Archer-class torpedo cruiser

HMS Archer circa 1888
Class overview
Name	Archer class
Builders	J & G Thomson, Glasgow Devonport Dockyard
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by
Succeeded by	Marathon class
Built	1885–1886
In commission	1890–1906
Completed	8
Lost	1
Retired	7
General characteristics
Type	3rd class cruiser
Displacement	1,770 long tons (1,798 t)
Length	240 ft (73 m) overall; 225 ft (69 m) between perpendiculars
Beam	36 ft (11 m)
Draught	14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)
Installed power	4,500 hp (3,400 kW) at forced draught
Propulsion	2 cyl HDACE, 4 boiler [2]
Speed	17.5 knots at forced draught
Range	7,000 nmi (13,000 km) at 10 knots
Complement	176
Armament	6 × 6 in (152.4 mm) guns 6 × 3-pounder gun 2 × machine guns Torpedo tubes (all above water): 1 × 14 in (360 mm) bow 2 × 2 14 in (360 mm) side-launching
Armour	0.375 in (9.5 mm) deck 25 mm (0.98 in) gunshield 75 mm (3.0 in) conning tower[1]

The Archer class was a class of eight cruisers of the Royal Navy. They were envisaged from 1883 onwards by Admiral Sir Astley Cooper Key to replace existing sloops as ancillaries for working with the British Fleet and also for trade protection; a total of twenty such ships were planned by him, but only eight were built. Six ships were ordered under the 1884 Programme and built by J & G Thomson at Clydebank in Glasgow. A further two ships were ordered under the 1885 Programme, and these were built at the Devonport Dockyard with all ships completed between 1887 and 1888. These ships mainly served in the British Empire's foreign fleets being on various stations throughout the north Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. Throughout their careers they were involved in a number of local conflicts including the Anglo-Zanzibar War, First Sino-Japanese War, and the Boxer Rebellion.^[3]

Design[]

These third class cruisers of the Royal Navy were also known as torpedo cruisers. They were designed to meet and defeat smaller torpedo boats while also being able to strike larger vessels with their own torpedoes. To this end they filled the role that would be soon taken over by early destroyer designs.

The Archer class were enlarged derivatives of the earlier . They carried their six 6-inch guns in single mounts, three on each beam, mounted on sponsons with one pair immediately aft of the foremast, one pair between the single funnel and the mainmast, and one pair immediately forward of the mizen mast. The ships were built with three masts (for which sails were provided), but the mainmast was subsequently removed from most ships during refits between 1897 and 1900. Eventually eight torpedo tubes were fitted, with a total of 12 torpedoes carried.

Cost[]

The six ships of the 1884 Programme were all contracted to Thomson as a fixed price of £55,916 each, plus £31,667 each for machinery. The two further vessels were built at Devonport Dockyard at a cost of £60,606 each for the hulls; their machinery was contracted from Harland and Wolff at a cost of £31,000 each.

Ships[]

Fate[]

On 10 November 1890, HMS Serpent was caught in heavy storm off the northwest coast of Spain. The ship attempted to reach shelter but ran aground near Camariñas on the treacherous Costa da Morte of Galicia. All but three of her crew were killed. The resulting court martial investigating the loss of Serpent concluded that the ship had been lost as a result of a navigation error.^[4]

The seven other ships of the Archer class would quickly lose their usefulness to the Royal Navy as shipbuilding and design moved at a rapid pace around the turn of the century. All seven ships would be sold for scrap in 1905 and 1906.

Citations[]

References[]

• Clowes, William Laird (1903). The Royal Navy: A History From the Earliest Times to the Death of Queen Victoria: Volume VII. Sampson Low, Marston and Company.
• Friedman, Norman (1912). British Cruisers of the Victorian Era. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-099-4.
• Winfield, Rif (1904). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815-1889. Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-032-9.