Dapper-class gunboat

The Dapper-class gunboat was a class of twenty gunboats built for the Royal Navy in 1854–55 for use in the Crimean War.[1]

The gunvessel Grinder chasing Russian boats in the Sea of Azov, 31 August 1855
Class overview
Name:	Dapper class
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Gleaner class
Succeeded by:	Albacore class
Built:	1854–1855
In commission:	1855–1906
Completed:	20
General characteristics [1]
Type:	'Crimean' gunboat
Tons burthen:	215 ​^53⁄94 tons bm
Length:	106 ft (32 m) (gundeck) 93 ft 2.5 in (28.410 m) (keel)
Beam:	22 ft 0 in (6.71 m)
Draught:	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Installed power:	60 nominal horsepower 270 ihp (200 kW))
Propulsion:	2-cylinder horizontal single expansion steam engine Single screw
Speed:	7.5 kn (13.9 km/h)
Crew:	36
Armament:	1 × 68-pounder SBML gun 1 × 32-pounder SBML gun 2 × 24-pounder howitzers

Design

The Dapper class was designed by W.H. Walker (who also designed the preceding Gleaner class and the subsequent Albacore class). The ships were wooden-hulled, with steam power as well as sails, but of shallow draft for coastal bombardment in the shallow waters of the Baltic and Black Sea during the Crimean War.[1]

Propulsion

Ten ships had two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion trunk steam engines built by John Penn and Sons, with two boilers. The other ten had two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion direct-acting steam engines built by Maudslay, Sons and Field, with three boilers. Both versions provided 60 nominal horsepower through a single screw, sufficient for 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph).[1]

Armament

Ships of the class were armed with one 68-pounder smooth bore muzzle loading cannon (SBML), one 32-pounder SBML (originally two 68-pounder SBMLs were planned but the forward gun was substituted by a 32-pounder) and two 24-pounder howitzers.[1]

Ships

Name	Ship builder[1]	Engine builder[1]	Launched[1]	Fate[1]
Lark	Deptford Dockyard	Maudslay	15 March 1855	Sold to Marshall for breaking at Plymouth on 18 July 1878
Magpie	Deptford Dockyard	Maudslay	15 March 1855	Wrecked in Galway Bay on 8 April 1864
Dapper	R & H Green, Blackwall Yard	Penn	31 March 1855	Training hulk 1885, cooking depot 1897, renamed YC37 in 1909, sold to Perry 10 May 1922
Fancy	R & H Green, Blackwall Yard	Penn	31 March 1855	Hulked as part of the St Vincent training establishment in 1876, being used as a laundry/drying room. Sold at Portsmouth on 11 July 1905
Grinder	J & R White, West Cowes	Maudslay	7 March 1855	Broken up at Haslar on 15 July 1864
Jasper	J & R White, West Cowes	Maudslay	2 April 1855	Grounded in action at the Siege of Taganrog on 23 July 1855
Hind	John Jenkins Thompson, Rotherhithe	Maudslay	3 May 1855	Broken up at Devonport in October 1872
Jackdaw	John Jenkins Thompson, Rotherhithe	Maudslay	18 May 1855	Became a cooking depot in 1868 and sold to C Wort in November 1888
Thistle	W & H Pitcher, Northfleet	Penn	3 February 1855	Completed breaking at Deptford on 11 November 1863
Starling	W & H Pitcher, Northfleet	Penn	1 February 1855	Sold at Hong Kong on 1 December 1871
Snap	W & H Pitcher, Northfleet	Penn	3 February 1855	Sold at Hong Kong in 1868 and then resold to the Japanese as the warship Kaku-ten-shan, then became Snap again in 1872 as a merchantman
Redwing	W & H Pitcher, Northfleet	Maudslay	19 March 1855	Became tender to the training ship Cambridge at Devonport in 1857, sold on 2 December 1878
Weazel	W & H Pitcher, Northfleet	Penn	19 March 1855	Sold at Hong Kong on 18 November 1869
Clinker	W & H Pitcher, Northfleet	Penn	2 April 1855	Sold to Castle for breaking at Charlton on 6 June 1871
Cracker	W & H Pitcher, Northfleet	Maudslay	2 April 1855	Broken up in April 1864
Boxer	W & H Pitcher, Northfleet	Penn	7 April 1855	Broken up at Malta in October 1865
Stork	W & H Pitcher, Northfleet	Maudslay	7 April 1855	Coal hulk in 1874, sold for breaking April 1884
Skylark	W & H Pitcher, Northfleet	Penn	3 May 1855	Gunnery tender in 1884, sold to Garnham for breaking on 10 July 1906
Biter	W & H Pitcher, Northfleet	Penn	5 May 1855	Became a coal hulk on 21 April 1865, later renamed C16. Sold to Castle, Woolwich for breaking on 12 April 1904
Swinger	W & H Pitcher, Northfleet	Maudslay	10 May 1855	Broken up on 6 September 1864

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6.

1. Winfield, p.223