PROTECTOR steel colonial cruiser (1884)
Protector 1885
| Name | No | Yard No | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Comp | Fate |
| Protector (South Australia till 1901) | Armstrong Mitchell, Walker, UK | 11/1882 | 27.12.1883 | 6.1884 | tender 9.1913 |
|
Displacement normal, t |
920 |
|
Displacement full, t |
|
|
Length, m |
55.0 pp 57.3 oa |
|
Breadth, m |
9.14 |
|
Draught, m |
3.81 |
|
No of shafts |
2 |
|
Machinery |
2 VCE, cylindrical boilers |
|
Power, h. p. |
1500 |
|
Max speed, kts |
14 |
|
Fuel, t |
coal |
| Endurance, nm(kts) | |
|
Armament |
1 x 1 - 203/26 BL Mk VII, 5 x 1 - 152/31 BL Mk V, 4 x 1 - 47/40 3pdr Hotchkiss Mk I, 5 x 1 - 11.4/94 |
|
Complement |
90 |
Project history: Although referred to as a cruiser this Armstrong-built vessel resembled a very large flatiron gunboat.
Modernizations: 1914: + 2 x 1 - 102/40 QF Mk I/II/III
Naval service: She had an active career including participation in the suppression of the Boxer uprising in China. In 1913 Protector became a tender, relegated to harbour service in 1921 and renamed Cerberus 1.4.1921. Ship was sold 10.9.1924 as Protector, resold in 1931 as Sydney and sunk in collision off Gladstone while on loan to US Army in July 1943. Her hulk was still visible off Heron Island, Queensland in 1978.
© Ivan Gogin, 2015