Alarm Class Torpedo Gunboat (1892)

The eleven torpedo gunboats of the Alarm Class were slightly enlarged versions of the preceeding Sharpshooter Class. All but three saw service in the First World War, either as minesweepers or on other duties.

Overview of eleven vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Alarm	Sheerness Dockyard	25 June, 1891	13 September, 1892	March 1894	Sold 9 April, 1907
Antelope	Devonport Dockyard	21 October, 1889	12 July, 1893	18 July, 1894	Sold 27 May, 1919
Circe	Sheerness Dockyard	21 January, 1890	14 June, 1892	11 February, 1893	Sold 30 July, 1920
Hebe	Sheerness Dockyard	21 January, 1890	15 June, 1892	9 October, 1894	Sold 22 October, 1919
Jaseur	Naval Construction & Armament Co.	14 September, 1891	24 September, 1892	13 February, 1893	Sold 11 July, 1905
Jason	Naval Construction & Armament Co.	7 September, 1891	14 May, 1892	11 July, 1893	Mined 7 April, 1917
Leda	Sheerness Dockyard	25 July, 1891	13 September, 1892	22 March, 1894	Broken up 1922
Niger	Naval Construction & Armament Co.	17 September, 1891	17 December, 1892	25 April, 1893	Torpedoed 11 November, 1914
Onyx	Laird	8 October, 1891	7 September, 1892	January 1894	Sold August 1924
Renard	Laird	26 October, 1891	6 December, 1892	January 1894	Sold 4 April, 1905
Speedy	John I. Thornycroft & Company	4 January, 1892	18 May, 1893	20 February, 1894	Mined 3 September, 1914

Construction

This class was often considered an enlarged variation on the preceding Sharpshooter class. In general, it inherited the reputation of the preceding class, which was known for its problematic propulsion systems. When Antelope was being worked up in 1891, The Times referred to the entire class as "notoriously unsuccessful."^[1]

Toward the end the Annual Manoeuvres of 1892, Sharpshooter's fires were extinguished and she shipped fully seventy tons of water. A similar fate had nearly befallen Skipjack, and it was reported that "it is the univeral opinion amongst naval officers who have had experience of the Sharpshooter class that the vessels are unfit for active service owing to the weakness of their engines and boilers."^[2]

Speedy was built by John I. Thornycroft & Company to an in-house design.^[3]

Machinery

All except Speedy used locomotive boilers, which proved "unreliable and troublesome". Speedy was built with a much more reliable Thornycroft-pattern water-tube boiler, and as a result had three funnels instead of two.^[4]

Armament

As built:

Two 4.7 inch (45-pounder) quick-firing guns
Four 3-pounder guns
One Gardner machine-gun
Five 14-inch torpedo tubes and eight torpedoes (Alarm, Antelope, Circe, Hebe, Leda, Renard) or three 18-inch torpedo tubes and three torpedoes (Jaseur, Jason, Niger, Onyx, Speedy).

Conversions

Onyx became a submarine depot ship in 1907. Speedy, Circe, Jason, Leda, Niger, and Hebe were converted to minesweeprs in 1908-9, with Hebe becoming a submarine depot ship the next year.^[5]

Footnotes

↑ "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Friday, Aug 14, 1891; pg. 8; Issue 33403.
↑ "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Friday, Aug 19, 1892; pg. 9; Issue 33721.
↑ Lyon; Winfield. The Steam & Sail List. p. 307.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 89.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 89.

Bibliography

Chesneau, Robert; Kolesnik, Eugene (editors) (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
Lyon, David; Winfield, Rif (2004). The Sail & Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy, 1815-1889. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1861760329. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).