits of the ship rig, and had the flexibility to do so.
Armament
The Algerine-class gunvessels were designed with one 7-inch (180 mm) (4½ ton) muzzle-loading rifles, two 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifles, 2 machine guns and a light gun. Rambler, as a survey vessel, was finished with four
Build
The keel was laid at the Fairfield yard of John Elder & Co. in 1879 and she was launched on 26 January 1880. She was not commissioned until 1884, by which time she had been completed as a survey vessel.[1]
Surveys
In 1897 she surveyed the Strait of Belle Isle in the Atlantic.[6]
Boer War
Between November 1899 and June 1900[7] Rambler contributed men to a naval brigade made up primarily of men from Doris, and they fought at Graspan and Magersfontein.[8]
At the turn of the century, she was under the command of Commander Herbert Purey-Cust as she visited Port Said on 30 December 1900, leaving again two days later.[9]
In May 1902 she was back at the China station, Captain Morris Henry Smyth in command,
Fate
She was sold on 23 January 1907.[3]
Notes
- ^ It was the general practice of the Royal Navy during this period to send a crew out to a distant station, recommission the ship with the new crew, and send the old crew back home. This allowed the hulls to be exploited to the maximum extent possible.
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g Winfield (2008) p.296
- ^ ISBN 978-0-85177-923-2.
- ^ a b Bastock 1988, p.113.
- ^ "HMS Rambler at the Naval Database website". Retrieved 22 December 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "History of the Port of Hong Kong and Marine Department".
- ^ "Friends of Hydrography". Archived from the original on 20 August 2007.
- ^ "HMS Rambler at angloboerwar.com". Retrieved 22 December 2010.
- ^ "Landing Parties of HMS Rambler and Doris, Simonstown. Boer War c.1899 at Sea Your History website". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36340. London. 1 January 1901. p. 12.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36761. London. 7 May 1902. p. 10.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36931. London. 21 November 1902. p. 5.
References
- Bastock, John (1988), Ships on the Australia Station, Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. ISBN 0-86777-348-0
- Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. OCLC 52620555.
External links