Dolphin 1885
| No | Name | Yard No | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Comm | Fate |
| PG24 | Dolphin | 236 | John Roach, Chester | 10.1883 | 12.4.1884 | 7.1884 (completed), 12.1885 (commissioned) | gunboat 7.1920, sold 2.1922 |
|
Displacement normal, t |
1486 |
|
Displacement full, t |
|
|
Length, m |
78.2 |
|
Breadth, m |
9.75 |
|
Draught, m |
4.35 mean |
|
No of shafts |
1 |
|
Machinery |
1 VC, 4 cylindrical boilers |
|
Power, h. p. |
2255 |
|
Max speed, kts |
16 |
|
Fuel, t |
coal 265 |
| Endurance, nm(kts) | |
|
Armament |
1 x 1 - 152/30 Mk I, 2 x 1 - 57/40 Hotchkiss Mk I, 4 x 5 - 37/20 Hotchkiss |
| Complement |
152 |
Project history: Authorized under the Act of 3.3.1883. The first ship of the 'New Navy' and usually classified as a despatch boat, Dolphin was originally given a light barque rig with no head gear, and was later rigged as a three-masted schooner, before reducing to two masts. Her 152mm gun was on an upper deck traversing mounting just abaft the foremast.
Modernizations: 1911: - 1 x 1 - 152/30, 1 x 1 - 57/40, 4 x 5 - 47/23; + 2 x 1 - 102/40 Mk III/IV/V/VI, 6 x 1 - 47/45 Driggs-Schroeder Mk II
1914: - 2 x 1 - 102/40, 1 x 1 - 57/40
1921: - 6 x 1 - 47/45; + 1 x 1 - 102/50 Mk IX, 2 x 1 - 57/50 Mk IV
Naval service: For much of her career from 1899 Dolphin served as a despatch vessel for the secretary of the navy.
Dolphin 1910s
© Ivan Gogin, 2014