Calypso 1885
| Name | No | Yard No | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Comp | Fate |
| Calypso | Chatham DYd | 1.9.1881 | 7.6.1883 | 10.1885 | TS of Newfoundland Government 9.1902 | ||
| Calliope | Portsmouth DYd | 1.10.1881 | 24.7.1884 | 25.1.1887 | RNVR drill ship 10.1907 |
|
Displacement normal, t |
2770 |
|
Displacement full, t |
|
|
Length, m |
71.6 pp |
|
Breadth, m |
13.6 |
|
Draught, m |
6.07 |
|
No of shafts |
1 (feathering screw) |
|
Machinery |
sails + 1 4-cyl HC, 6 rectangular boilers |
|
Power, h. p. |
3000 |
|
Max speed, kts |
13.7 |
|
Fuel, t |
coal 550 |
|
Endurance, nm(kts) |
4000(10) |
| Armour, mm | steel; deck: 13 |
|
Armament |
4 x 1 - 152/26 BL Mk IV, 12 x 1 - 127/25 BL Mk II, 2 x 1 - 76/19 12pdr 8cwt MLR, 10 x 1 - 11.4/78, 2 - 356 TC |
|
Complement |
317 |
Project history: Designed by Nathaniel
Barnaby, they were probably the most successful design
of cruising ship built for Royal
Navy. Their construction and internal layout was virtually a repetition of the
last vessels in the Comus class. The main
differences were the protective deck of steel being 0.9m
longer and positioned 1.2m below the lower deck, a
bilge keel 29m long, and the lower deck
0.6m above the water line. Both were barque-rigged,
the mainmasi being 41.5m from deck to truck. Both had
feathering screws, and at speeds over 5kts under sail the screw was allowed to
turn over to reduce drag. The Rennie compound engines had two HP and two LP
cylinders fed by six boilers. A small auxiliary steam-driven starting engine was
located between the two HP cylinders, and another steam engine drove a dynamo to
generate electricity.
The 152mm
BL guns were carried in sponsons on Vavasseur mountings and the
127mm guns were mounted six on either side. The MGs
were placed on the topgallant forecastle, poop and
forebridge. Searchlights were mounted over the centreline CT. They were able to
steam at 15kts. Together with their near sisters of the
Comus class, with their speed and heavy armament, they were the
finest ships of the Victorian era, bringing to a close the role of
the steam and sail corvette.
Ship protection: A protective deck of 13mm steel, extending for 32m amidships, was positioned over the machinery.
Modernizations: None.
Naval service: Calypso in September, 1902 was transferred to Newfoundland Government as training ship, renamed Briton 15.2.1916 and sold as store hulk in April, 1922. Calliope became RNVR drill ship in October, 1907, renamed Helicon in June, 1915 (name reverted to Calliope in October, 1931) and sold to BU in October, 1951.
Calypso
Calliope
© Ivan Gogin, 2014