Banterer-class gunboat

HMS Wasp

Class overview
Name| Banterer class
Builders|

* Barrow Iron Shipbuilding
* Pembroke Dockyard
* Samuda Brothers

Operators|  Royal Navy
Preceded by| Forester class
Succeeded by| Albacore class (1883)
Built| 1880–1882
In commission| 1880–1907
Planned| 13
Completed| 11
General characteristics [1]
Type| Composite screw gunboat
Displacement| 465 tons standard
Length| 125 ft (38 m)
Beam| 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m)
Draught| 10 ft (3.0 m)
Installed power| 440 ihp (330 kW)
Propulsion|

* 2-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine
* Single screw

Speed| 9.5 kn (17.6 km/h)
Crew| 60
Armament|

* 2 × 6-inch/64-pdr (56cwt) muzzle-loading rifles
* 2 × 3.75-inch/20-pdr BL guns
* 2 × machine guns

The Banterer-class gunboat was a class of eleven gunboats mounting two 6-inch and two 4-inch guns, built for the Royal Navy between 1880 and 1892.[1]

## Design

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The Banterer class was designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, the Admiralty Director of Naval Construction. The ships were of composite construction, meaning that the keel, frames, stem and stern posts were of iron, while the hull was planked with timber. This had the advantage of allowing the vessels to be coppered, thus keeping marine growth under control, a problem that caused iron-hulled ships to be frequently docked. They were 125 feet (38 m) in length and displaced 465 tons. In appearance they were distinguishable from the preceding Forester class (also a Barnaby design) by their vertical stems.[1]

### Propulsion

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Two-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engines built by Barrow Iron Shipbuilding, Maudslay, Sons and Field or J. and G. Rennie provided 440 indicated horsepower through a single screw, sufficient for 9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph).[1]

### Armament

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Ships of the class were armed with two 6-inch 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifles (a conversion of the smoothbore 32-pounder 58 cwt gun) and two Armstrong 3.75-inch 20-pounder breech loading guns. A pair of machine guns was also fitted.[1]

## Ships

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Name | Ship builder[1] | Launched[1] | Fate[1]

|
|
|

Redwing | Pembroke Dockyard | 25 May 1880 | Sold at Chatham on 4 April 1905
Grappler | Barrow Iron Shipbuilding | 5 October 1880 | Boom defence vessel in 1904. Sold to King, Garston for breaking on 14 May 1907
Wrangler | Barrow Iron Shipbuilding | 5 October 1880 | Coastguard in 1891. Boom defence vessel in 1903. Sold for breaking at Dover on 2 December 1919
Wasp | Barrow Iron Shipbuilding | 5 October 1880 | Wrecked off Tory Island, Ireland with loss of 52 lives on 22 September 1884, and the wreck sold in November 1910
Banterer | Barrow Iron Shipbuilding | 2 November 1880 | Sold to Harris, Bristol on 14 May 1907
Espoir | Barrow Iron Shipbuilding | 2 November 1880 | Tug in 1895. Yard craft in 1903. Sold in 1904
Bullfrog | Pembroke Dockyard | 3 February 1881 | Hulk in 1905. Renamed Egmont in March 1923, St Angelo on 1 July 1933 and sold in 1933
Cockchafer | Pembroke Dockyard | 19 February 1881 | Sold on 6 December 1905
Starling | Samuda Brothers, Poplar | 19 April 1882 | Coastguard in 1893. Sold as steam tug on 4 April 1905, renamed Stella Maris. Sunk by Halifax Explosion on 6 December 1917 but raised and refitted 1918
Stork | Samuda Brothers, Poplar | 18 May 1882 | Survey ship in 1887. Lent to Navy League as a training ship for boys at Hammersmith on 28 March 1893. Sold to Shaws of Kent, Rainham for breaking in 1950
Raven | Samuda Brothers, Poplar | 18 May 1882 | Diving tender in 1904. Lent as training ship in March 1913. Sold for breaking on 13 March 1925

## Citations

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1. ^ a b c d e f g h Winfield (2004), p.298

## References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Banterer class gunboat.

* 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. OCLC 52620555.

* v
* t
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Banterer-class gunboats

* Redwing
* Grappler
* Wrangler
* Wasp
* Banterer
* Espoir
* Bullfrog
* Cockchafer
* Starling
* Stork
* Raven

* Preceded by: Forester class
* Followed by: Albacore class

* List of gunboat and gunvessel classes of the Royal Navy

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