Cheerful-class gunboat

A typical 'Crimea gunboat'
Class overview
Name: Cheerful class
Operators:  Royal Navy
Preceded by: Albacore class
Succeeded by: Clown class
Built: 1855
In commission: 1855 – 1869
Completed: 20
General characteristics [1]
Type: 'Crimean' gunboat
Tons burthen: 211 6494 tons bm
Length:
  • 100 ft (30 m) (gundeck)
  • 85 ft 5.5 in (26.048 m) (keel)
Beam: 21 ft 10 in (6.65 m)
Draught: 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Depth of hold: 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
  • 1-cylinder horizontal direct-acting single-expansion steam engine
  • Single screw
Speed: 6.5 kn (12.0 km/h)
Crew: 30
Armament: 2 × 32-pounder SBML gun

The Cheerful-class gunboat was a class of twenty gunboats built for the Royal Navy in 1855 for use in the Crimean War.[1]

Design

The Cheerful class was designed by W.H. Walker (who also designed the preceding Dapper and Albacore classes). The ships were of particularly shallow draft [Note 1] for coastal bombardment in the shallow waters of the Baltic and Black Sea during the Crimean War.[1]

Propulsion

One-cylinder horizontal direct-acting single-expansion steam engines built by John Penn and Sons, with two boilers, provided 20 nominal horsepower through a single screw, sufficient for 6.5 knots (12.0 km/h; 7.5 mph).[1]

Armament

Ships of the class were armed with two 32-pounder smooth bore muzzle loading cannons.[1]

Ships

NameShip builder[1]Launched[1]Fate[1]
CheerfulDeptford Dockyard 6 October 1855 Breaking completed at Haslar on 16 January 1869
ChubSheerness Dockyard 15 October 1855 Breaking completed at Haslar on 29 January 1869
DaisyThomas Westbrook, Blackwall 20 March 1856 Breaking completed at Haslar on 7 January 1869
DwarfThomas Westbrook, Blackwall 8 April 1856 Broken up at Haslar in 1863
BlossomJohn Laird, Sons & Company, Birkenhead 21 April 1856 Breaking completed at Haslar on 21 October 1864
GadflyJohn Laird, Sons & Company, Birkenhead 21 April 1856 Broken up in November 1864
GnatJohn Laird, Sons & Company, Birkenhead 10 May 1856 Broken up on 10 August 1864
GarlandJohn Laird, Sons & Company, Birkenhead 7 May 1856 Broken up in June 1864
FidgetWilliam Joyce, Greenwich 7 April 1856 Broken up at Haslar in 1863
FlirtWilliam Joyce, Greenwich 7 June 1856 Breaking completed at Haslar on 30 April 1864
OnyxYoung, Magnay & Company, Limehouse 3 April 1856 Dockyard craft (steam lump) 1869, sold in Jamaica on 8 July 1873
PertYoung, Magnay & Company, Limehouse 3 April 1856 Breaking completed on 12 March 1864
MidgeYoung, Magnay & Company, Limehouse 8 May 1856 Broken up in October 1864
TinyYoung, Magnay & Company, Limehouse 8 May 1856 Completed breaking at Plymouth on 28 January 1864
AnglerDevonport Dockyard 8 March 1856 Breaking completed at Haslar on 21 January 1869
AntDevonport Dockyard 22 March 1856 Breaking completed at Haslar on 23 February 1869
NettlePembroke Dockyard 9 February 1856 Broken up at Bermuda in October 1867
PetPembroke Dockyard 9 February 1856 Hulked 1865, renamed C17 from c.1900, sold to Castle for breaking on 12 April 1904
DecoyPembroke Dockyard 21 February 1856 Breaking completed at Haslar on 8 February 1869
RamblerPembroke Dockyard 21 February 1856 Breaking completed at Haslar on 7 January 1869

Notes

  1. Winfield states a design draft of 4 ft (1.2 m) and an operational draft of 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m).[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Winfield, p.229
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