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.

Design

The Dapper class was designed by W.H. Walker. 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.

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.

Armament

Ships of the class were armed with one 68-pounder smooth bore muzzle loading cannon, one 32-pounder SBML and two 24-pounder howitzers.