Pelorus-class cruiser
History
United Kingdom
Name HMS Pelorus
Namesake Pelorus
Builder Sheerness Dockyard , Kent
Laid down May 1895
Launched 15 December 1896
Commissioned 1897
Fate Sold for scrap, 1920[ 1]
General characteristics
Class and type Pelorus -class cruiser
Displacement 2,135 long tons (2,169 t)
Length
313 ft 6 in (95.55 m) o/a
300 ft (91 m) p/p
Beam 36 ft 6 in (11.13 m)
Draught 16 ft (4.9 m)
Propulsion Triple expansion engine , 2 shafts, 5,000 ihp (3,728 kW)
Speed 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement 224
Armament
Armour
0.25in (gun shields)
2-1.5in (decks )
HMS Pelorus was the first of the Pelorus -class cruisers , and was laid down at Sheerness dockyard in 1895. Completed and commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1897, she was designed by Sir William White . Construction cost £154,315. The ship was well armed for her size, but was primarily a workhorse for the overseas fleet.[ 2]
HMS Pelorus displaced 2,135 tons and had a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h). She had reciprocating triple expansion engines and Normand water-tube boilers which could give 7,000 horsepower (5,200 kW) for limited periods of time with forced draught, and 5,000 horsepower (3,700 kW) under natural draught. It carried a crew complement of 224 men and it was armed with eight QF 4 inch (102 mm) (25 pounder) guns , eight QF 3 pounder (47-mm) guns , three machine guns, and two 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo tubes .
Service history
Pelorus served in the Channel Fleet under Captain Henry Charles Bertram Hulbert , when in February 1900 she joined the Eastern division of the fleet.[ 3]
Protected cruiser HMS Pelorus during WWI
In 1901, the ship was stationed at Gibraltar under the command of Commander Ernest Troubridge . The following year she paid off at Devonport, had her boilers repaired,[ 4] and in August was towed to Clydebank to be refitted by Messrs J. Brown and Co. in Glasgow .[ 5]
In 1906, the ship was assigned to the Cape of Good Hope Station under the command of Commander James C. Tancred . In 1908 the captain was Arthur W Craig.
References
^ "HMS Pelorus " . pbenyon.plus.com . Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2010 .
^ "Pelorus Class" . battleships-cruisers.co.uk . Retrieved 22 July 2010 .
^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times . No. 36055. London. 2 February 1900. p. 10.
^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times . No. 36767. London. 14 May 1902. p. 12.
^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times . No. 36849. London. 18 August 1902. p. 4.
E E Highams, 'Across a Continent in a Man of War' (Westminster Press, London, 1909)
External links