.jpg) Mercury | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Mercury |
| Builder | Pembroke Dockyard |
| Laid down | 16 March 1876 |
| Launched | 17 April 1878 |
| Completed | September 1879 |
| Reclassified |
|
| Fate | Sold forscrap, 9 July 1919 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Iris-classdespatch vessel, later second-classcruiser |
| Displacement | 3,730long tons (3,790 t) |
| Length | 315 ft (96 m) |
| Beam | 46 ft (14 m) |
| Draught | 20 ft 6 in (6.2 m) |
| Installed power | 12boilers; 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW) |
| Propulsion | 2 × shafts; 2 ×compound-expansion steam engines |
| Sail plan | Barque-rigged |
| Speed | 17knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
| Range | 4,950 nmi (9,170 km; 5,700 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 275 |
| Armament | 10 × 64 pdrrifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns |
HMSMercury was one of twoIris-classdespatch vessels, later redesignated as second classcruiser built for theRoyal Navy during the 1870s. The two ships were the first all-steel warships in the Royal Navy.
TheIris-class ships were designed asdispatch vessels and were later redesignated as second-classprotected cruisers.Mercury had anoverall length of 315 feet (96 m), abeam of 46 feet (14 m), and adraught of 20 feet 6 inches (6.2 m). The shipsdisplaced 3,730long tons (3,790 t) at normal load[1] and were the first British warships with an all-steel hull.[2] Their crew consisted of 275 officers andratings.[1]
TheIris class was powered by a pair of horizontal four-cylinderMaudslay, Sons and Fieldcompound-expansion steam engines, each driving onepropeller shaft using steam from eight oval and fourcylindrical boilers.[1] The engines were designed to produce a total of 6,000indicated horsepower (4,500 kW) for a speed of 17knots (31 km/h; 20 mph).Mercury reached a maximum speed of 18.57 knots (34.39 km/h; 21.37 mph) from 7,735 ihp (5,768 kW), making her the fastest warship in the world.[3] The ship carried enough coal to steam 4,950nautical miles (9,170 km; 5,700 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[1] Originally equipped with a lightbarque rig, her sails were soon removed and the class became the first "mastless cruisers".[4]
TheIris-class ships were originally armed with ten 64-pounder (6.3-inch (160 mm))rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns, eight on themain deck and the remaining pair on the upper deck onpivot mounts to serve aschase guns fore and aft.[1]
Mercury waslaid down atPembroke Dockyard on 16 March 1876,launched on 17 April 1878 and completed in September 1879.[3]
Mercury served with the Portsmouth Reserve from 1879 to 1890, in China from 1890 to 1895 and with the Portsmouth Reserve again from 1895 to 1903. She served as a navigation school ship for navigating officers from 1903 to 1905 and a submarine depot ship at Portsmouth from 1906 to 1913, and atHarwich in 1913.[5] There were plans to rename herColumbine in 1912, but these were rescinded and instead she washulked atRosyth in 1914 with the port depot ship there,HMSColumbine, the formerHMS Wild Swan. She was moved to Chatham, where she became an accommodation ship from 7 January 1918, and was paid off in March 1919.[5] She was eventually sold for scrap to the Forth Shipbreaking Company, atBo'ness, on 9 July 1919.[5]