Arab-class gunvessel
The Arab-class gunvessels were a pair of composite gunboats built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1870s.
Design and construction
Designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, the Royal Navy's Chief Constructor, both ships was ordered from the Govan yard of Robert Napier and Sons in 1873 and laid down the same year as yard numbers 333 and 334. They were launched within days of each other in October 1874.The hull was built of iron frames and ribs, and planked in wood. This "composite" construction was both cheap and easy to repair and allowed the wooden planking to be coppered, reducing marine growth. On far-flung colonial stations, the benefits of both simple repair and reduced marine growth were particularly positive, due to a lack of substantial ship repair and careening facilities. For this reason, smaller vessels like the Arab class continued to use composite construction until long after larger vessels had transitioned to iron or steel construction.